Week 9 Mountain West Football Preview

Sorry for the delay this week I have been busy in other parts of my life, but here is the preview

(6-2) (3-5)

Michie Stadium 12PM ET TV:

Whenever service academies get together the game is never a sure thing on who the winner is going to be.  Army has been the worst performer of the three academies, even though they have improved this year.

Air Force is undefeated on the year and that looks to stay the same, because ever since the Navy debacle on special teams and giving up turnovers the Falcons have been 3-0 and has so far seemed to have fixed that scenario.

Army does not have the offense to keep up with the Falcons as they only score 17 points per game and in contrast the Falcons score 29 per game, so if Air Force goes up early Army does not have the personnel to play catchup to the Falcons.

Army runs a similar run first option like Air Force, but they are not quite as good as the Falcons.  Army averages 100 yards less then Air Force of total offense, but they do have play makers in Collin Mooney who is averaging over 100 yards per game this year and has six touchdowns on the year and is the player Air Force needs to slow down.

Final Score: Air Force 30 Army 17

(1-7) (2-6)

War Memorial Stadium 12PM MT TV:

The battle for the basement takes place in wonderful Laramie, Wyoming.  Both teams are really this bad, both teams are ranked lower then 100 in points per game with Wyoming in dead last averaging 8.8 per game while San Diego State more then doubles the Pokes with 19.1 points per game.

Wyoming is at home which gives them an edge, but the weather should be nice as the projection is to be sunny in the upper 50’s to low 60’s which may not help out Wyoming too much.

The advantages that Wyoming has is that they have a fairly decent run defense which should be able to dominate a San Diego State rush offense that averages below 80 yards per game.  Also, Wyoming has one offensive play maker in running back in Devin Moore who has 802 yards on the year and an average of 5.1 per carry.  Look  for Moore to take off since Wyoming’s quarterback situation is not good with Karsteen Sween expected to start, but Joe Glenn should be smart enough to use Moore and also mix in Wynel Seldon in the running game.

San Diego State has an advantage of a good quarterback in Ryan Lindley, but Aztecs will need some type of running game so that they are not predictable.  A problem for the Aztecs in the passing game could be the experienced secondary that Wyoming has, yes they are not uber talented but the experience will help them be able to slow down the Aztec receivers.

Turnovers will be the key in this game, while that is obvious but a short field will help both of these inept offenses.

Final Score: Wyoming 20 San Diego State 13

#21 (7-1) (4-4)

Hughes Stadium 4PM MT TV:

Will the BYU team that showed up in weeks one through six show up on Saturday, or will it be the team that has lost the last two game?  BYU should win this game because they have the better offense in every position with the exception of a push at tight end and running back, but the Rams defense does not have the secondary to matchup with wide receiver Austin Collie and tight end Dennis Pitta.

The Cougar offense will be too much for a Colorado State defense that has problems against the run and is giving up more than 30 points a game. The powerful BYU offensive line will mash a soft Ram interior, creating room for Harvey Unga to find the open hole and time for Hall to find open recievers.

The  Rams do have a chance because BYU has not played as well on the road with the one loss to TCU, a close win over Washington, and then a lackluster win over Utah State.  The Rams have the type of offense to mimick what New Mexico and TCU did.   The Rams have Gattrell Johnson III at running back and to a lesser extent Kyle Bell to spell him and CSU coach Steve Fairchild will use a steady dose of the running game to keep the Cougar offense off of the field.

Also, quarterback Billy Farris has stepped up his game and with targets like tight end Kory Sperry and wide out Rashaun Greer who has been the most consistent receiver that the Rams have.  Colorado State maybe able to stay close to the  Rams, but college football comes down to quarterback play and BYU has the more superior player at the position.

Final Score: BYU 38 Colorado State 27

#14 (8-1) (3-5)

Sam Boyd Stadium 5PM PT TV:CSTV PPV

This could be a trap game for TCU with the the big matchup against Utah next Thursday.  TCU better pay attention to the Rebels, because offensively UNLV does have play making receivers which could make this game interesting.

The Horned Frogs have been devastating since the loss to Oklahoma allowing just seven points in each of the last four games. In fact, they haven’t allowed more than seven points in any of the seven games against non-BCS schools.

