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Mountain West Conference Roundup - Week 10

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Nov 4, 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
San Diego State 27 ... Wyoming 24
San Diego State's Kevin O'Connell connected with Vincent Brown for a 27-yard score with 1:06 to play, and the defense held on for the win. O'Connell connected with Chaz Schilens for a five-yard touchdown to start a comeback after the Cowboys got up 21-0 in the first half on two Michael Ford touchdown catches and an 80-yard Quincy Rogers interception return for a score, O'Connell ran for a 29-yard score, but the extra point was blocked and Brandon Sullivan tore off a six-yard touchdown run to pull the Aztecs within one. Wyoming's only second half points came on a 44-yard Billy Vinnedge field goal to take the lead early in the fourth. The Cowboys controlled the ball for 36 minutes.

Mountain West Player of the Week
Air Force RB Chad Hall ran 34 times for 275 yards and a touchdown, and caught three passes for 19 yards in the win over Army.

Conference Roundup

Air Force … Air Force quickly got back on track after the rough loss to New Mexico with a dominant defensive performance against Army and yet another brilliant day from Chad Hall, who's making a case for Mountain West Player of the Year (even though this wasn't a league game). The defense didn't let the Army running game breathe and only gave up a touchdown after being set up by a bad turnover. This is a fantastically coached team that's rolling again with a chance to make even more noise at Notre Dame this week. A ten-win season is actually possible.
BYU … The offense hasn't been totally crisp over the the last few games, but it's been effective enough to keep winning with. On a five-game streak after ripping up Colorado State, a win over TCU would all but seal the Mountain West title. With Fui Vakapuna back from injury, the running game has all its weapons back, while Max Hall is coming off one of his most impressive games of the year. He's doing a great job of spreading the ball around.
Colorado State … Where's the offensive pop? The receiving corps is too good, and there are too many weapons in the backfield, to be so anemic offensively. Over the past few games, Caleb Hanie hasn't been able to push the ball deep at all, while the running game hasn't been able to control the clock at all. As if dealing with Utah and BYU weren't enough, now comes a tough game against a desperate New Mexico team needing a win at home. This might be a lost season, but closing out strong is a must to give the program something positive for the first time in years.
New Mexico… It's vital the Lobos get over the drubbing against TCU right away and not let Colorado State pull off the upset next week. Nothing worked for the Lobos in the type of clunker game that happens every once in a while when a superior defensive team steps up its intensity and play. This can't be a trend. Work still needs to be done to secure a bowl bid, and winning two of the last three games would do that.
San Diego State … Didn’t Play This Week
TCU … Now that's the TCU defense everyone's been waiting for. The Horned Frogs swarmed all over New Mexico and never allowed the Lobo running game to breathe, and the offense didn't have to do anything fancy because of it. The running game was solid, Andy Dalton put together a nice performance, and there was good balance, but this game was all about the defense. Now the consistency has to be there. A win over the Lobos was nice, but a win at BYU would change the season around.
UNLV … After a few weeks off, unfortunately due to the fires in the area, the Aztecs came out with a clunker against Wyoming getting down 21-0. But the offense started to chip away, and Kevin O'Connell came up with a terrific comeback with a last minute touchdown to pull off the big win to keep bowl eligibility hopes alive. After losing to New Mexico in soul-crushing fashion, the team needed a win like this to get a little bit of swagger going into a winnable date at UNLV.
Utah  … Didn’t Play This Week
Wyoming … After getting up 21-0, Wyoming should've been able to use its strong running backs to put the San Diego State game away. It didn't happen with Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon combining for a mere 107 yards on 34 carries. With two road games and a date with BYU left to play, this might have been a devastating loss for bowl hopes. The offensive line, which allowed four sacks, has to play far better inteh final three weeks to get within range of a 13th game.

  Conference Overall Home Away
  W L PF PA W L PF PA STR W L W L
Air Force 5 2 173 141 7 3 257 185 W1 5 0 2 3
BYU 4 0 121 60 6 2 247 156 W5 4 0 2 2
New Mexico 3 2 98 119 6 3 235 190 L1 3 1 3 2
Utah 3 2 89 77 6 3 218 160 W5 3 1 3 2
TCU 2 3 119 83 5 4 218 160 W1 4 1 1 3
Wyoming 2 3 92 112 5 4 195 190 L1 4 1 1 3
San Diego State 2 2 75 87 3 5 180 235 W1 2 2 1 3
UNLV 1 4 102 132 2 7 172 244 L5 1 4 1 3
Colorado State 1 5 120 178 1 8 203 281 L2 0 4 1 4
Saturday, November 3
2:00 PM at BYU 35 ... Colorado State 16
CFN Prediction: BYU 31-16   BYU -21
3:30 PM at Air Force 30 ... Army 10
CFN Prediction: Air Force 34-14   Air Force -16
5:30 PM at TCU 37 ... New Mexico 0
CFN Prediction: TCU 27-20   TCU -2.5
9:00 PM at San Diego State 27 ... Wyoming 24
CFN Prediction: UW 23-16   UW -4.5

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
Oct. 20 - Utah 27 ... at TCU 20
Oct. 27 - at New Mexico 34 ... Air Force 31
Nov. 3 - at San Diego State 27 ... Wyoming 24

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
Oct. 20 -
Air Force S Bobby Giannini
Oct. 27 - New Mexico RB Rodney Ferguson
Nov. 3 - Air Force RB/WR Chad Hall
 

  

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