Another week is here and gone and that means another quick look at the big picture items in the league.
New Mexico and Hawaii play musical chairs at quarterback
This QB stat line by New Mexico is just awful, yet they won 38-35. pic.twitter.com/nwyUQHk0Sj
— MWCConnection.com (@MWCConnection) September 21, 2014
This is from our recap of the Hawaii game where Chris Turner takes a look at the quarterback situation:
You would think after being pulled in favor of Jeremy Higgins last week, Ikaika Woolsey would come out playing for his job and put on a better, improved performance against Colorado. Unfortunately for him, and the Hawaii offense, it was quite the opposite. Woolsey lead the 'Bows on just two scoring drives (that ended with field goals), and finished the day with 64 yards on 41 percent passing. When he was at quarterback, Hawaii punted six times and turned the ball over once before Norm Chow decide to bring in Jeremy Higgins again to start the second half.
[...]
Finally, Taylor Graham, the starter in last year's season opener vs. USC, came into to clean up what was left of the Hawaii offense. Graham finished 3/5 with his final pass intercepted by Colorado to seal the game for the Buffs.
Here's the final stat line for all three quarterbacks who took a snap today:
Utah State just looked lost against Arkansas State
Give credit to Arkansas State for being able to win this game by making plays when they needed to. As for the production not dropping off as much with Darrell Garretson in place of the injured Chuckie Keeton, well we were wrong. Garretson did a decent job throwing the ball by completing 27 of 46 with 247 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
However, the offense as a whole was unable to take advantage of the defense which forced Arkansas State to turn the ball over four times and seven punts. The Aggies had 11 penalties for 100 yards and the running game once again did not perform well, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. Finally, the protection on a game-winning field goal gave up a block to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame the defense gave up a 24-yard pass and the offensive attempt on 4th-and-6 was an ill-advised deep pass into heavy coverage.
Nevada had the best week in the West
Yes, the Nevada Wolf Pack were off but they might have just positioned themselves as the best team in the West division. San Diego State played well against Oregon State for just over three quarters but ultimately were not able to keep pace. Transitive property is a tricky game but Nevada needs to be given some credit for how Washington State was able to play against Oregon late Saturday night.
Fresno State wins, Fresno State wins!
Yes, it was just a win over a winless FCS Southern Utah team, but this win is very important for the rest of Fresno State's season. The Bulldogs got a much needed confidence boost in a big win. The passing game as a whole played well and there was even a Zack Greenlee sighting and he might even looked the best quarterback of the night.
The running game was dominated which rushed for over seven yards per carry and gave plenty of backups playing, and playing well.
While the win was great the defense allowed over 300 yards but that is to be expected, at least somewhat, when Southern Utah was done as much as they were through out the game.
The main concern is that the coaching staff is no closer to choosing a starting quarterback than they were prior to this game.
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