UNLV’s offense has the players such as running back Frank Summers, wide receivers Casey Flair, Ryan Wolfe, and Phillip Payne and then quarterback Omar Clayton has the ability to run and pass to make some plays.  Even with these offensive players UNLV does not have the winning results and they are still winless in conference play.

As mentioned earlier TCU has been dominating on offense which in the past has been their achilles heel, and this game may be decided by TCU’s offense and not their defense in this game.  The Horned Frogs will still most likely limit the Rebles output, but the Rebels run a lot of misdirection plays that can result in a big play eventually.

This game could be similar to the 13-7 win TCU had over Colorado State on the road and a few days before a Thursday night game before they played BYU.

Final Score TCU 24 UNLV 16

#10 (8-0) (4-5)

University Stadium 7:30PM MT TV:

The coaches and players may not bring this up publically, but the last game at New Mexico was a sour game for all who played.  Utah lead 24-3 just before the half and ended up losing the game 34-31, also an important note in this game is that Utah quarterback Brian Johnson has the chance to be the schools all time win leader at the position by getting the chance for win number 22 as the starter to pass former Utah quarterback great Alex Smith.

That accomplishment most likely will not mean too much for him at this time, but the Utes will be focusing on this game that could be a trap game with the TCU matchup looming next week.

New Mexico will want to run the ball up the middle against the Utes defensive line that has been depleted by  injury, but they have held their own during that time.  This week returns more depth to the defensive line that should help the Ute run stopping even more.

If the Lobos are able to have success with Rodney Ferguson who is one of the many very dominant running backs in the league.  The key for the Lobos will be their quarterback play with Brad Gruner who has yet to pass for more then 100 yards on the season so far.  Bruner still may not need to pass for a lot of yards, but he will need to make plays to keep the Utah defense off balanced.

The week before the bye the Utes had their best overal game of the year with their offense racking up 549 total yards, and if the Utes can play similar to that Rams game then Utah should have no problem beating the Lobos.

However in years past the Utes have  lost games they should not have even though they have had better talent, and this game could be this spot this year.

Final Score: Utah 37 New Mexico 24

Week 7 Mountain West Football Preview

This weeks there are four games and they are all conference games this week.

#13 (6-0)(2-4)

War Memorial Stadium 12PM MT TV: Radio: KALL 700 Sports or 1240 KFBC

This is an intriguing matchup, because last year Wyoming coach Joe Glenn made a comment at a luncheon where he said the Cowboys would take it to the Utes. Then word made its way west on interstate 80 to coach Whittingham who took that to hear and blew out Wyoming 50-0 and did an on side kick with the Utes up big. Then Coach Glenn gave the middle finger salute to the Utes sideline, and it was caught on television, classy.

The Wyoming fans who are only maybe ten feet away from the field most certainly will have a nice gesture for the Utes. Those expected gestures will just be more interesting, because the last time the Utes played in Wyoming they were embarrassed in 2006.

This is the perfect game for Utah to finally play a complete game and show their dominance. The Utes need to dominate Wyoming, because of national perception hurts the MWC because of the national guys say oh you just beat Wyoming or insert your MWC team here. A win similar to what BYU pulled against Wyoming is what Utah needs to do to move up in the polls.

Wyoming has issues at quarterback, and as of today the quarterback looks to be Karsteen Sween again. So far this year the Pokes quarterback play has been terrible and teams have been bringing pressure to the quarterback and force him to make plays. The results on that have been poor for Wyoming when pressure is applied. The only way the Pokes can stay close is that they have a decent running game, and unless that breaks out and then force the Utes to be honest on defense.

The Ute defense is way too good to allow Wyoming to get off and score points, but the Pokes hate the Utes so do not discount Wyoming getting on the board early.

The Ute offense will be too much with their running game in Darrel Mack and Matt Asiata who shuold be able to break through the solid Cowboy defense.

Final Score: Utah 38 Wyoming 13

(5-1) (3-2)

Hughes Stadium 1:30PM MT TV: Radio: 103.3 ESPN Radio or KCOL 600

Could this be a trap game for TCU? This game takes place before the first big Mountain West showdown between TCU and BYU on this upcoming Thursday. Probably not since TCU’s coach Gary Patterson will have his team ready this week.

