Week 9 Review

34 31

Like I said earlier that New Mexico would win in a close one, as they did winning 34-31 last Thursday night. The Lobos capitalized on 5 Falcon turnovers and 3 in the fourth quarter to come from behind to win. This was the Lobos second straight week of trailing in the fourth quarter and able to come back to win. The Lobos again were lead by RB Rodney Ferguson who had a big day with 2 TD's and 146 yards for the game. This win makes New Mexico bowl eligible, and most likely secures them a spot in their own bowl game the New Mexico Bowl, however there might be restrictions on attending own bowl games. Air Force had the lead going into the fourth quarter but they had those 3 fumbles that kept stalling the Falcons offense and eventually gave up the field position for New Mexico to score 6 fourth quarter points to win the game. For Air Force standards their running game was a bit below average by 'only' rushing for 210 yards Thursday night. The Air Force team seemed to lack their big playmaking ability that they have shown all year, and the amount of turnovers, 5, also was not they way the Falcons play.

29 24

In a back and forth game the Wyoming Cowboys came from behind in the 4th quarter to beat UNLV at home. The Cowboys held the Rebel rushing attack to only 43 yards and also created 2 turnovers as well. Wyoming should have put this game away early but they were stalled 3 times in the first quarter and settled for 3 field goals, plus there also was an interception by Karsteen Sweed that was returned for a UNLV score in the third quarter. Wyoming again for the second straight week platooned QB's with Sweed and Ian Hetrick, but this week it eventually paid off with the win. Both team had 2 turnovers in this contest, but the main difference came down to Wyoming allowing the Rebels to stay close from the early field goals and the pick six, plus their defense that slowed the Rebel ground attack that has been pretty good all year long.

27 3

This was the first dominant win for Utah at Colorado State in a very long time, typically playing in Fort Collings is difficult for the Utes for as long as I can remember. This week the Utes dominated the Rams by having their first game since 2002 with 2 one hundred yard rushers in Darrell Mack and Ray Stowers. This Rams offense also was shut down to only 3 points, which is quite amazing since they averaged 23 points per game. The Ute defense was the highlight of the game by having the Rams go 1-13 on third down conversions and the rushing attack was well below the Ram average with 135 yards. Plus the Utes held Gatreell Johnson III to under 100 yards, and he has been a stud the past few weeks. It looks like this young and inexperienced defense is doing quite well. As for the Ute offense the running game as mentioned was impressive, but their passing game which has been lacking still only put up 130 yards and a pick, but Brian Johnson did throw 2 TD's. The off week should help Brian Johnson's shoulder be much closer to 100%, also this win put the Utes at 6-3 and making them bowl eligible for the 5th straight year.