2008 CFN Mountain West Preview
Team Previews &
Predictions
Air Force
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BYU
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Colorado State
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New Mexico
San Diego State
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TCU
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UNLV
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Utah
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Wyoming
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CFN All-Mountain West Team &
Top 30 Players
- Mountain West Team-by-Team
Capsules
- Mountain West Unit
Rankings
- Mountain West Schedules &
Predictions
By
Pete Fiutak
For not being a BCS
conference, the Mountain West does a good job of acting like one.
Sooner than later, this
tweener of a conference, nestled at the low end of the BCS leagues and
the high end of the non-BCSers, will get more and more fans and more and
more respect.
While being on Versus might not be like being on ABC, Mountain West
games are usually easier to find on a national scale than the typical
Big 12 or ACC game. If you’re on the East Coast, how hard is it to catch
the non-USC Pac 10 game? At the very least, the exposure is far better
than it is for the other non-BCS leagues.
The nine Mountain West members have good-sized student bodies, a good
base of fans, and in the cases of teams like BYU, Wyoming, New Mexico
and even UNLV, they’re the only game in town. Most importantly, the
conference represents itself well almost every time it goes against the
big boys.
Just look at last season. Wyoming beat Virginia. BYU beat UCLA, Air
Force thumped Notre Dame, and Utah destroyed UCLA and beat Louisville.
In all, the Mountain West went 9-10 against BCS schools, with two of the
league’s worst teams, Colorado State and San Diego State accounting for
five of the losses, and went 4-1 in bowl games. By comparison, the Pac
10 went 8-5 against non-conference BCS schools with USC accounting for
three of the wins. In other words, the Mountain West represents itself
well, and it should be even better this year.
BYU has its best team yet in the Bronco Mendenhall era and has its
sights set on getting into the BCS. Utah is more than good enough to win
the league title and could even be the favorite against Michigan to
start the year. From top to bottom the league has improved; considering
the returning experience and talent, everything is in place to make even
more noise.
Team That'll Surprise
Colorado State - Sonny Lubick might have been an all-time great coach
for CSU, but the program needed a change in a major way. Steve Fairchild
should bring in a new, fresh attitude to the team, and while he has to
work with a slew of new starters, that might not be a bad thing
considering the house cleaning needing to be done. As bad as last year
was, ending on a two-game winning streak might be something to build on.
Team That'll Disappoint
Air Force - Air Force, like all service academies, always have to retool
year by year with seniors always emerging, but replacing key players
always stinks. QB Shaun Carney was a four-year starter, RB/WR Chad Hall
was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, and three
All-Mountain West defensive performers are gone. The entire offensive
backfield has to be replaced along with six starters in the defensive
back eight.
Mountain West Game of the Year
BYU at Utah, November 22nd. Utah
had the Cougars stuffed cold all game long and then gave up a 49-yard
pass on fourth-and-18 to lead to BYU’s game-winning score with 38
seconds to play. Two years ago, John Beck came up with a heart-stopping,
last-second scramble/touchdown pass to beat the Utes. If this year’s
game is half as good as those two, it’ll be one of the must-see games of
the college football season.
One Bold Prediction
Utah will ruin BYU’s dream season, but the Cougars will still win the
Mountain West title. Bronco Mendenhall’s club has everything in place to
not just get to the BCS, but to go unbeaten. The offense is loaded, the
defense has plenty of playmakers, and the schedule works out well with
UCLA and New Mexico coming to Provo. The regular-season ender is at Utah
where the Utes will get payback for the two straight soul-crushing
losses in the fiery rivalry.
5 Big-Time Players Who Deserve a Bigger Spotlight ...
1. CB DeAndre Wright, Sr. New Mexico
2. DE Jan Jorgensen, Jr. BYU
3. RB Harvey Unga, Soph. BYU
4. DT John Fletcher, Jr. Wyoming
5. LB Russell Allen, Sr. San Diego State
Coach on the Hot Seat
Chuck Long,
San Diego State – UNLV’s Mike Sanford and Wyoming’s Joe Glenn likely
won’t be around next year if their teams don’t show major improvements,
but it’s Long who has the most on the line career-wise. Once considered
one of the hottest coaching properties out there after leading the
Oklahoma offense, his era has yet to get off the ground.
5 Non-Conference Games Mountain West opponents had better take very,
very seriously
1. UCLA at BYU, Sept. 13
2. Utah at Michigan, Aug 30
3. TCU at Oklahoma, Sept. 27
4. Texas A&M at New Mexico, Sept. 6
5. Oregon State at Utah, Oct. 2
5 Best Pro Prospects
1. CB DeAndre Wright, Sr. New Mexico
2. P/K Louie Sakoda, Sr. Utah
3.
OT
Dallas Reynolds, Sr., BYU
4.
DE Jan
Jorgensen, Jr., BYU
5. DT John Fletcher, Jr., Wyoming
5 Biggest Shoes to Fill
1. Ty Paffett for Chad Hall, RB/WR, Air Force
2. Starr Fuimaono for Beau Bell, LB, UNLV
3. Jerry Hughes for Chase Ortiz, DE TCU
4. Isley Filiaga for Martail Burnett, DE Utah
5. Joe Dale for Steve Tate, SS Utah
Team Previews
& Predictions
Air Force
|
BYU
|
Colorado State
|
New Mexico
San Diego State
|
TCU
|
UNLV
|
Utah
|
Wyoming
-
CFN All-Mountain West Team &
Top 30 Players
- Mountain West Team-by-Team
Capsules
- Mountain West Unit
Rankings
- Mountain West Schedules &
Predictions