TCU most likely will be without quarterback Andy Dalton who has missed the last game and a half with a right knee injury. As of yesterday Dalton’s status is uncertain, even though coach Patterson said Dalton could have thrown few passes in last weeks win over San Diego State.

Marcus Jackson who has been the backup this year has been playing very well, and he brings a different element to the Horned Frog offense with his running abilities.

This game could be interesting because of the weather, there have been reports of possible rain and snow to a high of 65 and sunny. Weather could be an issue, especially since it changes quite frequently in Colorado Springs.

Colorado State’s hope in this game is to get the same performance from Gatrell Johnson III who had 191 yards last week against UNLV. Obviously TCU’s defense is much better then Vegas, and it will be tougher for any of the Rams backs to be too successful. The Rams will need to make plays in the passing game with Billy Farris, because TCU will stack the box against the run and force CSU to make plays in the passing game or dare the Rams to run against eight lineman.

TCU should have no problem winning this game, because they want to try to reclaim the conference title and it most likely will take an undefeated conference record to do so.

Final Score: TCU 35 Colorado State 17

(3-3) #8 (5-0)

LaVell Edwards Stadium 4PM MT TV: Radio: 770 KKOB or KSL Sports Radio

This game for BYU could be similar to TCU in being a trap game, but probably will not since the team is so focused on going to the BCS. As bad as it may seem this is going to be the toughest game to date for BYU this season, which is sad since this is a 3-3 New Mexico team that has been good and very bad this year.

New Mexico will finally have running back Rodney Ferguson after he missed two games, and he will be the key if New Mexico is to pull of the upset. The Lobos are coming off its most complete performance of the season, a 24-0 victory over Wyoming last Saturday. Redshirt freshman James Wright carried 15 times for 120 yards while the Lobos’ defense held the Cowboys to 201 total yards.

The addition of getting Ferguson back is even more valuable because of Wright being able to perform against a pretty good Wyoming defense. Quarterback play is still an issue with the inexperienced Brad Gruner, so look for BYU to stack the line and try to make either back beat the defense.

BYU had a so-so win over Utah State, and if BYU plays like they did in quarter two through four then New Mexico will have a chance. The Cougars had over 120 yards in penalties which gave Utah State multiple chances in keeping drives alive.

That semi-scare last week should have woke up the Cougars who will want to come out and prove they are a top 10 team and get back at voters who dropped them down after the Utah State team.

The New Mexico 3-3-5 defense is a bit wacky but the Cougar offense which uses three to five wide out sets should be able to neutralize their defense, and look for Max Hall to have a big day passing against this defense. If BYU gets off to an early lead the Lobos in the past few years have just rolled over

Last years game was close, but it was on the road and with this game being in Provo, expect BYU to continue their home dominance this weekend. The key stat in this game is that New Mexico gives up 27 points per game while BYU averages 41 per game, expect BYU to be at least in the mid 30’s in this game.

Final Score: BYU 38 New Mexico 20

(3-2) (1-4)

Qualcomm Stadium 6:30PM PT TV: Radio:740 KVOR or XTRA Sports 1360

The only game of the weekend where their will be nice weather as this game is being played in lovely San Diego. The weather will be the only thing that is good about this game, Air Force will run their option offense all over a San Diego State team that is poor on defense and most likely will not have the discipline to def3end the option.

San Diego will need to find a way to control the ball and keep the ball away from the Falcons, but that would require a running game with a pulse.  The Aztecs have only two running backs that have over 100 yards on the season, and as a team have 249 per game.  Granted the Aztecs have been behind in most games and need to throw but that averages out to be 49.8 rushing yards per game.

Quarterback for the Aztecs, Ryan Lindley, had a subpar game for the first time and as always mentioned will need a spectacular game to keep them in this.

The Falcons are very happy to be playing the Aztecs, so that they can amend their mistakes last week against Navy.  Air Force should not have a problem running the ball in this game, because the Aztec defense is terrible.  Air Force will just run the ball and dominate the time of possession giving San Diego State very little time to have the ball to make any plays.

