Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24- Utah State [...]]]> The WAC had an outstanding weekend, which is good considering they’ve had a few rough weeks leading up to kickoff.  Capped off by Boise State’s win last night, all but one team was competitive against good competition, and nobody was threatened by a FCS team.  To recap the Saturday games:

Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24- Utah State rallied back from a 21-0 second quarter deficit to keep the Sooners on their toes.  They arrived at the final score with 2:31 to go, but weren’t able to add on from there.  Still, the Utah State passing attack looks like the real deal (Prediction: Oklahoma by a ton.  0-1).  Next Week: Idaho State at Utah State

Alabama 48, San Jose State 3- This was never going to be anything else.  We knew SJSU was in a tough spot, new coach and all, so this is nothing to be surprised or concerned with (Prediction: Alabama would cover 38. 1-1). Next Week: San Jose State at Wisconsin

Louisiana Tech 20, Grambling State 6- A solid first effort for La Tech, dispatching an overmatched in-state school.  Next Week: Louisiana Tech at Texas A&M

Fresno State 28, Cincinnati 14- The highlight of the weekend until the Monday game, Fresno turned Cincy back after the Bearcats jumped out to a 14-0 lead.  An excellent beginning to the post Ryan Matthews era in Fresno, and a win that gives the WAC some credibility as they have teams vying for national attention (Prediction: Fresno to cover a 2.5 line.  2-1 for WAC Saturday).  Next Week: Fresno State is idle.  At Utah State September 18.

New Mexico State was idle, and gets San Diego State at home next week.

What We Learned This Week

First, Boise State looks like the real deal.  But with an eye on a championship game berth, they’ll still need help.  Fresno winning is a good step.  They now need Virginia Tech to be excellent for the rest of the year, and that seems very possible.

Fresno State looks strong too, beating a quality opponent.  But how good are the Bearcats, with their new coach?

Tough to learn too much from Nevada, Idaho, or Louisiana Tech, playing FCS opponents, although Nevada giving up 24 is worth a raised eyebrow.

Utah State might do some serious damage this year.  Looking forward to seeing them play Fresno in 2 weeks.

Hawaii has a passing game that could cause fits for the defensively challenged, which the WAC has plenty of.

San Jose State can be forgiven for getting crushed this week.  And maybe next week.  Still, no fun to start the season this way.

Week 1 Power Rankings

1. Boise State
2. Fresno State
3. Utah State
4. Idaho
5. Louisiana Tech
6. Nevada
7. Hawaii
8. New Mexico State
9. San Jose State

Colorado 24, Colorado State 3- Not the way CSU wanted to begin a season that needs a turnaround.  The [...]]]> The Mountain West might have had the best weekend of the five Fringe conferences (although the WAC has a claim too), picking up two wins against ranked BCS conference teams.  On the flip side, they have New Mexico.

Colorado 24, Colorado State 3- Not the way CSU wanted to begin a season that needs a turnaround.  The Rams got behind early and never made a game of it (Prediction: CSU to keep it closer.  0-1).  Next Week: Colorado State at Nevada

Air Force 65, Northwestern State 21- I don’t like to see FCS teams scoring 21 in the first half- that’s bad, even if your team is ahead.  Air Force put the clamps on in the second half, but they’re going to need a complete game to compete this week.  Next Week: BYU at Air Force

Oregon 72, New Mexico 0- Oregon could have easily gone over 100 but put the brakes on after halftime.  Can Locksley survive the season?  Will he punch someone after another losing streak to start a season? (Prediction: Oregon State by plenty.  1-1) Next Week: Texas Tech at New Mexico

BYU 23, Washington 17- Here the news gets better for the MWC.  Washington led into the fourth quarter, but 10 unanswered points from the Cougars put them ahead.  BYU’s dual-quarterback system seems to be working (Prediction: Washington to win outright.  1-2). Next Week: BYU at Air Force

TCU 30, Oregon State 21- TCU wasn’t perfect in this one, but they played well enough when it counted to send the well-regarded Beavers home with a loss  (Prediction: TCU would win but not by the 13 Vegas liked.  2-2). Next Week: Tennessee Tech at TCU

