Mountaintop View 8-21-23. MW Preview, Aggie’s gritty scrimmage, Cowboy long-snapper, Falcon QB, Team Captains.

It’s Monday, and we are back at it. Fall camp is morphing into the football season and we have actual football games on Saturday thanks to Hawaii and Week 0! Through it all, the content keeps going. Check out our original coverage and what we can find from the world wide web below.

The Athletic’s Mountain West Preview.

Chris Vannini is at it again. He thinks Boise State “is back”, and that the bottom of the conference will be better than last year, noting Colorado State, Nevada, and Hawaii as teams likely to improve. Also, he speaks a lot about San Diego State figuring out things on offense, which should help the defense. It will be interesting to see what QB play looks like, as teams return only 6 starters from opening day last season, and he is really high on Taylen Green. Somewhat surprisingly, his top tier is Boise State, SDSU, and Air Force and the Falcons will benefit most from doing away with divisions. The quotes from an MW coach are interesting.

Aggie’s second scrimmage is gritty.

Utah State’s final scrimmage wasn’t as polished as Coach Anderson would have wanted, but it was a gritty, back-and-forth affair. He liked that the players came out with energy after going hard all of fall camp. The backup QBs had the most explosive plays and they missed on most of their deep shots, but the offense executed well in the redzone. The defense was in the backfield consistently and stopped the run well. The kicking could have done better, but there is always room for improvement.

Tales of a long snapper.

Carson York’s journey to becoming a D1 long snapper was a practical one; his older brother was a kicker and needed someone to snap him the ball. It’s an underappreciated but vital job on the team. It’s hard to stand out on film because the highlights are simply doing what you are supposed to, but York got on the Cowboy’s radar by being the top scorer at Kohl’s Texas Showcase. The article goes into some of the physical and mental aspects of the position. His workload during practice is lighter than the offense and defense, but he does get to be coached directly by Coach Bohl.

Falcons still haven’t named a starting quarterback.

Troy Calhoun is always secretive when it comes to naming replacements. You may remember a few years ago when he did not announce his new DC, instead leaving everyone to see who was in the box in their first game. Similarly, the Falcons still have not named a starting quarterback. Three quarterbacks are getting first-team reps, and the rest of the first team is seeing more reps too because of that. With that being said, presumed starting left tackle Kaleb Holcomb has been out with a back injury, and it doesn’t sound like he’s close to being ready.

Rams and Aztecs name captains.

On the horizon:

• Later today: Utah State Biggest Questions #2: Defensive Line
• Later today: A new MWC Recruiting Roundup with the latest news, offers, and commitments.
• Later today: 2023 Preseason Power Rankings
• Coming Tuesday: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Week 0 Stories
• Coming Tuesday: 2023 Fresno State Team Preview
• Coming Tuesday: Hike’s Peak Podcast Episode 10: Talking about the 2023 season
• Coming Tuesday: Reacts Survey: Week 0
• Coming Wednesday: Peak Perspective: What will make the 2023 successful for the Mountain West?
• Coming Wednesday: 2023 Preseason Bowl Projections
• Coming Wednesday: Mountain West and National Polls: Preseason