MWC Week 1

[JPicks]

2007 Record 30-23-1 (56.6%) +8.91 Units

Year two of the MWC thread. Pretty happy with last year although I felt like some easy ones slipped away, as every sports investor does. I believe I only played 3 games last year that were multiple units and went 2-1 in those games. Crooked refs in the AFA/Army game cost me an over with their bullshit holding calls in the red zone. Ya I haven't gotten over that one yet. Anyways I've been debating on wether or not to use a 3 unit system this year and I haven't come to a conclusion on what's going to happen yet. Week one will certainly only see one unit plays, if there are any plays, as I'm not entirely comfortable with things. Last year I started quite slow, 17-18 at one point, and I don't really want to jump to far into the pool without testing the water.

I do believe that there will be more first half and second half plays this year as I caught on to some major trends towards the end of last year that I failed to profit from. With a non-BCS conference these "trends" are likely missed or ignored completely. Of interest last year TCU had a string of 12+ games without allowing a 1st half touchdown and UNLV averaged 16 combined points in the 1st half and 30 in the 2nd half. Those are only two of many other trends that I caught on to a bit late.

With all that rambling I'll move forward with previewing week one. This thread will honestly be half dedicated to doing fall wrap ups for each MWC team. Ok, more than half dedicated as every week 1 game has been covered more than enough across the best CFB forum on the net. And remember the more contributions to my threads the better for all of us.

EDIT: Only made it thru a third of the conference. I'll hop on the other six teams tomorrow.

 

[JPicks]

Air Force vs. Southern Utah

First things first. There won't be any bets here as I know nothing about S. Utah other than they are located closer to Vegas than Salt Lake.

Offensive Notes:
The Falcons are going to be EXTREMELY young. No suprise there if you've been paying any attention. They'll also be going with a two QB system as neither Shea Smith or Eric Herbort has emerged as the go to guy. Herbort is the much better option QB while Smith is the better passer of the two. Smith is the guy who makes less mistakes, but is also less explosive. Should be interesting to see how it evolves, but I expect Smith to start. Calhoun has also said that the freshman QB's may see some time if the season goes south.

Some other important notes:

Ty Paffett (Starting Z back, Chad Hall's old position) had two back surgeries and he was expected to be back early in the season. Well that idea has been shelved and it looks as if his season could be lost. Kyle Halderman (So.) will be taking over and he has zero carries and zero receptions in his career. He played on the AFA JV team last year and is certainly raw as Calhoun's exact quote about him states such "He’ll be a good player,”. That doesn't say much for the now I suppose.

Travis Dekker (SR TE) was the best reciever coming back for the Falcons and he's lost for the first 4-6 weeks of the season. So make that two returning starters on the Falcons offense.

Long story short there should be some major growing pains early on for the offensive unit of Air Force.

Defensive Notes:

Lost Ben Garland (NT, JR) to a torn ACL until mid-September at the earliest. Ben Garland (JR) has moved from the DE spot to man the NG position, but the biggest effect the injury has is the inabliity of the Falcons to switch up to a 4-3 as they have a major inexperience problem in the back 8.

Some other shuffling among the LB crew, but either way they are young and lose two guys who were 1st and 2nd all MWC.

Final Assesment of the Falcons:
Raw, Raw, Raw. On the updated roster, there are 18 seniors, 21 juniors, 47 sophomores and 13 freshmen. First AFA bet of the year will be on the Cowboys in week 2 as the Falcons must play their first road game of the season in the friendly confines of Laramie. I'd love to see the Cowboys favored by less than a touchdwon, but I'm probably dreaming.

 

[JPicks]

BYU vs. Northern Iowa

Another no thank you game. And to be honest I hate doing w/ups for BYU and Utah as I already know everything about both of these teams due to local media and it's hard to distinguish what is "new" info and what isn't. I'll do my best and by all means if you have any questions about either team I more than likely know the answer so fire away.

Offensive Notes:
Only significant change is the loss of Tom Sorenson (C, JR). He was the only newcomer in what should be a great OL. Dallas Reynolds (TK, SR) will be sliding over to the center position while Matt Reynolds (rFR) will take over at LT. Don't think for a second think that the rFR is small. He's 6'6" and 315 lbs so the Cougar line won't be any smaller because of the move. Their OL is ENORMOUS and very good.

There is some questions about who's going to back up Max Hall if something was to happen to him. The backup position is a big enough question mark that the Cougars had star WR Austin Collie running the position today during practice.