San Diego State 47, Nicholls State 0- If you’re scoring at home, Nicholls State has been outscored 119-0 in week 1 games against the MWC.  SDSU started a little slow, with a scoreless first quarter, but ran away after that. Next Week: San Diego State at New Mexico State

Wyoming 28, Southern Utah 20- Wyoming was ahead 28-10 after the third quarter, so they can be forgiven a bit for coasting to the finish.  That said, if their defense struggles near the end of future games, we’ll look back to this one as an omen.  Next Week: Wyoming at Texas

Wisconsin 41, UNLV 21- UNLV capitalized on Wisconsin mistakes in the first half to keep it close, 14-17, but couldn’t stop the Badgers running attack in the second half  (Prediction: the line was 20.5 at the time and I predicted UNLV would keep it closer.  I’ll take that half-point win.  3-2 on the day).

What We Learned This Week

BYU may not have dropped off as much as some (myself included) predicted, but we’ll really find out this weekend.

New Mexico is not a good football team.  Well, we already knew that.  This belongs in a section called What We Confirmed Again This Week.

Utah is not going to be content to let TCU hog the spotlight this year.  Long way to go, but I like the chances of both teams being undefeated when they square off in November.

San Diego State knows how to handle a FCS team.  Would have liked to see the same from Air Force and Wyoming.

UNLV and Colorado State still have a long way to go, but we also need time to evaluate the BCS teams that they lost to.

Week 1 Power Rankings

1. TCU
2. Utah
3. BYU
4. San Diego State
5. Air Force
6. Wyoming
7. UNLV
8. Colorado State
9. New Mexico

Minnesota 24, Middle Tennessee State 17: I had imagined [...]]]> In the end, the Sun Belt won only two games this weekend, but that’s more than the MAC won against FBS competition so it wasn’t all bad.  They didn’t get the big upset they wanted against the BCS leagues, but they’ll take one against C-USA from opening night.

Minnesota 24, Middle Tennessee State 17: I had imagined MTSU winning this game, starting off with four or five wins and breaking into the top 25.  That may not play out, but MTSU did come back from 14 down to even things out, depth and mistakes just got them in the end  (Predicted: MTSU to cover 2, incorrect).  Next Week: Austin Peay at Middle Tennessee State

Florida Atlantic 32, UAB 31: Lost in the excitement of the ESPN games was a great effort by FAU, who engineered a fourth quarter comeback and blocked UAB’s final field goal.  Of the teams I thought would be bad in rebuilding years, UAB might be living up to the hype the most, but a road win is a big step in the right direction for FAU regardless (Predicted: UAB to cover 14.  Wrong again).  Next Week: FAU at Michigan State

Georgia 55, Louisiana 7: This one disappointed me as Louisiana just never got anything going.  Their defense played better than the score shows, but it wasn’t pretty (Predicted: Louisiana to keep it close, 38-17.  Nope).  Next Week: Arkansas State at Louisiana

Clemson 35, North Texas 10: The Mean Green almost had it close at halftime, 14-7 before a last minute Clemson TD made the gap 14 at the break.  Still, it wasn’t nearly as bad a loss as other teams around the south (Predicted: Clemson to win by more than the 26.5.  This is getting ridiculous).  Next Week: Rice at North Texas

Auburn 52, Arkansas State 56: A-State scored in every quarter of this one, a feat matched only by Troy this weekend.  Sure, Auburn ran over their defense, but that’s to be expected somewhat (Predicted that ASU would cover the 31, finally got one right). Next Week: Arkansas State at Louisiana

Nebraska 49, Western Kentucky 10: Par for the course.  WKU’s scores did come late, instead of against the Huskers’ first string, but this was an insane matchup for a first outing under a first year coach (Predicted: Nebraska would cover the 38.5.  Barely got that one).

