WAC Conference Roundup - Week 2

WAC conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.

Boise State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Idaho | Louisiana Tech
Nevada | New Mexico St | San Jose State | Utah State

WAC Game of the Week
Texas A&M 47 ... Fresno State 45 3OT
In a wild game with several major momentum swings, Fresno State got into the end zone on Bear Pascoe's third touchdown catch of the game in the third overtime, but Tom Brandstater's two-point conversion attempt failed to click to allow the Aggies to escape. The Aggies appeared to have the game won in regulation after Jorvorskie Lane rumbled in for a five-yard score with under two minutes to play, but down 29-22, the Bulldogs went 80 yards in ten plays with Brandstater scrambling before finding Pascoe for a three-yard score with five seconds to play. A&M got a field goal on its overtime possession, and then the fun began as Fresno State appeared to have the ball down at the one as Marlon Moore dove just before getting into the end zone, lost the ball on to the Aggies before crossing the goal line, and then got a reprieve after the play was called back for a roughing the passer penalty. The Bulldogs ended up kicking a field goal, and then the two teams traded short touchdown runs in the second overtime.

WAC Player of the Week
Hawaii QB Colt Brennan completed 34 of 40 passes for 416 yards and six touchdowns and led the Warriors with 23 yards on three carries in the win over Louisiana Tech.

Conference Roundup

Boise State … Boise State can beat most teams straight up, but it can't afford to make mistakes against teams that now take the game seriously. BSU is a name game now, meaning teams like Washington will bring their A games. Four turnovers, nine penalties, and not doing much on third downs isn’t going to get it done, especially when the offense is sputtering. Taylor Tharp made too many mistakes and not enough big plays to take advantage of all the chances the Huskies provided.
Fresno State … Fresno State might have lost to Texas A&M, but it might have discovered its quarterback. Tom Brandstater came up with a gutty effort, making things happen just to get into overtime, and fighting back from a big hit to stay in the game and keep pushing the Aggies. He wasn't getting any help from the running game, and the defense wasn't stopping the Aggie ground game, so this was all on Brandstater. While he can't regress against Oregon next week, this could be a big step for the program.
Hawaii … Hawaii is going to throw it all the time, but it also came up with a little bit of a running game as Leon Wright-Jackson ripped off 53 yards with a 47-yard scoring dash. However, that was it. The Warrior only got nine carries out of the tailbacks and didn't even pretend to establish the ground attack for any stretch of time. This team is going to be all about Colt Brennan bombing away, and with the way the receivers are making plays, there's no reason not to. However, the big problem will continue to be the defense. This group couldn't slow down Louisiana Tech, and is going to have major problems down the road against anyone with some balance, or a crisp midrange passing game.
Idaho … Idaho did a great job of forcing fumbles, with Cal Poly putting it on the turf seven times and losing four, and Deonte Jackson showed for the second straight week that he's a force to revolve the offense around. The problem was the passing of Nathan Enderle, who struggled with his consistency and didn't do enough to put the game away. To have any shot against Washington State, there has to be more offensive balance. It can't all be Jackson, but if the defense continues to force turnovers, this will be an interesting year.
Louisiana Tech … Hawaii might not have much of a defense, but it was still a major plus to be able to crank out 223 rushing yards and get Zac Champion and the passing game going. Derek Dooley took plenty of chances to try to pull off the win, and there might be some second guessing for going for two in overtime, but his defense wasn't stopping Colt Brennan and the passing game, and Champion was on a little bit of a roll. Even in a loss, this was a positive performance going into the road games at Cal, Fresno State and Ole Miss.
Nevada … The Wolf Pack have to avoid being demoralized. First it gets run over by Nebraska, and then it gets its heart ripped out by Northwestern. Playing Nicholls State and UNLV in the next two weeks should help matters, but while the offense should continue to roll after tearing up the Wildcats, at least yardage-wise, now the defense has to show up. It couldn't hold up late this week and didn't do anything to dictate the action when Northwestern started taking control.
New Mexico State … NMSU might have lost to New Mexico, but the team was competitive and had a shot late. Don't dismiss how important that is for a program that's still trying to get some consistency. The offensive machine cranked it up against after an average day against SE Louisiana, and now the key will be for Chase Holbrook to keep his interceptions to almost none, or at least make sure they're not backbreakers. The key one late against the Lobos wasn't necessarily his fault, but it's all about getting the ball in the right spot in this attack. Right now, no one wants to deal with this offense.
San Jose State … The Spartans' big concern going into the year was the loss of the top receivers, and now it appears to be an even bigger killer than ever expected. QB Adam Tafralis was efficient against Kansas State, but there wasn't much in the way of yards or deep balls, and the running game, without Yonus Davis, was non-existent for stretches. The defense needs to stop getting shoved around, and the next few weeks against Stanford and Utah State should help that. The team needs to be in a game first, and then it can try to recapture some of last year's spark.
Utah State… Utah State might be on an eight game losing streak and might have lost its first two games this year, but like last week in the loss to UNLV, the Wyoming game had some positives. There was more offensive balance, Leon Jackson, again, was accurate, and the defense wasn't awful. However, there still aren't enough big plays down the field, and outside of two big plays, an interception return for a score and a touchdown catch from Kevin Robinson, there was no explosiveness. Jackson had a fantastic day punting the ball averaging 46.5 yards per kick.

	Conference				Overall					Home		Away
	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	STR	W	L	W	L
Hawaii	1	0	45	44	2	0	108	50	W2	1	0	1	0
Fresno State	0	0	0	0	1	1	69	50	L1	1	0	0	1
New Mexico State	0	0	0	0	1	1	69	58	L1	1	0	0	1
Boise State	0	0	0	0	1	1	66	31	L1	1	0	0	1
Idaho	0	0	0	0	1	1	30	51	W1	1	0	0	1
Louisiana Tech	0	1	44	45	1	1	72	52	L1	1	1	0	0
Nevada	0	0	0	0	0	2	41	88	L2	0	0	0	2
Utah State	0	0	0	0	0	2	34	55	L2	0	1	0	1
San Jose State	0	0	0	0	0	2	17	79	L2	0	0	0	2

Saturday, September 8
12:00 PM	at Northwestern 36 ... Nevada 31 CFN Prediction: NW 24-20   NW -5
2:00 PM	at Wyoming 32 ... Utah State 18 CFN Prediction: Wyoming 34-6   UW -24.5
3:30 PM	at Washington 24 ... Boise State 10 CFN Prediction: BSU 34-30  BSU -3
3:30 PM	at Texas A&M 47 ... Fresno State 45 3OT CFN Prediction: A&M 31-20  A&M -17
5:00 PM	at Idaho 20 ... Cal Poly 13 CFN Prediction: Idaho 28-17
7:00 PM	Hawaii 45 ... at Louisiana Tech 44 OT CFN Prediction: Hawaii 41-17  UH -27.5
7:05 PM	at Kansas State 34 ... San Jose State 14 CFN Prediction: KSU 27-10   KSU -16.5
9:30 PM	at New Mexico 44 ... New Mexico State 34 CFN Prediction: UNM 31-27   UNM -10.5

Past WAC Games of the Week
Sept. 1 - UNLV 23 ... Utah State 16
Sept. 8 - Texas A&M 47 ... Fresno State 45 3OT

Past WAC Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Hawaii QB Colt Brennan
Sept. 8 - Hawaii QB Colt Brennan