Asked why coaches were making the move, Collie responded, "to add more depth to the QB spot. That's about it. That's the reason why -- to add more depth to the QB spot."
The move plainly shows that coaches don't have full confidence in BYU's backup quarterback situation. Junior Brenden Gaskins is Hall's backup, and sophomore walk-on Kurt McEuen is the third-stringer.

It's nitpicking for sure as the Cougars offense doesn't have many holes, but tuck it away for future use.

Only other development news worthy on the offensive side is Manase Tonga (FB/TB) being absent due to academic problems. Vakapuna is the other RB behind Harvey Unga and he's been injury prone throughout his career so what looked like a spot with alot of depth has suddenly become a small concern. Still nit picking here.

Defensive Unit Notes:

Defensive line of the 3-4 unit looks stacked and ready to go. 320 pound Russell Tialavea (Jr) has looked impressive all of camp and is flanked by pre-season defensive MWC player of the year Jan Jorgenson (Jr) as well as returning starter Ian Dulan (Jr) on the other side. By far the strength of the defense and they've avoided the injury bug through spring and fall camps.

The linebackers are minus 300 tackles from 2007 as Kelly Poppinga (113 tackles) Bryan Kehl (1st team MWC) and Austen Jorgensen all depart as starters. It's not like the new guys have never seen the field before, but nobody should expect BYU to be in the top 10 for yards allowed with this group.

Secondary is an even bigger question mark than the LB's. Kellen Fowler (Sr, FS) is the only guy who has any starting experience and he only started the last 4 games of last year because Quinn Gooch went down with an injury. David Tafuna (SR, SS) will start at the other safety spot and he was actually slated to start at SS last year before a foot injury derailed his season. The four corners battling it out for the two spots have a combined 20 tackles among them.

Final Assesment of the Cougars:

Great offense, even better OL. Defense is a huge question mark and if you've actually read about the back 8 you can understand why some would question them being ranked in the top 15. They've shown before that they can piece togther a defense with few starters back, but this will be Mendenhall's biggest challenge yet. Can't wait to see the line for the WAS/BYU game in week two. BYU has lost their last 6 opening road games and have never beaten a BCS team on the road. Locker could give the inexperienced BYU back 8 all they can handle in that one. I'm seeing plenty of 45-27 style BYU games this year.

 

[JPicks]

CSU vs CU

First potential play and it would be a total. Origninally looking for an opener of 49, but after talking with Vegaskyle and Carolinablue I've adjusted that # to 52. Really liking the over here, but I need the right # to play it. The CSU defense should be average at best and probably not that good. I'll actually start there with my recap of the CSU defense.

Defensive Notes:

The injury bug and suspension bug hit the Rams hard at the CB spot. The Rams entered spring ball w/out both of their 2007 CB's and 13 games worth of starts from their safties. Luckily for them they actually have alot of returning talent in the safety department as both of last years starters were often injured and both exit fall camp healthy and returning to their starting spots. CB is whole different story. Presumed starters DeAngelo Wilkinson (So) (suspended indefinitely for a bar fight) and Nick Oppenneer (JR) (ankle injury) are both expected to be out for the opener although Oppenneer appeared in practice today, but did not participate. So enter Gerard Thomas (true FR) as one of the new starters. Here's a quote from Fairchild about his new CB:

“Gerard has impressed me. He’s a true freshman walking in from Florida and he’s out there with the 1s running around like he knows what he’s doing,” Fairchild said. “I’m not sure he does, but he’s making some plays here and there. He’s done a nice job for a true freshman. You have to have a little swagger at that spot anyway, and to do it as a true freshman shows something.”

I'm not sure he knows what he's doing is not exactly a huge endorsment, but to each his own. With Smith and McKnight both returning for the Buffs this seems like it's going to be a disaster. Certainly enough of a disaster for the young CB's to give up some big plays.

As far as the running game goes I'm not sure that some of the RB's that faced the Rams last year have stopped running yet. The Rams allowed 4.9 ypc last year and 200+ yards a game. They do return all three LB's and 3 DL with 7+ career starts, but sometimes that can be more of a negative than a positive. We'll see I suppose and the talented freshmen trio of RB's from CU should provide a good test for the Rams in the opener.

Offensive Notes:

Billy Farris won the starting QB job out of futility from what I can tell.


