Mountain West Media Days Recap: Day One

Day one of Mountain West Media Days is behind us and there is a lot to discuss. Awards were announced and teams from the Mountain division were featured. Here are my takeaways:

• Even though his team was not featured today, Nick Rolovich found a way to entertain us. He provided some comedic relief in his gifts for the coaches. Jeremy has us covered on a bit the gifts and the new uniforms Hawaii unveiled.
• Boise State is expected to be really good. The team had eight selections to the preseason all-conference team. San Diego State, Wyoming, and Utah State came in second with three selections each.
• Boise State came away with two of three major preseason accolades. Brett Rypien was selected for offensive player of the year and Avery Williams was the choice for special teams player of the year.
• Wyoming safety Andrew Wingard was the choice for preseason defensive player of the year.
• Fresno State did not get enough love. Yes, they were selected to win the West, but the Bulldogs only placed two players on the first team and nobody from their solid offensive line was recognized.
• Coaches really like Saturday afternoon games...
• In related news, Craig Thompson said the night games aren’t going anywhere. It looks like we should all expect lots of late nights for years to come.
• Carl Granderson might be the highest draft pick from the Mountain West in 2019. Granderson is getting a ton of love from NFL scouts, a solid 2018 season could propel the Cowboy up the draft boards.
• We are still talking about Josh Allen a lot. Bohl discussed Allen and the impact a first round draft pick has had on their program.
• Coach Davie discussed his suspension during spring ball a bit. He also spent time talking about going away from the triple option and how players “got dulled” by running it.
• Time for Rypien to prove it. Rypien accomplished his first goal as quarterback of the Broncos this past season when he won the Mountain West championship. Rypien has always made it clear that he want to lead the Broncos to a NY6 bowl. Can Rypien do it in his final season?
• The Boise State-Colorado State game continued to be a point of discussion. It was a hard loss for Colorado State and one that Bobo will never forget. Harsin almost sounded frustrated with the way the Broncos played that game.
• Social media and its impact on recruiting was discussed. Harsin made it point to let everyone know that they have students that help with it.
• Utah State was selected to finish fourth in the Mountain. I was surprised by this, with all of the uncertainty surrounding the Rams, I thought the Aggies would be a trendy pick.
• I didn’t hear a whole lot of discussion on the change for the title game. This may be a bigger topic tomorrow when Fresno State is up.

Like most media days, there was not really any earth shattering news. Outside of Boise State, it seemed like there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the rest of the teams in the Mountain division. Most teams in the division have major question marks. What were your takeaways from the first day?