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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 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
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The weekend is light for the WAC, with three teams playing last night, one off, and the last playing on Monday. Pity our friends in New Mexico who have to sit this week out.
7:00 PM- Utah State at #8 Oklahoma: Fitting, perhaps, that we move from Sun Belt blowouts on to this game. I think Utah State should be an improved team this year, but kicking it off at Oklahoma is not a great way to get the ball rolling. Line: Oklahoma by 33. Last year Oklahoma posted wins of 64, 45, and 55 points when the opportunities presented themselves, so 33 is certainly within range. Let’s say 48-7.
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For all we know, this could be the last Western Athletic Conference preview ever. Probably not, but they’re on very shaky ground right now. As it stands, they plan to keep Fresno State and Nevada around through the 2011 season, meaning that next year they should operate as an 8 team conference with Boise’s departure to the Mountain West happening next summer.
Once Fresno & Nevada are gone, the WAC is down to six. Louisiana Tech is supposedly investigating/evaluating/begging a spot in C-USA or the Sun Belt, which would put them a lot closer to their competition, Utah State apparently wants into the MWC, and Hawaii has rumbled about going independent. The transition time from FCS up to FBS is at least two years, so even if they protect the six they have and add two or three from below, 2012 could be a limbo year. The NCAA may grant a waiver and allow them to compete with just six during this process, but there’s a lot still up in the air.
BYU’s decision on their independence is due tomorrow, which could have a lot to do with the WAC’s future stability.
But enough about all that, we have 2010 to think about. Obviously storyline 1A is Boise State. #5 in the Coaches Poll (the one that matters for the BCS), one of the dominant national preseason stories has been whether they can, or should, get a spot in the title game if they run the table. While the question of ‘should’ can be endlessly debated, our coverage at the site will mostly focus on the ‘can,’ assuming they beat Virginia Tech. But not now, this is a conference preview.
If we acknowledge that Boise State should be favored to win the WAC comfortably, the real race is for second in the league. Nevada lines up as the favorite for that role, as well as the WAC team with the best chance to disrupt Boise’s unbeaten streak. Fresno State and Idaho should figure into the race for second as well.
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Hawaii started the year off well, dispatching their season opening 1-AA opponent then beating Washington State in Seattle (we didn’t know yet just how bad the Cougars would be), but then racked up six straight losses, pinning their backs to the wall if they wanted to get to a bowl game. To make it, they had to win their last five games, and they nearly did. They beat Navy at home to set up a showdown with Wisconsin to get to 7-6, but they proved no match for the Badgers, falling 51-10 to close the season at 6-7.
Hawaii loses a lot of players this year, including seven on the offensive side, but junior QB Bryant Moniz is expected to lead the offense after starting eight of the last nine games a year ago. The defense has more returning talent, with seven players back, but they’re going to have to be better than the team that gave up 30+ on seven occasions last year.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Idaho was one of a few teams I “discovered” in the first year of this site, going from barely aware of their presence to openly rooting for them. The timing was nice, since they won more games in 2009 than they had in the previous three seasons, logging their first winning season since 1999. They got there by winning six of their first seven, then hanging on as the best of the WAC stormed through. The faced Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl, practically a home game despite technically being on their rivals’ field. Head coach Robb Akey and his mustache launched into the national consciousness in that game, where he elected to try a two point conversion with four seconds on the clock and grabbed the win, rather than settling for overtime.
Expectations will be high for the Vandals for the first time in a long time this year. QB Nathan Enderle is back for his senior season, along with most of the skill position players. The defense only loses two players, but they’ll need more than experience- the defense has to find a way to stop somebody this year- only two teams allowed more points than Idaho did in 2009 (ok, the bowl game skews that number, but Idaho was still 114th in scoring defense).
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Nevada had the #2 offense in the country last year, and rode an 8 game win streak through the middle of the season to finish second in the WAC and earn a trip to the Hawaii Bowl. SMU shut them down in Honolulu, but the Wolf Pack scored over 50 points in five different games, four of which were over 60.
Nine players from that starting offense are back this year, including prolific quarterback Colin Kaeperkick and RB Vai Taua, who starts his senior year having rushed for 1300+ yards in each of the last two seasons. The defense will need to rebuild a little more after losing five starters. Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Boise State comes into the year as one of the most talked about teams in America- 14-0 last year after beating TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, ranked #5 in the Coaches Poll (AP poll is expected tomorrow), and a huge season opener against #6 Virginia Tech as the centerpiece of Week 1.
To further support the anticipation, Boise State is coming back loaded. 9 offensive starters including star QB Kellen Moore- still only a junior- and four running backs that each had at least one 100 yard game last year. The defense is similarly stacked- 10 starters are back on that side. Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
A mid-year five game win streak kept Fresno State alive in 2009 after a loaded early-season schedule, facing Wisconsin, Boise State, and Big East champ Cincinnati in consecutive weeks. They finished the season 8-4 before Wyoming won the New Mexico Bowl in double overtime, in one of the most compelling bowls of the season.
For 2010, the Bulldogs will have to replace star running back Ryan Matthews, who passed up his senior season and went 12th in the NFL Draft. Otherwise, Fresno brings back 8 starters on each side of the ball and can look to start improving on last year right away. As usual, it won’t be an easy road, with three BCS teams and of course Boise State on the slate.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
2009 looked like a year when the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs were poised to make some noise, but it was not to be- back-to-back losses of one and two points put the postseason out of reach, and the season ended with only four wins.
Even so, an impressive track record of performing well in a tough environment was enough to get head coach Derek Dooley the job at Tennessee after Lane Kiffin’s well documented departure. Sonny Dykes comes over from Arizona to take the head coaching role, and he’ll get 8 offensive starters to get things going. He inherits a quarterback battle and must replace Daniel Porter, the #28 rusher in America in 2009. Six players return on the defensive side.
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