FORT COLLINS — After Colorado State's practice Wednesday, I began prefacing a question to new Rams coach Steve Fairchild by kindly pointing out that Billy Farris, his designated starting quarterback for the Aug. 31 opener against Colorado, hasn't played much football in . . .
Fairchild jumped in.
". . . a long time," he said.
Then he laughed as I continued, asking how whether he had misgivings about going with a fifth-year senior who has thrown only 39 passes at CSU, only a few of those in significant situations; and arguably hasn't been on the field for sustained duty under major pressure since he was a senior at Baton Rouge's Woodlawn High School in 2003.
"I don't know if 'misgivings' is the right word," Fairchild said. "I'm anxious to see what he's going to do. He's worked hard."
A year ago, Fairchild was the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator, working with quarterback J.P. Losman. In Fairchild's return to CSU, where he was a star quarterback himself and later served eight seasons on Sonny Lubick's staff, the new Rams coach has had to readjust his standards — and those of his quarterbacks, too.
"I've said this all along: The quarterback spot is a developmental position," Fairchild said. "I don't mind having a first-year starter, but I wish I coached him the three or four years prior to that, because you can definitely groove good habits, both from a technique standpoint and mentally. "I'm not sure we're there at any point of our program right now, but that's just the nature of being new. I'm confident we'll play well at quarterback down the road."

Again not a ringing endorsement for the starter. We'll play well down the road. Well what about now? Sounds shitty to me. Obviously the #1 reason I'm hesitant of the over, but the CSU running game is more than adequate to get some points for the Rams. Kyle Sperry is probably the biggest story for the Rams as he is an NFL TE that should more than help open up the passing game for the Rams. Hard to emphasize it enough for those who don't follow the MWC, but this guy is basically the Tony Gonzalez (the good TG) of the MWC. Guy is a beast and commands double teams. He'll be a safe target for Farris while Gartell Johnson (RB, SR) and Kyle Bell (RB, SR) will provide one of the top running back combos in the league.

Final Assesment of the Rams:

I suppose that I'm a bit higher on the Rams than most. I suppose that I remember back into the late 90's and early 00's than most, but this is a football school and Lubbick plain old lost his way. Fairchild comes across to me as a no bullshit type of coach that can turn things around in a short time period. Farris only has 39 passes in his 5 year career, but Fairchild was a great QB at CSU and I think as the year progresses he'll have him being quite productive. Anything out of the passing game will be a big bonus as the Rams will be able to run the ball. Their season hinges on the ability to stop the run. 5 wins are possible vs. the 3 they had last year. Anthing beyond that is way above expectations.<!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->

 

[horses]

Good stuff JPicks...

Just wanted to stop by and point out that both projected starting OT's (according to Steele) for San Diego State are likely out for the year:

Wallace has left the program
Matamua injured his foot and is likely out for a long time

Maybe VK remembers Wallace since he was convicted of dealing drugs at Utah St; he is a transfer from El Camino JC and never played a down for SDSU.

Matamua is a rFR who won the starting job out of spring; naturally, he never has played a down either.

The Aztecs OL is a complete mess; the two-deep consists of a lot of rFr and guys that were formerly defensive lineman.

 

[JPicks]

Good stuff JPicks...

Just wanted to stop by and point out that both projected starting OT's (according to Steele) for San Diego State are likely out for the year:

Wallace has left the program
Matamua injured his foot and is likely out for a long time

Maybe VK remembers Wallace since he was convicted of dealing drugs at Utah St; he is a transfer from El Camino JC and never played a down for SDSU.

Matamua is a rFR who won the starting job out of spring; naturally, he never has played a down either.

The Aztecs OL is a complete mess; the two-deep consists of a lot of rFr and guys that were formerly defensive lineman.

Thanks Horses. I did see a little of that and it does look like a huge mess. The left side of the line will be former DT's if I've read it all correctly.

And what the hell is going on with Tyler Cambell possibly starting at TB? A senior with 13 carries for 13 yards in his career not even listed in Steele may win the job? That's crazy even if he is Earl Campbell's son.

 

[horses]

I'm not sure that even Papa would get yards behind this line...

Yeah, Long mentioned that the primary reason Tyler Campbell hasn't seen the field much were because of his 'hands of stone'; apparently he worked hard on that aspect of his game and has also become a team leader. Nevertheless, Campbell, Henderson and Sullivan will all see time in their single-back offense.

...and for those that haven't heard, Rfr Lindley will be the starting QB when they kickoff vs SLO next weekend.

