Mountain West Conference Roundup - Week 7

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 14, 2007


Mountain West 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.

Air Force | BYU | Colorado State | New Mexico
San Diego State | TCU | UNLV | Utah | Wyoming

Mountain West Game of the Week
TCU 38 ... Stanford 36
Aaron Brown ran for a two-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play, and then hung on as Stanford drove deep, but unlike the USC game, got a fourth down pass batted away. The two teams traded scores back and forth all game long, with Stanford getting up 31-17 late in the third helped by Anthony Kimble's second touchdown run of the game. And then Andy Dalton went to work for TCU, connecting with Jimmy Young for a 70-yard touchdown, and connecting with Brown for a two-yard score to tie it in the fourth.

Mountain West Player of the Week
Player of the game: TCU QB Andy Dalton completed 23 of 34 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score in the win over Stanford

Conference Roundup

Air Force … Air Force is rolling and it's all due to the ground game. Chad Hall was unstoppable against the Rams, and everything worked out perfectly. The Falcons held on to the ball for 34:15, converted 11 of 15 third down chances, and ran wild. The offense was in total control throughout, and now has to keep the formula working in tough games against Wyoming and New Mexico ahead. The number two spot in the Mountain West is there for the taking, and if the offense keeps playing like this, it'll happen. The goals get higher if BYU loses.
BYU … When things weren't working with the passing game, it became the Harvey Unga show against UNLV, as the BYU ground game helped keep the ball for 37:24, kept the Rebel spread attack off the field, and pulled away with the win. By default, this is still the best team in the Mountain West, but it's not playing like anything special. It doesn't matter. The schedule is easy enough to roll until mid-November without a problem.
Colorado State … Colorado State is supposed to do the pounding, but over the last few weeks, the defense has been run on at will, while the ground game has been turned over to Gartrell Johnson. The Rams aren't going to win much when it gives up 265 rushing yards and Caleb Hanie throws four picks. He simply can't make big mistakes if CSU is ever going to break out of its slump. Beating UNLV next week is a must to have any hope of a resurgent second half of the year.
New Mexico… Thanks to the bad weather, New Mexico came up with a huge win over Wyoming to make a statement in the Mountain West race. The offense wasn't great, but it couldn't be in the sloppy conditions and against the UW defense. The run defense shut down the Cowboy running game, and the secondary never allowed the big pass play to turn things around. Now the key will be staying focused at San Diego State, while hoping BYU starts to slip. It's all Mountain West the rest of the way out, and UNM will be a player.
San Diego State … Russell Allen came up with a whale of a game against Utah, making 22 tackles and a sack, but while the defense made a ton of stops and did it's part in bending, but rarely breaking, the offense didn't help out. Kevin O'Connell was the only real ball-carrier, with Brandon Bornes getting the second most carries with five, and O'Connell even making the one big catch on a 35-yard play. To have any prayer against New Mexico and BYU over the next two weeks, the offense has to find something that works outside of just O'Connell.
TCU  The defense simply isn't going to be as good as expected this year. That's what happens when injuries strike. That means the offense has to start winning some shootouts, and while that's been a problem so far, Andy Dalton came up with a big game against Stanford, Aaron Brown ran well, and the Horned Frogs escaped with the win. Now it's back to Mountain West play, and now is when the team has to crank it up a few notches with Utah, New Mexico and BYU up next.
UNLV … For the second straight week, UNLV got ripped apart on the ground. Air Force had few problems two weeks ago, and this week, BYU did whatever it wanted to. Up next is a winless Colorado State and its power rushing attack. The Rebels have to take advantage of a down team, get more long, sustained drives, start controlling the clock. Travis Dixon has to start doing more for the passing game.
Utah  … Is Utah back on track? The Louisville win was nice, and beating San Diego State certainly was a must, but offense failed to put the game away early, despite moving the ball well. Now the real season begins, going on the road to deal with a battered TCU. If the defense plays as well as it did against the Aztecs, and Darrell Mack keeps running well, this might be the second best team in the league behind BYU.
Wyoming … Wyoming couldn't run the ball on New Mexico, and it seemed like the offense panicked. Averaging only 1.6 yards per carry, the attack had to try to bomb its way back in the game, and it wasn't working. Now there's no margin for error the rest of the way. Gearing it up for a tougher-than-originally-expected road game at Air Force is a must with the lightweights, UNLV and San Diego State, to follow. To win those, Devin Moore, Wynel Seldon and the ground game has to produce and start controlling the tempo of the game better than it did this week.

  Conference Overall Home Away
  W L PF PA W L PF PA STR W L W L
Air Force 4 1 122 95 5 2 176 129 W2 3 0 2 2
BYU 3 0 86 44 4 2 170 133 W3 2 0 2 2
New Mexico 1 1 44 34 4 2 181 105 W1 2 1 2 1
Wyoming 1 1 27 41 4 2 130 119 L1 3 1 1 1
TCU 1 2 62 56 4 3 161 133 W1 3 0 1 3
Utah 1 2 35 54 4 3 164 137 W3 3 1 1 2
San Diego State 1 1 31 43 2 4 136 191 L1 1 1 1 3
UNLV 1 2 55 55 2 5 125 167 L3 1 3 1 2
Colorado State 0 3 53 93 0 6 136 196 L6 0 3 0 3
Saturday, October 13
2:00 PM New Mexico 20 ... at Wyoming 3
CFN Prediction: Wyom. 26-21  Wyom. -3.5
3:00 PM at Utah 23 ... San Diego State 7
CFN Prediction: Utah 30-17   Utah -14
5:00 PM TCU 38 ... at Stanford 36
CFN Prediction: TCU 23-16   TCU -5.5
5:30 PM Air Force 45 ... at Colorado State 21
CFN Prediction: CSU 27-20   CSU -4
9:30 PM BYU 24 ... at UNLV 14
CFN Prediction: BYU 31-23   BYU -10.5

Past Mountain West Games of the Week
Sept. 1 -
Colorado 31 ... Colorado State 28 OT
Sept. 8 -
New Mexico 44 ... New Mexico State 34
Sept. 15 - Tulsa 55 ... BYU 47
Sept. 22 - Wyoming 34 ... at Ohio 33
Sept. 29 - BYU 31 ... at New Mexico 24
Oct. 6 - San Diego State 24 ... at Colorado State 20
Oct. 13 - TCU 38 ... at Stanford 36

Past Mountain West Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Wyoming RB Devin Moore
Sept. 8 - New Mexico QB Donovan Porterie
Sept. 15 - New Mexico WR Marcus Smith
Sept. 22 - UNLV RB Frank Summers
Sept. 29 -
BYU LB Bryan Kehl
Oct. 6 - San Diego State QB Kevin O'Connell
Oct. 13 - TCU QB Andy Dalton

  

Related Stories
Mountain West Conference Roundup - Week 6
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Oct 7, 2007
Mountain West Conference Roundup - Week 8
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Oct 21, 2007
Mountain West Conference Roundup - Week 9
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Oct 28, 2007