Final Score: Air Force 35 SDSU 10

Mountain West Conference Week 3 Preview

Great news for the readers of the MWC Connection our site has teamed up with DirecTv to give our readers a discount of $10 off your bill when you sign up for DirecTv and call 866-770-6934. DirecTV is the only place to get The Mountain West Sports Network nation wide which is the exclusive home for Mountain West sports. Now, if you live outside the conference footprint you will need to subscribe to the sports pack, but that $10 discount will take care of nearly all of the cost of the sports package. Plus, this week the Utah/Utah State game is on the ESPN Game Plan package, so the only way to watch this game if you live outside of Utah is to order the ESPN Game Plan package, and you can order that as well by calling 866-770-6934 or click here to sign up.

Now on to week 3 games!!

(2-0) (1-1)

Amon Carter Stadium 12PM CT TV: Radio: 103.3 ESPN Radio

This game was moved up to a noon local start due to hurricane Ike that is moving its way to the Texas coast. The game itself is a return matchup with Stanford visiting the Horned Frogs and want revenge after losing to TCU last year 38-36. Stanford started out with a nice conference victory over Oregon State, but last week was pounded by ranked Arizona State 41-17. Stanford is only slightly better then last years team that won four games, but coach Jim Harbaugh is a huge motivator and has the Stanford players ready.

Players to watch on Stanford are in their running attack with Toby Gerhart who in two games has 214 yards, four touchdowns, but most impressively averages 6.1 yards per carry. This will be tested against a great TCU front defense that only allowed New Mexico running back Rodney Ferguson to 64 yards. This is a matchup that Stanford needs to at least be serviceable to be able to keep this game close.

The Stanford passing offense is to be nice, terrible in two games starting quarterback Tavita Pritchard has 188 yards, one score, and two picks. So, if Stanford has to rely on the passing game this could get ugly early. Look for TCU to stuff the box to slow down Gerhart and force Pritchard to beat them.

Their is still no word if TCU running back Aaron Brown will play this week, USA Today reports that Brown has suited up and practiced all week, but still no word if he will play. Brown has not played all year due to violation of university policy.

On offense TCU still has a potent running game without Brown, they just will give the ball to multiple backs to see what they can do. Quarterback Andy Dalton should have a good day passing against a Stanford defense that gave up 395 yards last week to Arizona States’s Rudy Carpenter.

TCU should be able to handle the Cardinal and improve to 3-0.

Final Score: TCU 27 Stanford 13

(2-0) (1-1)

War Memorial Stadium: 1PM MT TV: NONE Radio: 1240 KFBC

North Dakota is from the FCS division, and a good one in that. Wyoming looks to rebound over last weeks lose to Air Force. In breaking news on the Wyoming athletic website, coach Glenn says the first time will start the game. Hello Mr. Obvious of course that is the case, and it is assumed but never said in the article, but Dax Crum will be back at the starting quarterback position.

NDSU is a good FCS team and the location and any inclement should not matter to them, but Wyoming will be able to stop the Bison. Last year they did beat Central Michigan easily 44-14, but in this case Wyoming has a much better defense then Central Michigan especially in the run defense.

Look for Wyoming to stop the run, and on offense look for Devin Moore to run over the Bison. Not much preview, this is FCS team and well thats why.

Final Score: Wyoming 27 NDSU 13

(1-0) #15 (2-0)

LaVell Edwards Stadium 1:30PM MT TV: Radio: KSL Sports Radio

The big matchup of the week pits these teams together for the third time in a year and three different head coaches for UCLA. This is intriguing because in week one UCLA came out big and defeated Tennessee at home, and the Vols were ranked. Norm Chow should be able to have a scheme for former San Diego State and current UCLA starter Kevin Craft, but performing those plays will be tough. Last game Kraft had four picks in the first half before he exploded. Also, that first win by a very young team was all on emotion and they had the home crowd behind them.

Slick Rick will get the team pumped, but this is on the road to a team that does not lose at home very often. UCLA on offense is most likely go to to Raymond Carter and Chane Moline if Kahlil Bell can’t play, to add salt on the wound UCLA’s offensive line is beat up for this weeks game.

