On Saturday, Utah State scored 70 points against Weber State and many Aggie fans are pleased with the results. Many Utah fans were also pleased with the 70-7 thrashing the Utes gave to the Wildcats the week before. This week, there is a lot weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth in Ute country after the Utes overtime loss to the Oregon State Beavers. OSU, lost to an FCS opponent, Eastern Washington in week 1 of the season. That same week, North Dakota State defeated Kansas State, the definding Big 12 champions.
I don't put a lot of stock into what happens when a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision meets a team from the Football Championship Subdivision, even if a team from the lower division wins. It makes for great college football drama. It is usually not a good test for the team in the upper division. These games are normally scheduled for two reasons. For the school in the lower division, it's a chance for a big 6-figure pay day and a test against competition much better than what they normally face. For the school in the lower division it normally presents a chance to get players into a game who normally would sitting on the bench, a chance to give them some real game-time experience.
However, the old adage about any given Saturday is true. Oregon State and Kansas State learned that lesson the hard way. I suppose that Utah and USU coaches should be commended for not allowing their teams to take Weber State lightly. After USU's 70-6 thrashing of Weber State, many fans on both sides are asking, "why do we even schedule these games?" Why indeed.
Aggie fans, your team will face a real challenge next week on the road against David Fales and San Jose State. While Weber fans will see the 'Cats in a winnable game the week after next when Sacramento State comes to town. You may even see the 'Cats put up a real fight against McNeese Sate on Saturday.
If you have not yet seen it, here is the ending to the Wisconsin @ Arizona State game where the Sun Devils won by 2 points. For those of you who do not know the rule, the official can breifly stop the clock to repsot the ball after the quarterback, "gave himself up" by setting the ball on the turf to center it. After a fumble, the clock is supposed to stop so that the officials can reset it. This was not just a mistake by the officials, but also a mistake by Wisconsin. They should have had an offensive lineman pounce on the ball when it was on the turf just to be certain. But if I have a decent kicker, I am not concerned about kicking from the right hash from 32 yards out. I spike the ball right there. A lesson for the future, I suppose. The game should have ended with Wisconsin attempting a game-winning field goal.
Players of the Week
Oregon State 51 Utah 48
Utah MVP: QB Travis Wilson
Utah State 70 Weber State 6
USU MVP: QB Chuckie Wilson
WSU MVP: LB Spencer Unga
Washington State 48 Southern Utah 10
SUU MVP: QB Aaron Cantu
Conference Players of the Week
PAC-12
Oregon State QB Sean Mannion
FBS Indy
Notre Dame QB Tommy Rees
MWC
Boise State RB Jay Ajayi
Big Sky
Montana QB Jordan Johnson
Power Rankings
Pac-12
1. Oregon
2. UCLA
3. Stanford
4. Washington
5. Arizona State
6. Oregon State
7. Arizona
8. Utah
9. USC
10. Washinton State
11. California
12. Colorado
FBS Indy
1. Notre Dame
2. BYU
3. Navy
4. Army
5. Old Dominion
6. New Mexico State
7. Idaho
MWC
1. Utah State
2. Boise State
3. Fresno State
4. San Jose State
5. San Diego State
6. Wyoming
7. Air Force
8. New Mexico
9. UNLV
10. Colorado State
11. New Mexico
12. Hawaii
Big Sky
1. Eastern Washington
2. Montana
3. Montana State
4. Cal Poly
5. Southern Utah
6. North Dakota
7. Sacramento State
8. Weber State
9. Northern Arizona
10. Portland State
11. Northern Colorado
12. Idaho State
13. UC Davis
Beehive State QB Power Rankings
1. Chuckie Keeton, Utah State
2. Travis Wilson, Utah
3. Taysom Hill, BYU
4. Aaron Cantu, SUU
5. Austin Chipowetti, Weber State
Post-season projections for Utah's conferences
PAC-12
Oregon--BCS Championship
UCLA--Fiesta
Stanford--Alamo
Washington--Holiday
Oregon State--Sun
Arizona State--Las Vegas
Arizona--Kraft Fight Hunger
Utah--New Mexico
USC--Poinsettia (As a replacement for Army)
MWC
Utah State--Las Vegas
Frenso State--Poinsettia
Boise State--Hawaii
San Diego State--Armed Forces
San Jose State--New Mexico
Wyoming--Potato
Now my prediction for the BYU/Utah game...
Utah has had BYU's number since the two started playing in different conferences, especially in the 3rd quarter. If BYU is going to win this game, they need to make the proper half-time adjustments. This could be where the re-hiring of Robert Anae makes the difference, and we shouldn't see BYU's quarterback coming out after halftime in a daze this year. Overall, this game will be decided when BYU has the ball. BYU will need to have the ability to take advantage of Utah's week secondary. As Utah will also attempt to take advantage of BYU's weaknesses on defense. But this will likely be a low-scoring thriller. And the final will be 17-14 BYU.
No comments:
Post a Comment