Making the statement...again

Big Sky Conference Review...I mean whew!

Weber State 36 Portland State 29

Two weeks ago in Fort Collins, Weber State snatched defeat from the hands of victory.  Now they get their redemption in Portland.  The Vikings took the lead from the Cats late in the game.  But Weber State takes the game late in the 4th with a Tim Toone Touchdown reception.  Not the best game the Weber defense had this season, but you take the wins where you can get them!

Montana 41 Northern Arizona 34

The Lumberjacks get a late FG to send the game into OT only to be stalled by the Grizzly defense.  It must have given the roof of the Walkup Skydome the best workout it has had in years.

Western Washington 33 Idaho State 22

This was not a Division II team beating a Division I FCS team.  This was simply a good football team beating a team that can't get it together this year.  The competition has been fierce and what the Bengals need is a week off.  Western could compete in the Big Sky and if NAU or NCU drops out, they have my vote.  I would love to take a road trip to Bellingham.  Besides, we do not have a "Western" in the conference. 

Eastern Washington 56 Sacramento State 30

The Eagles ran away with this one in the second quarter.  It is like Hornet Stadium is a home away from home for them as they have won three straight in Sacramento.  Of course the Hornets gave the ball away four times.  And this year, they had a difficult time Taiwan Jones...slightly.

Montana State 25 Northern Colorado 7

The bears finally got a touchdown in Big Sky play late in the forth quarter.  Otherwise, it was all Bobcats in Greely.

Offensive Players of the Week: Weber State WR Tim Toone, Eastern Washington RB Taiwan Jones
Defensive team of the week: Montana State
Game of the week: Weber State 36 Portland State 29

Power Rankings

1. Montana
2. Weber State
3. Eastern Washington
4. Montana State
5. Portland State
6. Northern Arizona
7. Sacramento State
8. Northern Colorado
9. Idaho State

WAC Review...Way to go, Idaho! (From Toy Story)

Boise State 49 Bowling Green 14

People are thinking that the Smurfs are slacking because they could only manage 7 touchdowns against this lower-level MAC team. 

Missouri 31 Nevada 21

The Wolfpack is becomming the team that people play when they need a confidence boost.  That is what happened to Colorado State last week.  Although Missouri is undefeated, this game really helped QB Blaine Gabbert step out of the shadow of Chase Daniel.

Utah State 53 Southern Utah 34

The Aggies were only ahead by a touchdown at halftime.

New Mexico State 20 New Mexico 17

Yes, State won in Albuquerque.  But don't get so excited.  So far MWC 4 WAC 2.  Other than Boise State, no one is beating teams from the power conferences.  (Look at Fresno State, for example)  The two WAC wins vs the Mtn were against San Diego State and New Mexico.  Not exactly the perennial MWC BCS busters.

Cincinnati 28 Fresno State 20

Arguably, the Bulldogs are the best 1-3 team in the country.  Their defense could not hold the Bearcats out of the end zone in the fourth quarter.  Neither could the buy a touchdown when the game was on the line.  Same script as you had in Wisconsin two weeks ago, only the location and the antagonist have changed in this sequel.  True, not many teams could play Wisconsin, Boise State and Cincinnatti and win all three, let alone one.  The big loss to BSU is the meat in the sandwich between coulda and shoulda.  For this team, it is best not to dwell on this.  I think the Dogs season will be a true failure if they can not bounce back from this considering the remaining schedule.  Even if they loose to Hawaii and Idaho, FSU should still be bowling this December.

Idaho 34 Northern Illinois 31

OK, the Idaho Vandals are now 3-1.  What?!  Ida-who is winning?  Let me get used to this!  Not quite as shocking as the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl, or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA finals, but it is not what we are accustomed to.  What's next, the Seattle Mariners in the World Series?  And they have a better chance at making a bowl game then a lot of other perinnial celler-dweller teams that you would think are better...like Wyoming, UNLV and UTEP.  These teams that have been to a bowl game more recently than Idaho.  In fact, to the best of my knowlege and research, Idaho has NEVER been bowling.  Now, I am not projecting Idaho to get to the Rose Bowl, but  a December in Albuquerque or Boise is a very real possibility.  They just need 5 more wins in the remaining 8 games.  The Idaho Vandals are the most improved team in the west this year.

San Jose State 19 Cal Poly 9

The Broncos had a 9-6 lead at the half.  The Spartans finally woke up, not wanting to join Virgina and Duke as BS teams that lost to CS teams this year.

After all this, I was tempted to give the defensive team award to idle Louisiana Tech.  WAC teams need to learn to play defense.

Offensive Player of the Week: San Jose State RB Lamon Muldrow
Defensive team of the week: New Mexico State (Hey, it's the WAC...where defense is a rumor)
Game of the week: Cincinnatti 28 Fresno State 20

WAC Power Rankings

1.  Boise State 
2.  Hawaii
3.  Idaho
4.  Fresno State
5.  Louisiana Tech
6.  New Mexico State
7.  San Jose State
8.  Utah State
9.  Nevada

Mountain West

The MWC is not only 4-2 against the WAC with 3 scheduled for next week, they are 2-2 against the Big XII and 2-1 against the ACC and 1-0 against the Big East.  The bad news, 0-2 against the PAC-10.

TCU 14 Clemson 10

If you do not follow College Football, you may not know that they refer to Clemson Memorial Stadium as Death Valley.  The reason is that many championship dreams die there.  Not so for the TCU Horned Frogs.  They played some power football in the fourth.  Taking the lead, first and then stopping the Tigers twice in the Red Zone on downs.  Too bad their BCS hopes rest in the hands of teams the caliber of Utah State.

BYU 42 Colorado State 23

BYU fans have become the most spoiled of the decade.  The Cougars win by 19, and people are upset that they did not win by 30.  Overrated teams do not beat previously unbeaten teams by three touchdowns.  The Cougars have some work to do before their next conference home game...TCU...but this was a good enough bounce back game for this team.  Remember what happened last year?  The Cougars never really recovered from that flop in Fort Worth last year.  This is not last year's team.

Utah 30 Louisville 14

This is not the Louisville that won the Orange Bowl a few years ago.  This is not the Utah team that won the Sugar Bowl last year.  Guess who has fallen farther?  Not the Utes.  These Utes will be OK.  The problem is that they have to travel to Fort Worth and to Provo this year.   They need composure and confidence.  A week off will help.  They have some challenges in the next few weeks.

Air Force 26 San Diego State 14

The Aztecs get two late touchdowns.  Does that qualify as a moral victory?  Too little, too late does not work in my book.  It was a good enough game for the Falcons even if they allowed to garbage time touchdowns.  After all, they play Navy next week.  They just got a little head start on the game plan.  And that's forgivable if they can escape Annapolis with a win next week.

Wyoming 30 UNLV 27

Wyoming gets the late score to shock the Rebels.  This may have cost the Mountain West a chance at a 6th Bowl Eligible team in case someone breaks into a BCS bowl this year.  UNLV is now 2-2 and likely only has 3 winnable games left on the schedule this year.  Too bad for Mike Sanford.  Wyoming will have to pull off an upset or two to get to a bowl game as well.

Offensive Player of the Week:  BYU RB Harvey Unga
Defensive Team of the Week: TCU
Game of the Week: Wyoming 30 UNLV 27

Power Rankings

1.  TCU
2.  BYU
3.  Utah
4.  Air Force
5.  Colorado State
6.  Wyoming
7.  UNLV
8.  San Diego State
9.  New Mexico