For all that is said for UCLA’s defense they only return four starters and defensive coordinator Walker believes that UCLA has the athletes to single cover BYU tight end Dennis Pita, who happens to lead the country in receiving yards, and that is for all receiving yards and not just for tight ends.

UCLA does have the athletes but running back Harvey Unga and quarteback Max Hall should have productive games, and this is the game that BYU needs to blow out a Pac-10 opponent so voters can put behind the close call against Washington.

Final Score: BYU 31 UCLA 20

(2-0) (1-1)

Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX 10AM CT TV: Radio: 740 KVOR

This game is moved to SMU’s stadium and away from Hurricane Ike, so it will be interesting to see how many fans are at this game in Dallas. Air Force has surprised us all again by just reloading their team, and refocusing their option to the run again. In Air Forces first two games they have rushed for 694 yards on 139 carries, so Houston will need to some how slow down the Air Force rushing attack.

The running attack is not limited to one player, and in the two games 4 players have double digit carries. The passing offense has only garnered 90 total yards, by Shea Smith so far this season.

Houston on offense will still look similar even without former coach Art Briles, so expect the Cougars to throw a lot and get many people involved. Case Keenum the Cougars signal caller has thrown for 779 yards in two games and nine touchdowns. The Falcons secondary will surely be tested on Saturday after noon.

This is a tough game to call, because the Houston players may be distracted once Hurricane Ike hits landfall which should be over night. Hope all goes well for those players and their families who are back in Houston during the storm.

Final Score: Air Force 21 Houston 17

(2-0) (0-2)

University Stadium 6PM TV: Radio: 770 KKOB

New Mexico has had bad luck, but over all has looked terrible. The bad luck came down in week one when quarterback Donovan Porterie went out with a neck injury and left the game, and against Texas A&M did not look good. The Lobos have not found replacement receivers, and are relying on running back Rodney Ferguson.

While Ferguson is very good New Mexico can not run every play, because teams will stack the box and force the receivers to make a play. I do think New Mexico rebounds to play a good game, but they do not have the complete package to win.

Arizona will focus offensively on to continue their near 50/50 offensive output. In the passing game it is Willie Tuitama who has 471 yards in two games and then in the running game Nic Grisby is their leading rusher with 304 yards and five touchdowns.

The Wildcats score points, but this should be their toughest opponent so far with a solid defense. Look for Arizona to use their balance to keep the Lobo’s offense and then make the big play in the air. Arizona has a balance receiving corp, so even with New Mexico’s 3-3-5 defense the Cats should still put up passing yards.

Final Score: Arizona 31 New Mexico 20

#22 (2-0) (0-2)

Romney Stadium 6PM MT TV: Radio:KALL 700 Sports

Utah renews the rival against Utah State for the 107th time and Utah State has not won since 1997, and this year should be no different.

Utah should be able to get their back ups in the game early to help reduce injury and to get the back ups some real game experience.

The Utes do have injury concern at defensive line with their top two nose tackles out, so Utah will be inserting players along the line to see who will get the nod later on. Also, four star recruit David Kruger may burn his redshirt to shore up the defensive line.

In the game the Utah State will use two quarterbacks with Diondre Borel and Sean Setzer. These players will be used at different times to mix things up. Look for Utah State to get receiver Otis Nelson the ball often, because he is the teams play maker and he needs the touches.

Last week against Oregon Utah State did not turn the ball over which is encouraging for the Aggies.
However the Ags do not have enough against the Utes.

Final Score: Utah 44 Utah State 17

(0-2) (1-1)

Spartan Stadium 5PM PT TV: NONE Radio: XTRA Sports 1360

San Diego State made a good effort last week against an equally bad Notre Dame team on the road. The close loss may give the Aztec players some hope since they played a close game on the road.

The only good thing so far for the Aztecs is Ryan Lindley who is putting up very good numbers at Quarterback.

The problem is that SDSU has nothing else on offense, they are one dimensional and have no running game to support Lindley. San Jose State can bring the blitz until the Aztecs can prove they can run the ball.

SJSU is equally as bad as SDSU, because they nearly defeated FCS team Cal-Davis, and then last week was soundly defeated by Nebraska by 23. The Spartans are the opposite of the Aztecs in that they run the ball much better then their passing game, and their running game is not even that great.