Troy 30, Bowling Green 27: BGSU pushed Troy to the limit, needing a last second field goal to get the job done.  Good outing for Troy’s new offense, and they aren’t looking at too big of a dropoff just yet (Predicted: Troy would win, but not by the 14 Vegas thought.  Nice little recovery at the end, 3-4 ATS on the weekend). Next Week: Troy at Oklahoma State

What We Learned This Week

Middle Tennessee might not be a national caliber team without Dasher, but they’re not dead in the water either.

Troy and FAU can both get it done when it counts.  Good start for both teams.

Louisiana and Western Kentucky taught us nothing this weekend- getting beat that badly by big time schools doesn’t tell us much about where they are in the Sun Belt.

North Texas and Arkansas State both fared reasonably well against big name teams- maybe there’s a turnaround in store for one or both of the schools.

ULM and FIU were idle this week.  ULM is at Arkansas and Rutgers comes to FIU next week.

Sun Belt Power Rankings

Really hard for these to mean much until the schools start playing each other, given the talent gap in most of these early games.

1. Troy
2. Florida Atlantic
3. Middle Tennessee
4. ULM
5. FIU
6. Arkansas State
7. North Texas
8. Louisiana
9. Western Kentucky

The MAC went 6-7 against 13 out of conference teams this weekend, a much better start than they had in 2008.  Broken down, the league was 6-0 against [...]]]> The Weekly Wrapups will look back at the games of the weekend, such as it is, and present my conference power rankings.  They get shorter when conference play starts.

The MAC went 6-7 against 13 out of conference teams this weekend, a much better start than they had in 2008.  Broken down, the league was 6-0 against FCS teams, 0-1 v. Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and independent Army.  So it wasn’t great, since nobody in the MAC beat a FBS team.  That will change Thursday, no matter what.  Let’s look at the games.

Ball State 27, Southeast Missouri State 10- It took until the third quarter for Ball State to pull away in this one, which does little to help their case in the ‘worst team in the MAC’ argument.  Next Week: Liberty at Ball State

Buffalo 31, Rhode Island 0- Always nice to earn a shutout, no matter the competition.  A good start for the Bulls under new management.  Next Week: Buffalo at Baylor

Central Michigan 33, Hampton 0- Another new coach, another shutout.  CMU takes care of business getting warmed up for a big week 2.  Next Week: Central Michigan at Temple, Thursday Night

Kent State 41, Murray State 10- Murray State hung around for a little while, but KSU left no doubt that they’re the much better team.  Next Week: Kent State at Boston College

Iowa State 27, Northern Illinois 17- The loss will hurt NIU’s chances to break onto the national scene, but little else.  They competed well against they Cyclones for the most part, but couldn’t recover from a slow start.  Next Week: Northern Illinois at North Dakota

Temple 31, Villanova 24- I’m willing to let Temple off the hook for this one- Villanova is the defending FCS champ and an in-town rival, and it took a last minute field goal for Temple to win it (they then recovered a fumble on the kick to open the gap). Next Week: Central Michigan at Temple, Thursday Night.

Arizona 41, Toledo 2- The Toledo defense showed signs of life Friday night, but the offense did not.  Arizona is a favorite in the Pac-10 this year, so time will tell whether their defense is pretty good or the Toledo offense is that miserable.  Next Week: Toledo at Ohio

Michigan State 38, Western Michigan 14- The Broncos ended the first quarter tied with the Spartans, but a 21 point second quarter erased all doubt.  Michigan State is highly regarded, so it’s hard to say what this means for the Broncos this year.  Next Week: Nicholls State at Western Michigan

Florida 34, Miami 12- If Miami’s luck had been absolutely perfect, they could have beaten the Gators Saturday.  Instead, they played a part in the Gators looking dreadful, but I think we may have a much better RedHawk team this year.  Next Week: Eastern Michigan at Miami

Syracuse 29, Akron 3- Akron was pretty inept at home, against a middling Big East team, which does not bode well for their season.  They’ll get a chance to get on the right track in week 2. Next Week: Gardner-Webb at Akron

Ohio 33, Wofford 10- Ohio held Wofford to a strange 0-4 passing night, which should mean they’re the #1 pass defense in America after one week.  Another FCS game that wasn’t competitive after the first quarter.  Next Week: Toledo at Ohio

