D1A teams are getting active with 13 games involving at least one D1A team, and seven conference games.

Two teams, Saint Mary's and Grand Canyon, are doubling up over the weekend. Cal's clash with UBC has been canceled as UBC is having troubles with the rules governing border crossings. More on what that means for Cal here>>.

BYU at Saint Mary's

Saint Mary's plays Santa Clara in a California Conference game Friday night. With the Gaels favored in this one it's likely they will run out a younger side compared to the group that faces a pretty mighty BYU team on Saturday.

Saint Mary's Head Coach Tim O'Brien said he is nervous about the two-fer weekend.

"Probably a larger bite than we needed to take but it’ll help us continue to develop," he told GRR. "We’ve missed out on seven games so far in 2022 due to COVID so the timing is terrific. Far too many coaches might think their practices are great and our players thrive. Practice sucks—games are great.. Match play drives the development."

If you read the piece on Cal, their Head Coach, Jack Clark, has similar (although more politically worded) sentiments.

At BYU a solid fall has been followed by a layoff of three months—their last game was the Rocky Mountain Conference final on October 30. Head Coach Steve St. Pierre said the players are hungry to get back on the field.

"Saint Mary's is one of the best teams in the country and will be a good challenge for us. We will have to be effective in every aspect of the game because Saint Mary's is so good. If you are lacking any area they’re going to take advantage of it and exploit it."

BYU looks to have improved over the last year or so and part of that can be chalked up to St. Pierre and his coaching staff settling in to what is still a relatively new role after David Smyth's long tenure in Provo, and the players are getting used to how St. Pierre operates.

"We’ve had some guys who have been with us for a couple of years now," said St. Pierre. "We’ve had some good continuity. A couple of years ago it was all new to everybody. Then in addition we’ve had a good influx of talent over the last year."

California Conference

This weekend actually puts a pretty big dent in the California Conference season. Right now Saint Mary's is 1-0, Cal Poly 1-1, and UCSB and Santa Clara both 0-1. But Grand Canyon, coming off their tie with Arizona, will take on two opponents on a Northern California trip. The 'Lopes face UC Davis and Cal Poly. The Cal Poly game on Sunday might ... might ... be the game that decides who is second behind heavily-favored Saint Mary's. Sure, San Diego State, when they finally get to play, might have something to say about that, but still it's a game to watch closely.

Mid-South

Life vs Lindenwood is the battle for dominance in a conference that refuses to be dominated. Life is coming off a very good defensive effort in defeating Arkansas State 30-8 last week. It was a big day for Life because they christened their rebuilt rugby field. Life scored two tries on blocked kicks. This is Lindenwood's first game since November, but they had an very active fall and shouldn't be too rusty. Life is 2-0 in the conference so far, Lindenwood 1-0, Arkansas State 0-1, and Davenport 0-2.

Red River

There's a feeling that Oklahoma is a more confident team since the winter break. Richard Papenfus remains in Norman and his younger brother Michael is now a freshman at OSU. He partners with Josh Dickens in a midfield that is just getting started. Head Coach Blikkies Groenewald has developed a pressure defense in the style of his home country South Africa, and the offense has started to fire a bit. Green but learning, OH faces a Baylor team under recent Eagle Will Magie that is averaging over 36 points per game and beat the Sooners by 27 last fall.

Texas takes on North Texas. Word is that Texas had to forfeit their opening win over Oklahoma and so what that does to what the Longhorns are trying to accomplish remains to be seen. maybe we'll see it this weekend.

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