October 2, 2009

T.E. Parker
Rebel-Net.com Publisher

No. 2 BYU (3-1) - After suffering a miserable defeat to Florida State, the Cougars were in a tough spot last weekend when Colorado State came to town to kick off MWC play. BYU rebounded nicely by hammering the previously undefeated Rams, 42-23. The Cougars scored the first 21 points of the game and got a strong performance from running back Harvey Unga, who scored three times. BYU hosts Utah State (1-2) tonight in it's final non-conference action.

No. 3 Air Force (3-1) - If the Falcons could've closed the deal at Minnesota a few weeks ago they would be ranked right now. Air Force went to 2-0 in league play by defeating San Diego State without starting quarterback Tim Jefferson. The Falcons play at Navy this week. The Midshipmen have won the last six meetings between the two so this should be a barometer of where Air Force is at. With TCU on the docket next, a win against Navy would set up a huge showdown of MWC schools.

No. 4 Utah (3-1) - The Utes did exactly what they had to do by bouncing back from a loss at Oregon to easily defeat Louisville at home last week, 30-14. I'm still not entirely sold on Utah yet, though. The Utes rolled up 416 yards on offense but had to settle for field goals on two great drives in the first half. They need to get more efficient in that area. Utah has a week off to prepare for Colorado State.

No. 5 Colorado State (3-1) - Talk about a trap game. CSU has to travel and play at Idaho this week in the middle of two games against the Utah schools. That spells danger to me. Idaho (3-1) is much improved and if the Rams take them lightly, they will most likely suffer a crushing blow. The Rams never got their ground game on track at BYU and that forced QB Grant Stucker to throw the ball 50 times. That isn't CSU football. If the Rams are to win in Idaho, the rushing attack needs to be the focal point.

No. 6 UNLV (2-2) - I know that the Rebels came up short on the road in MWC play, again, but I don't think it's enough to push them to the seventh spot in the league. This week could be the biggest game in UNLV coach Mike Sanford's career. Nevada has owned the Rebels lately and is looking for it's first win of the season. Meanwhile, the Rebels need to get back on track in a hurry. With question marks at quarterback and the secondary, things aren't looking up for UNLV at the moment.

No. 7 Wyoming (2-2) - A huge win for the Pokes at home last weekend to start the conference action with a victory. Freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels seemed like the right choice at QB by throwing for three scores against UNLV and rallying the win. The youngster gets another test this week by starting his first game on the road at Florida Atlantic. The Owls are winless on the season but are pesky at home. This one should be awfully close.

No. 8 San Diego State (1-3) - A valiant effort last week on the road by scoring the final 12 points of the game against Air Force after trailing 26-2. The Aztecs have a very winable contest this week as they host New Mexico State. NMSU, still sky high after a thrilling win at New Mexico, should be vulnerable. SDSU QB Ryan Lindley should be able to light up the Aggies secondary for big yardage.

No. 9 New Mexico (0-4) - The Lobos had every opportunity in the world to earn their first win of the season and defeat their rival last weekend but couldn't come up with a big play late in the game, falling 20-17. UNM's defense held strong throughout, giving up only 218 yards on 80 plays run by NMSU. That's the bright spot. There wasn't much else. A road game at an angry Texas Tech club looks to be pretty lopsided on paper. The Lobos will have to play their absolute best to have a shot in this one.