By
Pete Fiutak
Air Force Spring
practice starts March 14, Spring Game April 13
The big spring question is ... How much longer will the
Fisher DeBerry era go on for? The beleaguered head coach has been able
to weather the storm of controversy over religious and racial issues,
but he might have a hard time surviving if his team finishes with a
losing record for a third straight season. The Mountain West is getting
better and better, but Air Force is still more than competitive with the
mid to lower teams. This has to be the year DeBerry proves he can beat
the bigger boys.
The most important position to watch is ... Safety. The
Falcon pass defense wasn't a prize last year allowing 255 yards per
game, but at least the safeties could tackle. The only way Air Force
gets better is with improved defensive play which will only come with
more playmakers emerging. Leading tackler Bobby Giannini returns but
third leading tackler John Taibi and fourth leading stopper Denny Poland
are gone.
Spring attitude... Outslug and outscore. The defense might
not be good enough to slow anyone down, but the offense sure should be
able to put points up on the board. It's QB Shaun Carney's show to run,
and it wouldn't be a shock if he led the attack to well over 30 points
per game. It might be this simple an equation; 35 should get Air Force
the win, but anything less will likely mean a loss.
BYU Spring
practice starts March 20, Spring Game April 15
The big spring question is ... What kind of jump will BYU
make in year two of the Bronco Mendenhall era? The slide under Gary
Crowton was brought to a stop with a solid season under Mendenhall going
6-6 with a close bowl loss to Cal. The offense started to rock and roll
against BYU style averaging 462 yards and 33 points per game, but the
defense has to make big strides for the Cougars to compete for the
Mountain West title. Expect defense to be the emphasis this spring.
The most important position to watch is ... Wide receiver.
Yeah, defense will be the focus of spring ball hoping to improve with
seven starters returning, but finding receivers for John Beck to throw
to will also be vital after losing Todd Watkins. Tight end Jonny Harline
led the team in receiving and running backs Curtis Brown and Naufahu
Tahi finished third and fourth respectively, but there has to be more
production out of the wideouts. Nathan Meikle is the leading returning
wide receiver catching 36 balls for 292 yards last year.
Spring attitude... Consistency. The Cougars were too enough
offensively to hang 62 on Air Force and 50 against TCU in an overtime
loss, but only scored ten against San Diego State. The defense was just
as flaky. With the coaching staff knowing what it's doing under
Mendenhall, expect better all-around play as long as Beck plays as
expected.
Colorado State
The big spring question is ... Will Colorado State ever, ever
get its groove back under Sonny Lubick? It's been three seasons since
the 10-4 season that showed that the Rams were still the power team of
the Mountain West, but there was a good comeback last year going 6-6
with a blowout Holiday Bowl loss to Navy. This is Lubick's 13th year in
Fort Collins, and while his job isn't in an jeopardy, challenging for
the conference title again could be a must or else he might be on the
hot seat in 2007.
The most important position to watch is ... Linebacker. Caleb
Hanie will be fine replacing Justin Holland as the starting quarterback,
and Dustin Osborn and Johnny Walker should pick up the slack lost by
star receiver David Anderson, but the Rams aren't going anywhere if they
don't figure out how to stop the run. CSU finished 117th in the nation
in run defense allowing 223 yards per game hurt by poor tackling and
worse linebacker play. Courtney Jones is gone from the middle, but Jon
Raalford and Jeff Horinek return on the outside. They, along with Nathan
Pauly and Sedric Patterson, have to improve the defense.
Spring attitude... Be more physical. The Rams got shoved all
over the place on defense and only ran for 122 yards per game on
offense. CSU was at it's best when it was beating teams up and pounding
the ball at will, so the faster there can be more balance to the attack,
the better off the team should be this year.
New Mexico
Spring practice starts March 27, Spring Game: April 22
The big spring question is ... Can the defense get back to
being dominant? The Lobo formula worked tremendously well using a
pounding running game and a nasty defense to pound out tough wins. New
Mexico allowed a mere 18.7 points per game in 2004 and 19.5 per game in
2003 (before getting tagged for 55 against Oregon State in the Las Vegas
Bowl), but gave up almost 30 per outing last year. Worse yet, it was a
senior dominated defense that was supposed be among the best in the
Mountain West.
The most important position to watch is ... Running back. You
don't immediately replace a runner like DonTrell Moore who carried the
offense for 4,973 rushing yards and 51 touchdowns and caught 92 passes
for 857 yards and eight scores over the last four years. The only other
back last year to get an appreciable amount of carries was Adrian Byrd,
and he's also gone. Kole McKamey is a good quarterback, but he can't
carry the offense alone.
Spring attitude... Demand that several newcomers step up. The
loss of Moore, WR Hank Baskett, and most of the top defensive stars will
provide a very easy excuse for a big-time down year, but head coach
Rocky Long has gone through adversity before. No one will be expecting
much of anything out of the 2006 Lobos, so the pressure is off. It'll be
up to several new starters to show what they can do and make this the
Mountain West's deep sleeper.
San Diego State
Spring practice starts March 21, Spring Game: April 15
The big spring question is ... How will Chuck Long be as a
head coach? Only time will tell, but the hope will be for a more
consistent offense under the guy who guided so many juggernaut Oklahoma
attacks. He has a solid quarterback in Kevin O'Connell and a next-level
talent at running back in Lynell Hamilton, but it might take a while to
get everything rolling the way he'll want to because ...
The most important position to watch is ... Wide receiver.
