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Week 7 Mountain West Football Preview

This weeks there are four games and they are all conference games this week.

#13 (6-0)(2-4)

War Memorial Stadium 12PM MT TV: Radio: KALL 700 Sports or 1240 KFBC

This is an intriguing matchup, because last year Wyoming coach Joe Glenn made a comment at a luncheon where he said the Cowboys would take it to the Utes. Then word made its way west on interstate 80 to coach Whittingham who took that to hear and blew out Wyoming 50-0 and did an on side kick with the Utes up big. Then Coach Glenn gave the middle finger salute to the Utes sideline, and it was caught on television, classy.

The Wyoming fans who are only maybe ten feet away from the field most certainly will have a nice gesture for the Utes. Those expected gestures will just be more interesting, because the last time the Utes played in Wyoming they were embarrassed in 2006.

This is the perfect game for Utah to finally play a complete game and show their dominance. The Utes need to dominate Wyoming, because of national perception hurts the MWC because of the national guys say oh you just beat Wyoming or insert your MWC team here. A win similar to what BYU pulled against Wyoming is what Utah needs to do to move up in the polls.

Wyoming has issues at quarterback, and as of today the quarterback looks to be Karsteen Sween again. So far this year the Pokes quarterback play has been terrible and teams have been bringing pressure to the quarterback and force him to make plays. The results on that have been poor for Wyoming when pressure is applied. The only way the Pokes can stay close is that they have a decent running game, and unless that breaks out and then force the Utes to be honest on defense.

The Ute defense is way too good to allow Wyoming to get off and score points, but the Pokes hate the Utes so do not discount Wyoming getting on the board early.

The Ute offense will be too much with their running game in Darrel Mack and Matt Asiata who shuold be able to break through the solid Cowboy defense.

Final Score: Utah 38 Wyoming 13

(5-1) (3-2)

Hughes Stadium 1:30PM MT TV: Radio: 103.3 ESPN Radio or KCOL 600

Could this be a trap game for TCU? This game takes place before the first big Mountain West showdown between TCU and BYU on this upcoming Thursday. Probably not since TCU's coach Gary Patterson will have his team ready this week.

TCU most likely will be without quarterback Andy Dalton who has missed the last game and a half with a right knee injury. As of yesterday Dalton's status is uncertain, even though coach Patterson said Dalton could have thrown few passes in last weeks win over San Diego State.

Marcus Jackson who has been the backup this year has been playing very well, and he brings a different element to the Horned Frog offense with his running abilities.

This game could be interesting because of the weather, there have been reports of possible rain and snow to a high of 65 and sunny. Weather could be an issue, especially since it changes quite frequently in Colorado Springs.

Colorado State's hope in this game is to get the same performance from Gatrell Johnson III who had 191 yards last week against UNLV. Obviously TCU's defense is much better then Vegas, and it will be tougher for any of the Rams backs to be too successful. The Rams will need to make plays in the passing game with Billy Farris, because TCU will stack the box against the run and force CSU to make plays in the passing game or dare the Rams to run against eight lineman.

TCU should have no problem winning this game, because they want to try to reclaim the conference title and it most likely will take an undefeated conference record to do so.

Final Score: TCU 35 Colorado State 17

(3-3) #8 (5-0)

LaVell Edwards Stadium 4PM MT TV: Radio: 770 KKOB or KSL Sports Radio

This game for BYU could be similar to TCU in being a trap game, but probably will not since the team is so focused on going to the BCS. As bad as it may seem this is going to be the toughest game to date for BYU this season, which is sad since this is a 3-3 New Mexico team that has been good and very bad this year.

New Mexico will finally have running back Rodney Ferguson after he missed two games, and he will be the key if New Mexico is to pull of the upset. The Lobos are coming off its most complete performance of the season, a 24-0 victory over Wyoming last Saturday. Redshirt freshman James Wright carried 15 times for 120 yards while the Lobos' defense held the Cowboys to 201 total yards.

The addition of getting Ferguson back is even more valuable because of Wright being able to perform against a pretty good Wyoming defense. Quarterback play is still an issue with the inexperienced Brad Gruner, so look for BYU to stack the line and try to make either back beat the defense.

BYU had a so-so win over Utah State, and if BYU plays like they did in quarter two through four then New Mexico will have a chance. The Cougars had over 120 yards in penalties which gave Utah State multiple chances in keeping drives alive.

That semi-scare last week should have woke up the Cougars who will want to come out and prove they are a top 10 team and get back at voters who dropped them down after the Utah State team.

The New Mexico 3-3-5 defense is a bit wacky but the Cougar offense which uses three to five wide out sets should be able to neutralize their defense, and look for Max Hall to have a big day passing against this defense. If BYU gets off to an early lead the Lobos in the past few years have just rolled over

Last years game was close, but it was on the road and with this game being in Provo, expect BYU to continue their home dominance this weekend. The key stat in this game is that New Mexico gives up 27 points per game while BYU averages 41 per game, expect BYU to be at least in the mid 30's in this game.

Final Score: BYU 38 New Mexico 20

(3-2) (1-4)

Qualcomm Stadium 6:30PM PT TV: Radio:740 KVOR or XTRA Sports 1360

The only game of the weekend where their will be nice weather as this game is being played in lovely San Diego. The weather will be the only thing that is good about this game, Air Force will run their option offense all over a San Diego State team that is poor on defense and most likely will not have the discipline to def3end the option.

San Diego will need to find a way to control the ball and keep the ball away from the Falcons, but that would require a running game with a pulse. The Aztecs have only two running backs that have over 100 yards on the season, and as a team have 249 per game. Granted the Aztecs have been behind in most games and need to throw but that averages out to be 49.8 rushing yards per game.

Quarterback for the Aztecs, Ryan Lindley, had a subpar game for the first time and as always mentioned will need a spectacular game to keep them in this.

The Falcons are very happy to be playing the Aztecs, so that they can amend their mistakes last week against Navy. Air Force should not have a problem running the ball in this game, because the Aztec defense is terrible. Air Force will just run the ball and dominate the time of possession giving San Diego State very little time to have the ball to make any plays.

Final Score: Air Force 35 SDSU 10