Five Things Learned From Week 1, and A Look Into Week 2

Sound the bells football is back! Week one is over, and week two is now approaching there are a lot of lessons that were learned from week one. Some good,some bad but overall there is a lot to take away from the opening week of the footballs season. Here are some takeaways from the start of the season.

1. Boise State and Utah State are very good, but not invincible: The Broncos and Aggies are the two teams that will be the class of the Mountain West. However both teams played very lackluster week 1 games. The Aggies played a Southern Utah team who was up pretty much the entire game until a late punt return by Andrew Rodriguez boosted them to a 12-9 win. Chuckie Keeton had a QBR of 7, if the Aggies want to reach a NY6 bowl he needs to play better. The offense needs to play better as a whole.

Boise jumped on Washington early in what was Chris Petersen's first trip back to Boise since taking the Huskies job after the 2013 season. The Broncos jumped to a 16-0 lead, and had to hold on to the very end to win 16-13. Washington who was playing with a true freshmen at quarterback hung around despite being down 16-0 early in the first half. The Huskies fought back, but missed a late field goal allowing the Broncos to escape with a win. The Broncos played well but their offense needs to play better if they're going to finish undefeated.

2. San Jose State is a serious threat in the West: The Spartans put the beatdown on a very good New Hampshire team. The Spartans had a very good recruiting class and it's transitioning on the field. Joe Gray and Tyler Ervin lead the offensive explosion, with Ervin scoring three rushing touchdowns.  If they continue to play at the level they played in their first game then watch out because they could win the West.

3. Wyoming has some big time issues: The Pokes were manhandled by North Dakota, and that's a nice way of putting it. North Dakota controlled both lines of scrimmage, with running back John Santiago rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns. The Pokes only ran four offensive plays in North Dakota territory in the first three quarters. If the Pokes want to go Bohl-ing this year, their offense and their rushing defense needs to be fixed.

4. Colorado State passing offense is still explosive: Yes the Rams/Aggies played Savannah State, but that aerial displayed showed was a thing of beauty. Nick Stevens put on a show throwing for 289 yards and five touchdowns. Hollywood Higgins had only one of those touchdowns but still had 89 yards receiving on seven receptions. Teams will have issues with this passing offense due to how deep the receiving core is. The Rams face a tough test this week and will know where their offense stands after facing a very good Minnesota team.

5. Hawaii will be tough to beat at home: This is a much improved team from a year ago. However questions still remain with his Rainbow Warrior team. One thing is for sure, they will win several games at home this season. Road teams will need to jump out to big leads if they don't want this team fighting back late. A new offensive attack with a new defensive scheme is a welcomed change for this team. Max Wittek gives this passing offense some explosiveness if he stays healthy. Hawaii will need to steal a road game or 2 if they want to save Norm Chow's job along with making a bowl game.

The second week features some big games along with the first conference game, here are my quick takes.

Colorado State loses a close game to Minnesota 27-24; The Gophers will contain the passing attack of Colorado State enough for them to control tempo of this match up. Minnesota is a tough matchup and this game will be a classic, however I think they prevail on a late field goal.

San Diego State upsets California; The Aztecs go into Berkeley and steal a big win over the Cal Bears. The Aztecs will control the clock and their defense will make enough plays to contain the air raid offense.

Utah State vs Utah, along with BYU and Boise State will be a couple of the best college football games of the year; These games will be classics, with the latter being a shootout. These two matchups are too even to pick a score and a winner. If the Aggies and Bronco offenses can get it going these should be good games to watch. I'm jealous of whoever gets to watch these games in person.

This should be another good weekend of Mountain West football, find a spot on the couch or in the stands and check out some football. Have a good weekend football fans!