 

[RJ Esq]

Hey, JPicks. Can I ask you a question about the MWC vs. WAC matchup between UNLV and Utah St? UNLV is -12.5 now and is mentioned as a very improved team. What I really like about this game is that Utah St is starting not only a new QB, but the projected #3 QB coming into fall after the #1 and #2 QBs transferred.

Thoughts?

 

[JPicks]

I'm not sure that even Papa would get yards behind this line...

Yeah, Long mentioned that the primary reason Tyler Campbell hasn't seen the field much were because of his 'hands of stone'; apparently he worked hard on that aspect of his game and has also become a team leader. Nevertheless, Campbell, Henderson and Sullivan will all see time in their single-back offense.

...and for those that haven't heard, Rfr Lindley will be the starting QB when they kickoff vs SLO next weekend.

What would you put the O/U for total wins at? 3? I'm not sure how the Aztecs are going to score in all honesty. With the offensive line problems combined with losing pretty much all their skills guys it's going to be really tough. Notre Dame may be favored by 27 in week 2. I do like the 8 starters back on defense and IF Darias Jones can join the DL they should be an average MWC defense. All of those 70 point games late last year may lead to some bloated totals for the Aztecs early in the season. Thoughts?

Hey, JPicks. Can I ask you a question about the MWC vs. WAC matchup between UNLV and Utah St? UNLV is -12.5 now and is mentioned as a very improved team. What I really like about this game is that Utah St is starting not only a new QB, but the projected #3 QB coming into fall after the #1 and #2 QBs transferred.

Thoughts?

Give me a little bit of time and I'll have the other six previews up including my thoughts on that game. I do like the Rebels, but my stomach can't handle laying DD's with UNLV.

 

[Fondybadger]

Looking forward to the rest of the thoughts, thanks for going through all of these.

 

[Yanks27Sox9]

good stuff, jpicks. appreciate the info.
shame though that the csu/cu total came out so high @ 60.

 

[horses]

Jpicks,

I would put it higher than that:

Likely wins: SLO, Idaho
Likely losses: @Notre Dame, @TCU, @NM, @Wyo, @BYU, Utah
Toss-up (slight fav/dog): @San Jose (I have them as a 7 pt dog right now but I think they can win this gm), Air Force, Colorado St, UNLV

I think I would put their season O/U at 4.

Boy, I hope you are wrong; I look to look ahead into the 1st 3 weeks and the SDSU at Notre Dame gm is one I circled; I was hoping for a solid State showing vs SLO and then a spread of 14. I think I would play ND up to (at least) 17 since I think it's almost 50/50 that we (state) may not score in that one.

I don't think you will see bloated totals as it's fairly well-known they're starting a rFR QB and many youngsters on the OL. While both WR's from LY were drafter (Swain and Schillens), their replacements should be quite solid as long as WR Wallace can stay on the field. I like their skill players; unfortunately, the QB and OL are the position groups inexperiece hurts the most and that is the case for the Aztecs.

I do expect a much better defense this year, esp since Safety Boudreaux was granted a 6th year; of course, they were #115 in yds allowed LY in the NCAA. :hang:

 

[JumpOnBoard]

One of the best threads on here IMO....GL this year JPicks and I'll be a staple in these threads...

Invaluable info.

 

[B.A.R.]

Great thread as always..

and yes

Crooked refs in the AFA/Army game cost me an over with their bullshit holding calls in the red zone. Ya I haven't gotten over that one yet.

grrr...

 

[JPicks]

Hey, JPicks. Can I ask you a question about the MWC vs. WAC matchup between UNLV and Utah St? UNLV is -12.5 now and is mentioned as a very improved team. What I really like about this game is that Utah St is starting not only a new QB, but the projected #3 QB coming into fall after the #1 and #2 QBs transferred.

Thoughts?

Well I'm running seriously short on time lately so I'll start here with the Rebels/Aggies game.

Setzer won the starting gig and it wasn't impossible that he might have won the job even if McCormick wouldn't have quit football. Setzer is getting the opening job because he's the most potent passing QB that the Aggies have. Diondre Borel will aslo see time at QB but he's more of a mobile QB and less usefull against the Rebels. So ya Setzer is certainly inexperienced, even as a senior, but I think the Rebels largest weakness is their secondary.

