Mountain West Conference
San Diego State at Air Force
Time for San Diego State to prove that they are making steps in the right direction, that they are going to be able to rebuild. The Falcons are reeling from the loss of QB Tim Jefferson. A little more than a half in Albuquerque and a start against a defense like SDSU should be a way to break in Connor Deitz. The main hope for the Aztecs is that next week, AF travels east to take on sister service academy, Navy. Air Force is a 17 point favorite. I'm not betting on this one. Air Force 34 SDSU 17.
UNLV at Wyoming
UNLV handled Hawaii's run and shoot in the second half last week by controlling the clock. Wyoming's run and shoot has been a more of a run dead offense. It's like taking my minivan into a drag race. It takes two or three years to get a run and shoot offense going. Athletes have to be recruited to make it work. UNLV should be able to keep the Cowboy offense off the field. Omar Clayton should have another 'Player of the Week' type of game. UNLV 35 Wyoming 14
TCU at Clemson
This is the MWC statement game of the week. Last week the ACC got the best of the MWC. BYU did not take the Seminoles seriously enough to win. TCU and Clemson should both be weel prepared and both respect each other. That should make for a good game. TCU has the talent to win it. TCU 23 Clemson 17
Colorado State at BYU
BYU did not take FSU seriously enough last week and were unprepared for that game. They should not make the same mistake this week. If they take Colorado State lightly, they will be 2-2 before halftime. CSU has been preping for this game since they walked out of Boulder a victor in week 1. They nearly paid the price against Weber State. BYU, in order to win like they did in the day, has to be ready every week. Bronco Mendenhall knows this and his assistants know it. Do the players on the field? We'll Find out. BYU 43 CSU 19
Louisville at Utah
This is not the same Louisville team that took the Big East by surprise a few years ago. But the Utes need to be ready. They need to take care of the ball. They will have a sell-out crowd behind them. That should help motivate them to clean up their game and get them to the quick start that they had in week 1. Utah 27 Louisville 12.
New Mexico State at New Mexico
I am not certain that the best team from the Land of Enchantment this year will be on the field in this game. Is it basketball season yet? UNM 21 NMSU 14
WAC
Missouri at Nevada
Sorry to my readers. This game is already over. Little surprise that Mizzou won. More on it later
Fresno State at Cincinnati
Fresno had a close one at Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. Believe it or not, that was the easier game. I think that the 'Dogs are a bowl team this year. Cincicnatti is too, and it is colored Orange. Fresno will have to wait another week to get on the winning track. Cincy 27 Fresno 17
Idaho at Northern Illinois
NIU is 2-1 and one of those wins was at Purdue. Not to shabby for a MAC team. They also lost a close game at Wisconsin. That puts them on par with Fresno and ahead of Idaho--this year. NIU 28 Idaho 6
Boise State at Bowling Green
BSU looks to be cruising right to a BCS bowl right now. Their toughest games are behind them. I think that they will slip up somewhere. I think it would be sweet if it was in Logan, but that is later this season. But this is a similar game. A road game that the Broncos should win easily. But I suspect that the Falcons had this game marked on the schedule since day one of spring practice. That may be over reaching. BSU 60 BGU 10
Southern Utah at Utah State
The SUU Thunderbirds would love to win one in Logan, but USU should win this easily. USU 35 SUU 10.
Cal Poly at San Jose State
The Broncos are a very good FCS team, and the Spartans are hungry after two disappointing losses. This is a game where the FCS team could beat the FBS team. It would be bad for the WAC--making it difficult for them to fill their bowl slots if SJSU looses. This game looks interesting, but San Jose State will likely win. SJSU 28 CP-SLO 24
(San Louis Obispo to San Jose would be a nice road trip!)
New Mexico State at New Mexico
See MWC preview
Big Sky
Only one road trip per week from now on. They would get to redundant.
Road trip of the week:
Montana State at Northern Colorado
You can get from Bozeman to Greely and stay on the Interstate. And it is quite a scenic trip for an all-interstate trip. East on I-90 from Bozeman to Billings. It's all mountains with just a few small valleys and towns sprinkeld in. This is the best of Big Sky Country. From Livingston, the road follows the Yellowstone River which is the longest un-dammed river in the entire world...as far as I know. Remain on I-90 until the road reaches Sheridan Wyoming. Then on I-25 the rest of the way. The Front Range, when it is not croweded by sprawl looks as good today as it was 100 years ago. And there is very little sprawl between Sheridan and Greely.
The game. Northern Colorado did not look much improved against Eastern on offense in last week's defensive slug fest. The defense was adequate enough. So far this year, the Bobcat offense has struggled as well. This figures to be another game where the bus trip will be better than the game. If the Bears have truly improved, then they will win. NCU-12 MSU-6
Weber State at Portland State
Two years ago, these two teams met at PGE park for the highest scoring game in NCAA history. This game will not quite have those kind of fireworks. Ron McBride's defense has improved over two years ago...otherwise they would not have been able to hang with Colorado State or Wyoming. And the 'Cats have already seen the Run and Shoot this year. The Cat's have Trevyn Smith and should be able to control the ball and keep the Viking offense off the field. The Cat's are also without Cody Nakamura, a big weapon. WSU 52 PSU 38
Central Washington at Idaho State
ISU has opened the season with three consecutive road games, the first two against FBS teams. They finally get a home game against Division II Central Washington. This does not mean an automatic win for the Bengals. The Wildcats are ranked 4th in DII and are undefeated. ISU has to be tired and thinking that they have a laugher. I may be the only one outside of Ellensburg that believes this...CWU 35 ISU 20.
Montana at Northern Arizona
Nothern Arizona showed that they are at least as good as they were last year, and held off the T-birds furious comback attempt last week. But they have to hold off the furious Grizzly attack this week. Likely that it will be the Lumberjacks that need to make the furious comeback this week. Montana 35 NAU 20
Eastern Washington at Sacramento State
This looks to be an interesting game. The Eagles are ranked, but are on the road. Thier offense was also aneimic last week. Western Oregon played them close for 3 quarters. Meanwhile Sacramento State has scored a total of 26 points all season. EWU 27 CSU-SAC 23
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