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Air Force (4-2) at Colorado
State (0-5)
5:30 p.m.
Why to Watch: The Falcons
are 4-2 and 3-1 in the Mountain
West, while CSU has staggered to
an 0-5 with an 0-2 league start.
However, this appears to be a
Ram team on the cusp of a
breakthrough, and it could come
this week at home. Colorado
State has lost three of its
games by six or fewer points,
and all of their losses have
been by a dozen or less. When
coach Sonny Lubick says his team
is working hard, he means it.
The Zoomies, meanwhile, are
playing good defense and running
the ball well under first year
head man Troy Calhoun. With
bigger games ahead, the Falcons
can’t afford a slip.
Why Air Force Might Win:
The Falcons have had three
different backs top 100 yards
during a game this year, so they
hit opponents with a ground
attack that doesn’t allow a
defense to focus on a single
player. Last week, it was Chad
Hall leading the way with 169
yards and two scores in the win
over UNLV. Air Force doesn’t
overwhelm teams with great
defensive statistics, except in
the one that matters, allowing
just 18 points a game, a factor
of their sound defensive
principles and a clock-chewing
running game that limits
opponents’ possessions.
Why Colorado State Might Win:
It’s tough to figure this team
out. There’s some talent with RB
Kyle Bell returning from his ’06
knee injury to top the 100-yard
mark twice. QB Caleb Hanie has
had his moments and is effective
when he stays away from the
interception, and as long as
Bell is running well, the
passing game is efficient. With
plenty of close calls throughout
the season, this is a team way
overdue to get a win. Playing at
home, it would be a perfect time
to break a 12-game losing streak
against the team that it began
against last year.
Who to Watch: Air Force
QB Shaun Carney doesn’t dazzle
with any part of his game. He’s
an efficient passer (61.9%), but
he doesn’t pile up the yards or
touchdowns. He’s a smart, tough
runner who can break a long run
here or there, but he doesn’t
get loose for big numbers every
game. What Carney does best is a
little of everything. He
minimizes mistakes, operates the
offense effectively and keeps
moving forward. His decision
making will have to be razor
sharp this week.
What Will Happen: The
streak is over. The Rams put it
all together and stifle the Air
Force ground game enough to
squeeze out a much-needed win to
temporarily get Lubick off the
hot seat.
CFN Prediction:
Colorado State 27 ... Air Force
20 ... Line: Colorado
State -4
Must See Rating: (5
Hideki Matsui's "collection" - 1
The Heartbreak Kid)
...
2
San Diego State (2-3) at Utah (3-3)
3:00 EST
Why to watch: By their standards,
San Diego State and Utah are coming off
impressive road wins, with the Aztecs
beating Colorado State and the Utes
holding on at Louisville. Utah, in
particular, has to feel good about the
second half of the season because of the
return to health of QB Brian Johnson,
the face of the program and a potential
all-league performer. With Johnson
calling signals and Darrell Mack running
true to his surname, the Utes put up 582
yards and 44 points at Papa John’s
Stadium on Friday. With two wins over
BCS teams that were ranked at one time
in September, Utah will be a dangerous
spoiler the rest of the way in the
Mountain West. Forget the fact that San
Diego State’s victim on Saturday,
Colorado State, hasn’t won a game in
more than a year. The Aztecs were just
thrilled to get a fast start in league
play, giving second-year head coach
Chuck Long his first road victory at the
school. Kevin O’Connell is a
multi-dimensional quarterback with
all-conference upside and the tools to
keep his team competitive in plenty of
games, but can he keep carrying the load
all by himself?
Why San Diego State might win:
O’Connell is a genuine difference-maker
capable of putting a team on his
shoulders and carrying it to the tape.
He’ll do damage on the ground against a
soft Utah run defense, while with Brett
Swain, the leading receiver in the
Mountain West. Fueled by four
interceptions from first-year CB Vonnie
Holmes, the Aztecs also lead the league
in turnover margin, the sort of thing
that could be the seed for upsets in
October and November.
Why Utah might win: Johnson is a
genuine difference-maker capable of
putting a team on his shoulders and
carrying it to the tape. Just like
O’Connell, Johnson can beat defenses in
a multitude of ways and make those
around him better. Even better for the
Utes, San Diego State houses one of the
nation’s worst defenses, which allows
493 yards and almost 34 points a game.
While the emergence of Mack has made
Utah balanced on offense, the Aztecs are
not, a significant advantage for the
guys in red.
Who to watch: Mack was an
afterthought before the season began;
however, ever since expected starter
Matt Asiata suffered a season-ending
injury, he’s risen to the occasion with
three 100-yard efforts in the last four
games, all wins. Mack has been a vital
cog in the Utes’ recent resurgence, a
role he’ll continue to perform at the
expense of a bad San Diego State
defense.
What will happen: O’Connell will
make some plays on offense and finish
with decent numbers, but it won’t be
nearly enough to overcome a Utah offense
that’s beginning to find a rhythm.
CFN Prediction: Utah 30 …
San Diego State
17 ...
Line: Utah -14
Must See Rating: (5 Hideki
Matsui's "collection" - 1 The
Heartbreak Kid) ... 2
TCU (3-3) at Stanford (2-3)
5:00 EST
Why to watch: Just how
big was Stanford’s upset of No.
