Monday, September 7, 2009

State of the Conference

It was a great weekend for the conference with a pair of big upsets, wins in games that were supposed to be wins, and only a couple losses. Overall the conference went 6-2, and 2-2 vs. BCS teams. Here are the weekend's conference scores and analysis:




Air Force (1-0) - 72

Nicholls State (0-1) - 0



Easy win for the falcons. As usual, they did the bulk of their damage on the ground, racking up 474 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. The defense held Nicholls State to only 151 total yards as compared to Air Force's 576. If anything, the huge score itself turned some heads.



#20 BYU (1-0) - 14
#3 Oklahoma (0-1) - 13




A lot has been said about this game already. Bottom line is BYU pulled out the win and Oklahoma is left reeling without Sam Bradford and a loss. Overall this was a very sloppy win for the Cougars and both teams didn't play exceptionally well. A combined 22 penalties for 180 yards and 6 turnovers dominated the game, but BYU made just enough plays and avoided just enough mistakes to come out on top.





Colorado State (1-0) - 23
Colorado (0-1) - 17





Outside of the BYU win, this was the biggest shocker for the conference. The game was not as close as the score indicated.
Colorado State jumped out to an early 20-3 halftime lead. The story of the game was the Ram's run defense, holding the Buffaloes to only 29 yards. Undoubtedly this is a huge confidence booster for the Rams and another big win for the conference over a Big 12 foe.





UNLV (1-0) - 38
Sacramento St. (0-1) - 3






This could be the year the Rebels make a move up the conference ladder. They got the year started off right with a victory against FCS opponent Sacramento State. Rebel RB Channing Trotter rushed for 3 scores and the Rebel defense held the Hornets to only 228 total yards.





Wyoming (1-0) - 29
Weber State (0-1) - 22






The Cowboys pulled out a win before next weeks showdown with #2 Texas in Laramie. Colt McCoy must be salivating, figuring Wyoming gave up 322 passing yards to the FCS Wildcats. Wyoming did pile up 246 rushing yards and 434 yards of total offense. There is a lot to work on for the Cowboys this week to make next weekend's game respectable.




Texas A&M (1-0) - 41

New Mexico (0-1) - 6



The 77,887 fans at Kyle Field in College Station provided new Lobo coach Mike Locksley and his team with a rude awakening. The Aggies compiled 606 yard of offense and only allowed 2 Lobo field goals. There weren't a whole lot of positives for New Mexico to take from this game. They only committed 3 penalties in a hostile environment and did gain some quality experience for a team with only 17 seniors and 42 freshman on its roster.



UCLA (1-0) - 33
San Diego State (0-1) - 14



The Aztecs were unable to capitalize on a wildfire-like hot start that had them leading 14-3 near the end of the first quarter of this game which was nearly postponed due to local wildfires. The Bruins closed the game with 30 unanswered points and left new Aztec coach Brady Hoke with some unanswered questions of his own. A rushing attack that only tallied 39 yards and 3 interceptions doomed San Diego.