Army 31, Eastern Michigan 27- Army needed a last minute touchdown to knock off a much maligned Eastern Michigan team, and we thought Army was going to be pretty good this year.  Perhaps EMU is closer to turning the corner than we thought.  Their week 2 game might be a good one.  Next Week: Eastern Michigan at Miami, Hawaii at Army

Troy 30, Bowling Green 27- A last minute field goal broke the tie in what had been a scoreless fourth quarter, as Troy exacted their revenge for last year’s defeat in Ohio.  Next Week: Bowling Green at Tulsa

What We Learned in Week 1

Miami and Eastern Michigan might not be as bad as we thought, or as bad as last year.  Their game Saturday should tell us more.

Ball State could be in trouble again.  They took too long to put Southeast Missouri away.

The Other 5 Teams That Played FCS Schools are better than FCS schools.  Those games don’t tell us much more than that.  Except maybe Temple, who didn’t yield when the going got tough against a legit opponent.

Toledo has a lot of problems- that performance was more than just Arizona being good.  Same for Akron.

Northern Illinois might not be quite as good as we hoped, but we won’t know for a while yet.  Same for Army, although our expectations aren’t as high there.

Bowling Green isn’t as bad as I thought, and it will be interesting to see what they can do against a defense as bad as Tulsa’s.

MAC Week 1 Power Rankings

Power Rankings look at the entire season but try to assess where each team is right now, simultaneously.  That can get tricky when some teams inevitably collapse in week 12, but this week it’s not so bad.

1. Temple
2. Central Michigan
3. Ohio
4. Buffalo
5. Kent State
6. Bowling Green
7. Northern Illinois
8. Ball State
9. Miami
10. Western Michigan
11. Eastern Michigan
12. Toledo
13. Akron

UCF 35, UAB 27- UCF jumped all over [...]]]> Another eventful weekend in C-USA, as we now have the league championship game set, while at least one team saw their bowl hopes go up in smoke and another stumbled across the finish line, lucky that the league has a lot of bowl ties.

Week 13 Results

UCF 35, UAB 27- UCF jumped all over the Blazers, and there wasn’t enough time for UAB to complete their comeback.  UAB falls to 5-7 and can only wonder what if, since they would have been tied with Marshall for the last bowl spot with a win, and have better geography on their side.

East Carolina 25, Southern Miss 20- The fate of the East division changed on a blocked extra point.  The game was tied briefly at 20, with Southern Miss having scored a TD and needing the extra point to take the lead with 7 minutes left in the game.  ECU blocked the kick, then ran it back 90+ the other way for the safety.  USM then had to kick off short, leading to an ECU field goal on the next drive, and that was the difference.  At 7-1 in league play, ECU will host the championship game Saturday.

Southern Methodist 26, Tulane 21- This one went back and forth all day, with SMU needing a TD late in the 4th to keep from handing Houston the division outright before they kicked off.  With the win, SMU did tie UH on record, but the loss head-to-head will send the Cougars on to Greenville.

UTEP 52, Marshall 21- Observers criticized Marshall for looking flat and uninspired, some of which may be the incredibly long trip to El Paso, but considering that UAB still had a chance to jump them for a bowl bid, one would have expected more from the Herd.  UTEP can only imagine what it might have been like to have a little consistency this year, knocking off teams like Houston and Marshall while losing to the Rices of the league.

Houston 73, Rice 14- Houston led by 59 at the half and coasted to another division title.  This one could have been a trap game, but the Cougars weren’t falling for that one again, and get their cross-Houston Bayou Bucket back after Rice won it last year.

Conference USA Power Rankings

1. East Carolina
2. UCF
3. Houston
4. Southern Miss
5. SMU
6. Marshall
7. UAB
8. Tulsa
9. Rice
10. UTEP
11. Tulane
12. Memphis

The Conference-USA Championship game is Saturday at Noon.  We’ll preview it later this week and then try our hand at a season-in-review before the bowls kick off.