2 USC last weekend? So big that
Appalachian State’s defeat of
Michigan in the opener suddenly
doesn’t seem so special. The
Cardinal rocked the sports world
and QB Tavita Pritchard will
forever be a footnote in college
football lore, but where does
the program go from here?
Although it’s evident Stanford
is moving in the right direction
under Jim Harbaugh, it still
needs to build on the victory in
order to avoid being a one-hit
wonder. Beating TCU and Arizona
in the next two weeks would be a
great start, and the type of
outcomes that would make
Harbaugh a front-runner for
Pac-10 Coach of the Year. The
Horned Frogs continue to be one
of this year’s milder
disappointments. Pegged as a
possible BCS buster before the
season began, they’re hovering
at .500 after a loss to Wyoming,
and in danger of falling
completely out of the Mountain
West race. DE Tommy Blake has
been missed, and ever since
halftime of the Texas game, TCU
has been an ordinary team,
especially on offense.
Why TCU might win: The
attitude and the number of media
requests may have changed since
last Saturday, but this is still
Stanford, a team that had lost
its first three Pac-10 games by
at least 24 points. The offense
is last in the conference is
scoring and next to last in
total yards, while starting QB
T.C. Ostrander may not be back
from the seizure that sidelined
him last week. The Cardinal
will have problems moving the
ball on an aggressive Horned
Frog D that’s allowing 16 points
a game and has more than twice
as many interceptions as
touchdowns allowed. This has
the potential to be the ultimate
hangover game for Stanford.
Why Stanford might win:
You think the Cardinal is
confident after becoming the
first team in six years to beat
USC in the Coliseum? Harbaugh
will prevent that emotion from
bleeding into overconfidence.
The game should slow down
considerably for Pritchard, who
was thrust into the impossible
situation of facing the Trojan
defense in his first career
start. Stanford has shown some
toughness on defense over the
last two weeks, collecting ten
sacks and five interceptions,
and will corral a 91st-ranked
TCU offense that’s been
misfiring all year.
Who to watch: Playing
through pain all season long, LB
Clinton Snyder has evolved into
the emotional and physical
leader of an improving Stanford
defense. The team leader in
sacks and tackles for loss from
the strong side, he’ll have in
his crosshairs RB Aaron Brown,
easily TCU’s best offensive
weapon. Slow down Brown, and
the Horned Frogs don’t score.
What will happen: All of
a sudden, it’s newsworthy what
happens to Stanford. TCU might
be having problems, but there’s
a reason why the Cardinal was
such a monster underdog to USC.
Stanford’s offense didn’t do
anything against the Trojans,
and it’ll struggle this week.
CFN Prediction:
TCU
23 … Stanford 16...
Line: TCU -5.5
Must See Rating: (5
Hideki Matsui's "collection" - 1
The Heartbreak Kid)
... 2
BYU (3-2) at UNLV (2-4)
9:30 p.m.
Why to Watch: The Cougars
are a perfect 2-0 in MWC play
and have established themselves
as something of a surprise this
year, even though they’re the
defending champs, with early
wins over Air Force and New
Mexico. This begins a stretch of
four games against lighter
opposition that should take them
from being in the race to the
unquestioned favorite to repeat.
UNLV, meanwhile, is hoping to
use a home contest as a way of
snapping out of a tough stretch
that has featured four losses in
five games. A win puts the
Rebels on the Mountain West map,
and after playing well at times,
with no real results, this would
go a long way to showing that
things are on the right track.
Finally.
Why BYU might win: The
Cougars are throttling opponents
through the air, with the strong
arm of soph Max Hall triggering
the nation’s sixth-best pass
offense. Hall is averaging 352
passing yards a game and has a
bevy of targets to choose from,
while the Rebels are having
problems getting picked apart by
the better passers. Defensively,
the Cougars have been stout
throughout the year, which is
good news against a Rebel attack
that’s heavy on the run from
Frank Summers and QB Travis
Dixon. Stop UNLV from running,
and you stop UNLV.
Why UNLV might win: The
Rebels have played relatively
well at home, notching a win and
a near-miss against Wisconsin
earlier in the year, and it’s
due for a huge win. Dixon had a
strong game against Air Force
last week, throwing for 274
yards and rushing for 56 more,
and has been just strong enough
to keep the Cougar defense on
its heels. Improving every week,
he’s just good enough to pull
off the upset if BYU’s defense
isn’t sharp. Even though the
Rebels have lost four times,
they haven’t been overly
generous on defense and have the
personnel to keep the lid on
BYU’s passing attack for long
stretches.
Who to watch: The Rebels
would like Dixon to have a
productive day running and
throwing, but much of what he
does depends on whether Summers
can get rolling. His last three
games have proven he can do
that. Last week’s 100-yard
effort versus Air Force was his
third consecutive day over the
century mark. Summers had 190
yards against Utah and 120
against Nevada. In those four
games, he scored four times.
What will happen: UNLV
will be close, but not close
enough. Hall and the Cougar
passing game will get its yards,
but the Rebels will do a great
job of bending, but not
breaking. However, the defense
will stop Summers just enough to
make Dixon have to win the game
late. He won’t be able to do it.
CFN Prediction:
BYU 31
...
UNLV
23...
Line: BYU -10.5
Must See Rating: (5
Hideki Matsui's "collection" - 1
The Heartbreak Kid)
... 2 |
