Air Force
A stat that jumped out to me in the broadcast was that Air Force was plus 22 in the turnover margin last year and this year the Falcons are at minus two. It did not help that the Falcons gave up the ball five times against Utah, in Saturday's game. Air Force had big plays early in the game that were then fumbled which could have blown the game open early. Air Force actually passed for more yards then Utah, 201 to 148 yards, and out-gained the Utes overall. The game came down to turnovers, and had Air Force had at least one less they could have beaten Utah.
BYU
An off week for BYU is a good chance for them to work on an offensive game plan.
Colorado State
Another strong performance by the Rams, yes it was against New Mexico but they still had a good game. The first half for the Rams was very good with Pete Thomas tossing for just over 200 yards as the Rams ran off with a 31-10 lead. The Rams have an outside shot to get to six games as they take on BYU, Wyoming, and San Diego State to end the season. Even if they do not get to six wins this year has been an improvement over last year, and the Rams have been developing young talent for the future.
New Mexico
Who know if Mike Locksley will make it passed this season. After Saturday's loss his Lobo career record is 1-19, and it looks like New Mexico will go 0-12 this year. The Lobos were out of the game early as Colorado State rolled off 21 first quarter points. An injury to starting quarterback B.R. Holbrook who was then replaced by Stump Godfrey who ended up leading the Lobos in rushing for the game. Holbrook received an MRI to asses the extend of his injury.
San Diego State
Congrats to the Aztecs who are going to their first bowl game since 1998, and their first bowl as a member of the Mountain West. Running back Ronnie HIllman was held to a season low 44 yards on the ground, however running back Brandon Sullivan helped out in the goal line rushing attack as he had three touchdowns all from one yard out. The Aztecs had a little bit of bad luck with a blocked punt that lead to a Wyoming score, and also Wyoming used some trickery to recover an onside kick. The Aztec passing game was their normal self as Ryan Lindley passed for 365 yards and three touchdowns.
TCU
Unlike Utah, TCU was able to get out to a 21-0 lead and never look back in their late night win over UNLV. TCU did their thing with a balanced passing and rushing attack that combined for just over 500 yards. No single runner had a big day, but rather seven players had 18 yards or more with the game high going to Ed Wesley who had 64 yards.
UNLV
Even though UNLV head coach Bobby Hauck said the team played hard, they did not really play all that well. They had no answers for TCU. The loan bright spot was receiver Michael Johnson who had six catches for 67 yards.
Utah
This was the first real test Utah had since week one when they beat Pittsburgh in overtime. The Utah defense was able to make some big plays by forcing five turnovers. Had Utah not been able to get all five of the turnovers they most likely would have lost the game. Even with those five takeaways, Air Force had two chances to win late in the game, but Utah's defense was able to stop both attempts. The offensive game plan for Utah did not seem all that coherent, as they wanted to take advantage of the difference on the line to run the ball up the middle. Utah ran the ball 51 times and were quite successful, but the passing game seemed to be a lot of short passes within 10 to 15 yards. Perhaps this struggle is what Utah needed heading into the big showdown against TCU this upcoming Saturday.
Wyoming
Wyoming needed this win to stay on track for a bowl game, but they were not able to hold on. The Cowboys were able to use special teams to stay in this game against San Diego State by blocking a punt and recovering an onside kick, but in the end the San Diego State passing game proved to be too much. Wyoming quarterback Austin Carta-Samuels had a good day with 186 passing and 51 rushing yards with a combined four touchdowns.