This game will be similar to last weeks Notre Dame game, but look for San Diego State to pull this one out.

Final Score: San Diego State21 San Jose State 17

(1-1) #13 (2-0)

Sun Devil Stadium 7PM PT TV:

UNLV on the road? Not a good bet for them to win. Arizona State is ranked #13 and wants to keep moving up the rankings, and as bad as it is style points count, so ASU will want to put away UNLV.

The offense for ASU starts with quarterback Rudy Carpenter who in two games has 733 yards, and could be a Heisman candidate within a few weeks. So far the Sun Devil offense is dominated by the passing game, even though they have blown out both of their opponents.

It is too early to tell if their rushing offense is really good or not, so UNLV could focus on the passing game by blitzing to make the Sun Devils adjust to that. UNLV may have some success in that but ASU coach Dennis Erickson will adjust to the situation.

UNLV could have success if Omar Clayton can get the ball to Ryan Wolfe and Casey Flair, but look for the Sun Devils to provide extra help to those players. Frank Summers could be a key as well to keep the offense balanced in the running game, but if UNLV gets behind early then Summers could be taken away from the game similar to last weeks loss to Utah.

A quick fact about the Rebels have lost 21 of 22 on the road, and seven in a row against ranked foes.

Final Score: Arizona State 41 UNLV 13

Mountain West Football Week 2 Preview

#15 (1-0) (0-1)

Husky Stadium 12PM PT TV: Radio: KSL sports Radio

The question this week for BYU is not the BCS or by how much they may win by, but it is can BYU win a road non conference game. These games have given BYU trouble the past few years by losing to inferior teams and Tulsa comes to mind last year and Arizona in 2006. If BYU wins it will be their first non conference road win since beating Utah State by one in 2003 and their first road win outside of Utah since beating Cal in 2002. Current players are aware, but may not really care its been five years they will just know they have never won a road non conference game.

Last week Washington got hammered 44-10 at Oregon and looks to be a mediocre team at best. The player BYU needs to watch out for is quarterback Jake Locker aka ‘Tim Tebow lite,’ Locker had limited success last week by gaining 151 total yards passing and rushing. He is athletic and may be able to make plays against a green BYU secondary, but his running ability will be limited with the defensive line and line backers being the Cougars strength.

For BYU to win they need to get ahead early and remove the crowd from the game, because in Husky Stadium the 75,000 fans are very loud and can disrupt opponents and force offsides and false start penalties. Plus, with a coach on the hot seat and the home opener Washington will be primed and ready to go for this game against another ranked opponent.

Getting Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta the ball early to establish the passing game for big plays should be able to deflate the Huskies, and then BYU can just run it up the middle with Harvey Unga. BYU is the better team and should win, but in years past they have disappointed on these road games, but the offense is very mature and should be able to get everyone in line for this game and BYU will win by at least two touchdowns.

(1-0) (0-1)

Hughes Stadium 1:30PM MT TV: NONE Radio: KCOL 600

Exciting matchup with I-AA Sacramento State coming into Fort Collins. This game should give new Rams head coach Steve Fairchild his first win, and be able to work on some things against Sac State. The Hornets are coming off of an impressive 45-10 win in their opener, and were lead by two 100 yard rushers in Bryan Hilliard and Evander Wilkins who lead the way.

Colorado State will need to watch those two players and the entire rushing attack from Sacramento State, because the passing attack was non existent with just over 150 yards passing.

Colorado State should be able to win by 10 points or more, and getting quarterback Billy Farris more experience.

(0-1) (0-0)

Notre Dame Stadium 2:30 PM CT TV: Radio: XTRA Sports 1360

This game will be interesting, at least in my opinion, because last year Notre Dame was terrible going 3-9, but have a majority of returning players back with experience. This is the Irish season opener and they had the privilege of seeing San Diego State get embarrassed against Cal Poly, and the only excuse that can be mustered up is that the Aztecs were looking past Cal Poly to Notre Dame.

The positives for San Diego State is quarterback Ryan Lindley who threw for 354 yards last week. If San Diego State wants to be in this game he needs to have another strong weak, which is possible since last year Notre Dame’s defense was not very good.

