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Well, last night’s game went according to the script. Louisiana hung in for a while, but Oklahoma State pulled away late to win by a bunch. Makes my weeknight picks 2-1 this week, so that’s nice. Now on to the last bunch of today’s games:
2:00 PM, The Mtn- Colorado State at Air Force: Air Force is coming in off their first win over Navy and looking for more, while CSU appears to be in a portion of their schedule where they continue racking up big losses. Line: Air Force by 24. The Falcons haven’t been winning THAT big yet. This will be something more like 28-10.
3:30 PM- UNLV at West Virginia: UNLV’s nightmarish rebuilding year continues, and while WVU isn’t the threat they were once thought to be, they should have the talent to take care of their guests with ease. Line: West Virginia by 27.5. That’s a big line for a team that hasn’t scored over 31 this season. WV wins, but let’s not get carried away. 34-13.
3:30 PM, CBS College- Wyoming at #5 TCU: Wyoming is without their starting QB, which makes a tough matchup even worse. Read Post
Business as usual for the MWC this week- the good teams won and the bad teams lost. The best news of the weekend came from Air Force, who cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time in ages.
TCU 27, Colorado State 0- The Rams put up a fight for a while, trailing just 6-0 at the half, but TCU’s defense never relented and the offense got it going in the last two quarters. Next Week: Colorado State at Air Force, Wyoming at TCU
Air Force 14, Navy 6- Read Post
The Mountain West had a productive weekend, with BYU being the only team to lose out of conference and getting a competitive conference game too (the one not involving New Mexico, naturally).
TCU 41, SMU 24- Good defensive play in the first half saw SMU take a 17-14 lead after an interception to start the third quarter, [...]
The weekend did not go well for the Mountain West. 0-3 against non-BCS leagues and 1-6 out of conference overall. The matchups weren’t in their favor, sending mid-level teams up against the likes of Boise State. TCU was the lone highlight, blowing out Baylor by 35.
Florida State 34, BYU 10- BYU had the game within reach, scoring 10 late in the second quarter to get to halftime down just 13-10. After that, though, it was all Seminoles, who have now beaten the Cougars in back to back seasons. Next Week: Nevada at BYU
Miami (OH) 31, Colorado State 10- CSU is really having a miserable run right now, but at least they scored a touchdown, coming 178 minutes into the season. Next Week: Idaho at Colorado State
Oklahoma 27, Air Force 24- Air Force gave the Sooners all they could handle, rallying back from a 27-10 deficit but simply running out of possessions after the momentum swung their way. Next Week: Air Force at Wyoming
TCU 45, Baylor 10- TCU went up 14-0 early and never looked back as they rolled the first of their two Texas opponents of the season/week. Next Week: SMU at TCU, Friday
Missouri 27, San Diego State 24- Read Post
It dawned on me as I was prepping for this post that Air Force, BYU, Oklahoma, and Florida State seemingly unwittingly turned week 2 and 3 into a mini-tournament, with the finals today in Norman. Air Force beat BYU, Oklahoma beat Florida State, and now Air Force takes on Oklahoma while BYU faces Florida State in the consolation round. I’ve seen this unintentional playoff happen in conference play, but never so perfectly in interleague matchups (of course, if BYU or FSU had won, this whole thing is silly. Or sillier).
3:30 PM, Fox Sports Net- Air Force at #9 Oklahoma: The Falcons have a tall task in front of them, taking on a Sooner team that blasted Florida State last week after Utah State gave them more of a game in week 1. The question becomes whether or not the Sooners come back to earth and give Air Force the chance to pull the upset. Oklahoma is 38th in run defense after facing two decent FBS teams so far, allowing just over 100 yards per game. FSU and USU are both better through the air, but Air Force is going to have to wreck Oklahoma’s average to win today. Line: Oklahoma by 17. This is probably my non-BCS bias coming out, but I think the Falcons can keep it closer. I’d love to see them win it, but it’s probably OU at 38-24.
3:30 PM, ESPNU- BYU at Florida State: Read Post
It’s been an uneven week on the Fringe, but we’re going full steam into the weekend now. Here’s your BCS Buster watch (down to just 10 unbeaten teams in the non-BCS universe), and the non-BCS top 25 will follow shortly, then into the weekend previews all afternoon.
Team
W
L
Last Week
This Week
Coaches Poll
Boise State
1
0
bye
at Wyoming
4
Boise [...]
This was supposed to run yesterday, but for reasons that are still unclear, the internet disappeared for a while. Luckily, it was saved about halfway through, because no way was I rewriting this whole thing. Anyhow, the Mountain West kept to themselves more than other leagues this week, with a pair of league games, some FCS competition, and some relatively quiet losses to big teams.
Utah 38, UNLV 10- Utah never trailed, despite sending in a backup QB to give Jordan Wynn’s sprained thumb a week off. UNLV is off to a rough start, but not an unexpected one. Next Week: Utah at New Mexico (0-2), UNLV at Idaho (1-1)
Air Force 35, BYU 14- Read Post
The MWC sends all 9 of its teams out to play on Saturday, and looking over their schedule for the year, very few games ever fall on any other day. The league picked up a trio of wins against BCS competition from it’s traditional big 3 schools, but this week starts into league play with a pair of games, one of which could alter the balance of power in the league.
4:00 PM, The Mtn- UNLV at #20 Utah: A rebuilding UNLV gets no rest this week after a 20 point loss to Wisconsin last weekend. Utah is coming after a game where they should have beat Pitt by more, but has a lot of mistakes to fix. Unless Utah keeps it up and UNLV capitalizes on even the slightest miscue, this game should be Utah’s to lose. Line: Utah by 22. UNLV is no Pittsburgh, but I’m not ready to predict a Utah blowout just yet. I think UNLV just comes in under the number again. Utah 31-10.
4:00 PM, Versus- BYU at Air Force: BYU set Jake Locker’s Heisman hopes back substantially last week, while AFA dismantled their FCS opposition. BYU is a giant step up in competition, but Colorado Springs can be a tough place to play, and emotion will be running high tomorrow. Line: Air Force by 1. I predicted Air Force to win this game in the preseason, and I still think they can, but I can’t pretend to be very confident about it. I’ll stand by it though, let’s say AFA 24-20.
7:00 PM- Tennessee Tech at #5 TCU: Read Post
We’re flipping things around this week, since Conference USA has two games tomorrow night, we’ll get them tomorrow and give you the WAC preview in this space, since all their games are conveniently set for Saturday.
12:00 PM, CBS College- Hawaii at Army: Hawaii’s offense showed a lot against USC- they can rack up the yards and score points. But their defense looked pretty bad- was that a good offense, or are they in trouble? Army won a tough game over an Eastern Michigan team they probably should have handled with a bit less difficulty. Line: Army by 3. Hawaii is taking the longest trip of any team this season, for a game that kicks off at 6 AM Honolulu time. I’m sure they’re taking steps to alter their schedule ahead of time, but that still makes things difficult. I think Army’s defense is good enough to slow down the Warriors, but it will be close. Army 32-28.
12:00 PM, ESPN- San Jose State at #11 Wisconsin: San Jose comes off a tough game against the #1 team in the country and gets rewarded with a trip to see the #11 team. The goal at this point is to improve if you can, and keep guys healthy before WAC play starts in October.
12:30 PM, Idaho at #7 Nebraska: Read Post
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
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