What were the Big Sky coaches thinking?

MORE Idaho State football coverage ...

2 plays defined Idaho State's season

Season to remember ends — Deciphering the pluses and minuses from the Bengals’ 2014 season

Let’s not waste any time and get right to the point of this column: The Big Sky Conference coaches screwed up. For the last few days, I’ve been trying to figure out how 13 smart football minds could come together and make such a bone-headed, dumb decision.

When I first heard the news, I just assumed there had been some mistake — like a clerical error or miscalculation. There is just no way, I thought, Division I coaches would trip over themselves to such a high degree.

So I sat back and pondered, gave it some thought and tried to figure out what they had been thinking. I did my best to consider things from their perspective.

I’m still left with only one conclusion: The Big Sky Conference coaches completely and utterly whiffed when they tabbed Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams as the league’s offensive player of the year instead of Idaho State’s Justin Arias.

Adams is an amazing talent and the leader of the best team in the Big Sky. Eastern Washington (10-2, 7-1 BSC) is the No. 4 seed in the FCS playoffs and has a first-round bye.

Not only is Adams on a team in the playoffs, he beat Arias’ Bengals in a wild 56-53 shootout in early October. Before that game, Idaho State coach Mike Kramer called Adams the greatest quarterback in Big Sky history.

“I’ve seen them all,” Kramer said. “He’s the best quarterback in this conference and the numbers tell the tale of the tape.”

There is no questioning Adams’ ability. As a sophomore he threw for 55 touchdowns in 15 games. He was even better this season, averaging more yards, pass attempts and touchdowns per game.

But there is a major problem picking Adams as the player of the year. He broke his foot against Idaho State, and had to sit out four conference games — a third of the season.

Who didn’t miss any games?

Mr. Justin Arias.

Arias threw for more yards (4,077 vs. 2,876) and touchdowns (38 vs. 30) than Adams. And since this is a Big Sky Conference award, we should mention each player’s stats during league play.

Arias had 2,890 passing yards and 25 touchdowns during eight Big Sky games. Adams finished with 1,371 passing yards and 12 touchdowns.

The numbers aren’t even close. And they shouldn’t be, of course. One guy played an entire season and the other didn’t.

One guy led his team to its first winning season in a decade and the other guy’s team went 3-1 in his absence.

I must be missing something, right?

Should Arias really have been the league’s offensive player of the year? Adams is the star, after all, and his team won the Big Sky title. But then it occurred to me, what if Arias didn’t play for Idaho State? What if he suited up for Montana?

What if Arias had led the Big Sky in passing while wearing maroon and silver? Who would have been the conference MVP then?

The answer is obvious. Arias would not only have been the Big Sky’s player of the year, he’d be the front-runner for the Walter Payton Award.

Instead, Arias wore the colors of the Idaho State Bengals. The orange and black must have made it easier to ignore how he helped ISU win five more games than the year before. It made it easier to shrug off the fact that Arias’ numbers weren’t just better than everyone else’s in the Big Sky, they were the best in the country.

Apparently those are the breaks between the haves and have-nots in the Big Sky Conference.