The defense needs to make the biggest improvement after an awful year
against the run, but priority one will likely be to find replacements
for Robert Ortiz and Jeff Webb. Chazeray Schillens has to establish
himself as the new number one, while more production is needed out of
Brett Swain, Justin Amaral and DeMarco Sampson.
Spring attitude... They're not that far away. The team wasn't
really that bad under Tom Craft, but it couldn't get over the hump in
four years and kept suffering from injuries and failed expectations.
Long inherits a team that might just need a little bit of tweaking to
become a player in the Mountain West.
TCU
The big spring question is ... What do you do for an encore?
TCU took the Mountain West by storm in its first season in the league,
and it'll be next to impossible to come up with a similar season.
Consider everything that happened to the Horned Frogs. They lost their
starting quarterback to a season-ending injury, and got better. They
beat Oklahoma and lost to SMU, they won two overtime games to start
their Mountain West season, and they ended up winning all five games
decided by a touchdown or less. While they made most of their own
breaks, it's hard to have everything go right two years in a row.
The most important position to watch is ... Offensive
lineman. Four of the five starters are gone including All-Mountain West
performers Michael Toudouze and center Stephen Culp, while strong guards
Shane Sims and Ben Angeley will also be missed. Fortunately, first-team
All-MWC tackle Herbert Taylor is back to provide a wee bit of stability.
Spring attitude... Do the little things right. 11 starters
are gone from last year's team including several all-stars, so there's
plenty of room for new players to step up and shine. Even so, there are
a lot of great players to get excited about including QB Jeff Ballard,
DE Tommy Blake and RBs Robert Merrill and Aaron Brown. For TCU to keep
on dominating, it needs to do everything right again like not turn the
ball over (it finished first in the nation in turnover margin), and get
better at not committing penalties and get better on third downs.
UNLV Spring
practice starts March 21, Spring Game April 14
The big spring question is ... Can head coach Mike Sanford do
anything with the defense? Known as an offensive wizard coming over from
Utah, Sanford did a decent job with the parts he had to work with.
However, the defense got worse and worse as the season went on finishing
up by allowing an average of 44.2 points per outing over the last five
games. Only five starters return, so there's a lot of work to be done. A
lot.
The most important position to watch is ... Defensive end.
Leon Moore was the team's most productive end, and he's gone, a is Isaac
Watts on the right side and top backup Mario Hill. The secondary needs
even more help from the front four to generate more pressure, and it's
likely not going to get it unless someone emerges right away this
spring.
Spring attitude... Get the offense rolling. The quarterback
situation has to be settled right away with Shane Steichen needing to
stay healthy and be effective. If that happens, the Rebel offense could
be one of the league's biggest surprises with nine starters returning
including 5-6 RB Erick Jackson and rising receiver Casey Flair.
Utah
Spring practice starts March
25, Spring Game April 22
The big spring question is ... Was the 38-10 Emerald Bowl win
over Georgia Tech a harbinger of things to come? The Utes were seen as a
disappointment in the first season after the Urban Meyer/Alex Smith era,
but they weren't all that bad with three of the five losses coming by
four points or fewer and a nice two-game win streak to close things out.
Enough talent returns on both sides of the ball to reasonably expect to
be a close second in the preseason Mountain West rankings, if not the
lead dog in the pack.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback. Hey,
Brett Ratliff. Thanks for running for 112 yards and a touchdown and
throwing for 240 yards and four scores in the win over archrival BYU,
and thanks much for throwing for 381 yards and four scores in the win
over Georgia Tech. Now take a seat. It'll be interesting to see how the
quarterback battle goes once injured starter Brian Johnson gets back
into the mix. Johnson was far better than he got credit for throwing for
2,892 yards and 18 touchdowns and running for 478 yards and eight scores
before tearing his ACL against New Mexico. He won't be ready to go full
speed until April, so it's up to Ratliff to shine all through spring
ball.
Spring attitude... Win the Mountain West. There are holes to
fill, but not as many as TCU has to deal with. There's no reason the
offense can get even better and more consistent, while the defense
should still be one of the league's best. Expect the Utes to feel the
season will be a major disappointment if they don't win the conference
title.
Wyoming
Spring practice starts March 20, Spring Game April 13
The big spring question is ... What was that? Everyone's
darling coming into the 2005 season, Wyoming crashed and burned with a
4-7 record, a six game losing streak to close out the year, and
turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Expectations might have been too high
and in the end, Wyoming still was Wyoming, but that doesn't mean there
wasn't some reason to expect the team to be better. Now, no one will be
expecting much making the Cowboys a potential sleeper as long as there
aren't nearly as many mistakes and the defense can play far better than
it did over the final four games.
The most important position to watch is ... Quarterback.
Corey Bramlet had a stunningly bad season throwing 18 interceptions with
14 in the final six game losing stretch. Even so, he was a veteran who
knew how to lead the attack, and now he's gone along with playmaking
receiver Jovon Bouknight. Jacob Doss was a big-time high school passer
who has the arm and mobility to be a playmaker, but he'll have to battle
with Stinson Dean for the job. The key for the new starter: don't turn
the ball over.
Spring attitude... Let everyone take you lightly. There
aren't any gaping holes to fill and there are still plenty of players
around from the team that beat UCLA a few years ago in the Las Vegas
Bowl. This isn't a good enough team to win the Mountain West title, but
there's more than enough returning experience to hope for a bowl bid and
a top four finish.