The running game has to show up for the Aztecs to keep the Irish off guard, and last weak against the FCS team they only managed 27 yards. Brandon Sullivan will need to step up against Notre Dame and have about 75 yards on the ground to have Notre Dame respect the run.

This is a game that Notre Dame needs to show that it can dominate an opponent, Jimmy Clausen who had elbow surgery to help an injury that bothered him last year.  The main concern for Notre Dame is their offensive line that was terrible last year, so if the Irish offense is to have any success the offensive line must produce.

Look for Notre Dame to win this game, because San Diego State is not very good and they lost to I-AA Cal Poly at home last week.

(1-0) (1-0)

War Memorial Stadium 1:30PM MT TV: CBS PPV Radio: 740 KVOR or 1240 KFBC

This is an interesting early season conference match up, because Air Force is breaking in many new offensive players and Wyoming has a new quarterback Dax Crum.  Last week Air Force eased in the new players by destroying Southern Utah, and the running game looks to be their strength again by running the ball 76 times.  Expect Air Force to keep using the running game with new quarterback Shea Smith, but the Falcons will mix in some more play action passing to keep Wyoming offense.  Smith is the key to the Air Force offense as last week he had 91 rushing yards and 75 passing, and then also wide receiver Kyle Halderman who ran for 87 yards.

Wyoming is ready for this game, after having to come from to defeat Ohio in game one.  Wyoming has a very good rush defense, so the matchup between the Falcons option against the Pokes deffense will be one to watch.  Air Force most likely will get its yards, so Wyoming will need to limit the big running plays.

Wyoming on offense will be lead by running back Devin Moore 82 rushing yards with a score.  Moore is small in size but is a speed back who can break for a big play if he can make it outside.  The Cowboys also have new quarterback Dax Crum who played fairly well in week one by completing 64% of his passes, but also had two scores and two picks and lead the final drive for victory over Ohio.

Wyoming should be able to win this game, because they are at home and have a good rush defense which will limit what the Falcons can do.

(0-1) (0-1)

University Stadium 3PM MT TV: Radio: 770 KKOB

Both teams showed nothing last week, by rolling over to their respective opponents.  Texas A&M’s loss was worse by losing at home to Arkansas State.   New Mexico lost in week one to TCU 26-3 in a game that most thought could have been the best game last week in Mountain West play.

Quarterback Donovan Porterie did suffer a neck injury early in last weeks game and is going to start game two against the Aggies, but sometimes there is the after effect of such injury for players to play ancy.   Protection will be a key for the Lobos, also running back Rodney Ferguson will need to help control the ball in the running game.   Last week Ferguson was not as effective since New Mexico was down 16-0 in first nine minutes.

The Aggies have talent at quarterback with Stephen McGee who is a very capable dual threat quarterback, but in the new offense under MIke Sherman has McGee throwing first and running second in a more traditional offense.  Then at running back Texas A&M has Mike Goodson who ran for for 124 yards and two scores.  The Aggies look to be more of a run first offense with Goodson in the backfield who has the big play capabilities as he averaged 5.2 per carry last week.

This game should be an even matchup, but the edge has to be given to New Mexico because they are at home and will be up again to face a Big XII opponent in Texas A&M.

(1-0) (1-0)

Amon Carter Stadium 6PM CT TV: NONE Radio: 103.3 ESPN Radio

This in state matchup features a pretty solid FCS team in Stephen F. Austin who defeated Langston 56-19.  SFA is capable of scoring, but TCU is a much, much better defensive team then Langston.  The SFA Lumberjacks did nothing special in their opener they were just given good field position because of their special teams.

TCU will roll past SFA with Andy Dalton at quarterback and then star running back Aaron Brown both who should have a dominant game.  The one thing TCU needs to do is find a go to receiver to make this team more complete then it all ready is.

(1-0) #22 (1-0)

Rice Eccles Stadium 6PM MT TV: Radio:KALL 700 Sports

This game has the chance to get ugly.  Last year Utah was in disaray with quarterback Brian Johnson not at full health and tried to save the day in an ugly 27-0 loss to a UNLV team that won only 2 games last year.  Some ‘experts’ are saying Utah could still be living off the high for defeating Michigan last week on the road, but coaches have the team preparing just as they did against Michigan plus the fact that the Utes were embarassed last year.

