Mountain West Football Week Four What We Learned

Air  Force

The offense will never change regardless of who is the coach is.  Air Force is a team that can play with any team in the country with their ball control run option offense, and a defense that is very good.  Do not be surprised if Air Force knocks of Utah or TCU. 

BYU

The Jake Heaps era is under way and well it did not go terrible but it did not go great.  Heaps looked very good on some throws and others he looked completely lost.  He should get better with time, and an easier schedule on the way.  Running back J.J. DiLuigi is the teams best offensive weapon; against Nevada he rushed for 67 yards and had 56 receiving. BYU just needs to get him the ball more in the running game.  

Colorado State

What is there not to say they got their first win in twelve attempts: this was a win over a bowl team, a come from behind victory, and was the teams home opener.  The uniforms were just ugly with the pumpkin orange tops. Pete Thomas was a beast with an amazing stat line of 29-37, 386 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. UCLA transfer Raymond Carter showed up in a big way with over 100 yards rushing and receiving on the day. Plus, he had three touchdowns of his own. Lets just see if the Rams can keep it up.

New Mexico

The Lobos did have their first lead on the season when up 7-0 over UNLV, but then they gave up 45 straight points. Freshman Taren Austin played the whole game at quarterback and was unimpressive with 177 yards, two picks, and one touchdown.  There is not much to say other then why does Mike Locksley kick a field goal when at your own 25 yard line with 20 seconds left.  Why not try a play for the endzone to practice a scenario where a touchdown is needed to win a game.  OK I may have laughed my way through that last line, but seriously take the chance to do something productive.

San Diego State

I am becoming a huge fan of the Aztecs and Brady Hoke, because they beat a solid Utah State team. I know Utah State had been as bad as the Aztecs recently but they are much improved.  Also, when was the last time the Aztecs blew a non-FCS team out (or any team).  Stud freshman Ronnie Hillman showed to be human with 89 yards rushing and one score, but the hero was quarterback Ryan Lindley throwing to Vincent Brown.  Lindley threw for 362 yards with 177 yards going to Vincent Brown.  The Aztecs, in my opinion, have the best quarterback and receiver combo in the league; do not be surprised if they are able to upset Utah or TCU. I am officially on the Aztec bandwagon and drinking the Kool-Aid even though I should know better.

TCU

Besides falling for yet another fake punt and having a slow start the Horned Frogs are really good. TCU blew out SMU even though they did not play all that well Friday night. Running back Ed Wesley did leave with an injury but it seemed minor and that did not have an effect on the outcome. TCU will need better games if they want to beat Air Force or Utah.

UNLV

A Rebel blowout is a rarity these days and a good stat to know is that wide receiver Michael Johnson for UNLV had three receiving scores for the first time since 1996. UNLV's defense showed up and create three turnvers which helped them have short fields and just take out a bad New Mexico team.  The running game is still an issue and will need to be looked at for future games.  

Utah

Jordan Wynn is all right and there is no quarterback controversy in the game. The defense just stifled San Jose State by holding them to 172 total yards.  The Utes did not fumble at all which is a good sign, but the running game which has some good depth is has yet to have a 100 yard rusher all season.  Besides that Utah did what they were to do which was to dominate this game.

Wyoming

If Wyoming were ever able to get to touch the ball in the second half they could have beaten the Falcons.  This team was much different then the one that was blew out by Boise State the week prior.  As expected the Falcon offense ran at will over Wyoming, but the surprising stat was that Wyoming quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels had only 66 yards passing.  The Falcon pass defense is good, but they were on in this game.  The running game shined for Wyoming with Alvester Alexander; he is the first back in a long time to be a real threat for Wyoming.

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