Air Force
The Falcons take home their first Commander-In-Chief trophy for the first time since 2001 and became bowl eligible for the third straight year under Troy Calhoun. The Air Force offense woke up after a slow first quarter to blow up for 21 second quarter points. It helps to not play another top 10 team.
BYU
BYU finally showed an offense by scoring 55 points with quarterback Jake Heaps leading the way his best game by far with 294 yards, two scores and a most importantly no interceptions. This win keeps BYU on track for a bowl game. Fellow true freshman Josh Quezada had his best game as a Cougar with 65 rushing yards and three scores. Looks like this hyped freshman class is finally starting to pay dividends.
Colorado State
Even though the Rams lost to San Diego State, they are possibly the most improved team in the Mountain West from the first half of the season to the second half. They limited Aztec quarterback Ryan Lindley to under 200 yards and force two picks. The Ram defense was able to slow down the Aztec offense by forcing five turnovers, one of which was returned for an 88 yard touchdown return.
New Mexico
Stop the presses! The Lobos won a game! They beat Wyoming 34-31 for their first win since they beat Colorado State in late 2009. The Lobos were able to force three turnovers and actually had a productive day running the ball. The Lobos ran 219 yards and were led by Kasey Carrier who ran for 97 yards and a score. The Lobos outscored Wyoming 20-10 in the second half to get the win.
San Diego State
The offense has not been that great as of late, and yesterday added to that. Ryan Lindley had one of his worst games as an Aztec by passing for 171 yards and two interceptions. Then the offense had another three fumbles for a total of five giveaways. The bright spot was on running back Ronnie Hillman who rushed for 151 yards and a score. The Aztecs are 7-2 and are finding ways to wins, which is something have had problems with in the pass.
TCU
This team is very good. They destroyed a Utah team that now looks to be overrated, but as SI.com's Stuart Mandel said it does not matter if Utah was 5th or 25th beating a ranked team by 40 points on the road is impressive. TCU's offensive line pushed around a Utah defensive line that was leading the Mountain West in sacks, the Ute secondary was getting burned all day and Utah could do nothing to slow down TCU. Their defense was just as impressive, they brought pressure against Jordan Wynn and did not allow the Utah running game to get going at all. Oregon looks to be the only team to be able to slow down (and keep up with) Oregon's offense, lets just hope they get the chance.
UNLV
The Rebels are looking toward 2011. They played future starter Caleb Herring came in late in the first quarter to take over for Omar Clayton. Herring is more suited for the pro-style offense that UNLV will shift toward more next season. Herring went 8-for-21 with 109 yards, two picks and a touchdown. Nothing went right for UNLV today as they were out played in all aspects of the game.
Utah
The Utes were just beaten even worse then last year when ranked lower. It now seems obvious that Utah being ranked 5th was high after the loss the Utes dropped to 15th in the coaches poll. Utah had only maybe five to ten plays on offense and defense that could be deemed a success. First down killed the Utes as they barely moved the ball and Jordan Wynn looked lost and out of place. While TCU did provide pressure against Wynn to force him to make bad throws, even when he was not being pressured he was missing receivers. The running game could get nothing done, but it seemed to me that the Utes were determined to pass the ball and not establish the run. The Utes have good backs and never gave them the chance early on to make a difference. The Utah secondary that runs single coverage was getting burned all day. This was the worst performance during the Kyle Whittingham era, and yes that includes the 27-0 loss at UNLV in 2007.
Wyoming
Ouch. This season has not been kind to Wyoming, their first half of the schedule included games against Texas, TCU, Air Force, Boise State and Utah. A bowl berth would be a stretch because of the tough non-conference schedule, but a loss to New Mexico was not in the cards. The only positive was that the running game took off for 392 yards with three different players rushing for over 100.
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