UNLV has players, but they snuck by lowly Utah State last week and only played a vanilla offense against the Aggies.   UNLV has possibly the best receiving corp in the league with Ryan Wolfe and Casey Flair and the matcup between Ute defensive back Sean Smith and either of these receivers will be something to watch out for.  Then there is Frank Summers who bulldozed his way to over 100 yards last year, and toss in the fact that UNLV head coach came out saying that Utah was affraid to tackle Summers and only dived at his ankles adds fuel to this game.

UNLV has players on offense, but has yet to have a game where everything runs smoothly.  If Utah plays defense this week like last week then UNLV has very little chance to score or gain any yards.

Utah will be ready, because of last years embarassing loss and this is the first week Utah has been ranked in the top 25 since they finished the 2004 season ranked fifth in the coaches poll so the crowd will be rocking with a projected sell out at Rice-Eccless Stadium.  This game could resemble last years Wyoming game, when coach Whittingham heard that coach Joe Glenn guaranteed a win ove Utah.

Utes should win comfortably by two touchdowns or more.

Mountain West is negotiating a deal to get games on CBS

That is correct, Commissioner Craig Thompson is in negotiatons to try to get Mountain West football games to be on CBS, not Versus, The Mtn, or CBS College Sports, but on network television. This would be a national game and not regional like ABC does. Never wanting to rub it in, but I did mention this topic back when CSTV was bought by CBS, and again when the name changed to CBS College Sports Television. Commissioner Thompson mentioned this in his annual state of the conference in Las Vegas today on Tuesday.

Putting games on CBS would be HUGE for the league and from listening to the interviews this is still most likely 2 years away, because the South Eastern Conference television deal ends in 2009 and the SEC is looking to form their own television network just like the Big 10 and the Mountain West. The SEC most likely would not leave CBS but those negotiations would take priority. The only details available now would be that if Mountain West games were to be on CBS the games would be noon eastern, and that was a reason why Commissioner Thompson spurned ESPN because of early start times. However, this case would be different because it would be on a national audience, on network television, and most importantly easy to find on the dial.

SEC games currently air at 3:30 pm eastern and that would give the MWC a three and a half hour block for that game. Fans should not worry about those early games, because Fox Sports routinely airs Big XII games at 11am central time which also include 10 am for games played at Colorado University. This would only affect a few teams, mainly Utah, BYU, TCU, then perhaps what opponents are playing at Mountain West teams home or who is going to be good that year. Another, effect this could have would be in scheduling better home non conference games, also this would help recruting because these select games would be easy to see.

The last question should be about compensation, because the current deal is still in place for a few more years so this could be a side deal that would conclude the same time as the original deal. The down side could be that no additional deal is made because CBS all ready owns the broadcast rights, but either way this would be a very positive deal for the league.

2008 Football TV Schedule

Some of the non conference games have yet to be finalized for TV, because of they are road non conference games which will be either on one of the ESPN’s, ABC, Big Ten Network, Fox Sports, and CBS.

One notice is that 93% of the games are on Saturday, and while this is what the conference wanted, but I feel they should have one game a week on a Thursday or Friday night, because there are less choices for football. Yes ESPN has the Thursday night game, but who would not want another game on that night to see some pretty good football. Plus, The Mtn. is on DirecTv now so it’s ok to have these once a week games on Thursday or Friday.

First look leads me to some odd choices for TV, and this could be to the equal coverage game, or the fact that The Mtn. is now on DirecTv. One game that stands out is Navy @ Air Force, Navy has a new coach and Air Force’s team has lost most everyone to graduation. Then the other obvious odd choice is that the BYU v. Utah game has traditional been on The Mtn., BUT have had simulcast on Versus and what is now CBS College Sports. Yeah The Mtn, is on DirecTv but it still not on Dish or other cable providers across the country. This game should be on Versus or at least simulcast the game, but there is a time gap after the first Versus game that begins 2 and a half hours before the Utah and BYU game.

Check out the Schedule