UNLV Offense Notes:

Obviously Clayton won the starting QB job. Bigger news is that Travis Dixon was moved to the secondary. RFreshman Mike Claussen is the only real backup and he has not looked good in camp if something was to happen with Clayton. Not sure on any contingency plans for Dixon to move back is there was a Clayton injury. No other big news here.

Defensive Notes:
Lost Quinton pointer to a dislocated elbow in fall practice. He was expected to be out for awhile, but he may be in uniform for the opener. He's a big difference maker for the Rebels:

Pointer is feeling so good, he said he might be able to play in the Rebels' Aug. 30 opener against Utah State at Sam Boyd Stadium.
When he does return to the field, his impact should be obvious.
"I would say he is our best defensive back when he's healthy," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "He's the fastest guy on the team. He's a dynamic player. He makes a difference on our team when he plays."

Defensive line shined in spring and fall camp and should be the anchor to the Rebels defense. If they can Pointer back in the secondary it should be a average group.


If you look at the spread and total the books expect Utah State to end the game with about 17 points. To low IMO with the secondary problems the Rebels have. I do like the Rebels to win by 2 TD's but I'm I don't see how anybody could ever make the bet. 0-3 as home fav's under Sanford 1-5 as favs under Sanford. They're going to have to prove it to me before I'll be willing to every lay points with them.

I'm targeting week 3 for the first potential UNLV play as the Rebels will be traveling to ASU the week before Georgia shows up in the desert.

 

[JPicks]

Looking forward to the rest of the thoughts, thanks for going through all of these.

Appreciate it Fondy. Hopefully you and the penguin got things straightened out last night.

good stuff, jpicks. appreciate the info.
shame though that the csu/cu total came out so high @ 60.

brutal. they made it impossible to bet.

Jpicks,

I would put it higher than that:

Likely wins: SLO, Idaho
Likely losses: @Notre Dame, @TCU, @NM, @Wyo, @BYU, Utah
Toss-up (slight fav/dog): @San Jose (I have them as a 7 pt dog right now but I think they can win this gm), Air Force, Colorado St, UNLV

I think I would put their season O/U at 4.

Boy, I hope you are wrong; I look to look ahead into the 1st 3 weeks and the SDSU at Notre Dame gm is one I circled; I was hoping for a solid State showing vs SLO and then a spread of 14. I think I would play ND up to (at least) 17 since I think it's almost 50/50 that we (state) may not score in that one.

I don't think you will see bloated totals as it's fairly well-known they're starting a rFR QB and many youngsters on the OL. While both WR's from LY were drafter (Swain and Schillens), their replacements should be quite solid as long as WR Wallace can stay on the field. I like their skill players; unfortunately, the QB and OL are the position groups inexperiece hurts the most and that is the case for the Aztecs.

I do expect a much better defense this year, esp since Safety Boudreaux was granted a 6th year; of course, they were #115 in yds allowed LY in the NCAA. :hang:

I really appreciate your thoughts on the Aztecs. I forgot home many of the bottom tier MWC teams have to go to SDSU this year.

Interesting to hear that you think defense is going to be much better. I suppose they have alot of room for improvement. I certainly know that Steele gave all the units alot of praise.

I hope I'm wrong on the ND line as well, but I think I'll have no problems laying 3 TD's in there. First game for ND and after last year I won't be suprised if they lay it on the Aztecs a little if the opportunity presents itself.

One of the best threads on here IMO....GL this year JPicks and I'll be a staple in these threads...

Invaluable info.

Thanks and Beat Michigan!!!! :36_11_6:

Great thread as always..

Thanks BAR. It was funny. I actually went back and re-read all my MWC threads from last year and we were all having a field day over that bullshit game. It was an ACC ref that made the same holding call 5 times. AFA had committed 32 penalties in 9 games before that day and had 8 of which 5 were offensive holding calls in the Army's redzone. I have zero doubt it was rigged.

 

[HUNT]

great stuff as always.

 

[RetroVK]

love this thread. good info jpicks.

 

[JPicks]

It's worth keeping an eye on the weather in New Mexico this weekend as Tropical Storm Julio is supposed to make it's way into Albuquerque this weekend. If it's a wet soggy field you'd have to give the advantage to New Mexico as they are clearly inferior to TCU when it comes to team speed.

Speaking of which, locked in my first play of the year and have yet to post it.

TCU/NMU 1st Half Under 21 (-115)

 

[E.T.G.]

great shit jpicks w/ this thread, best of luck this yr

 

[JPicks]

Thanks ETG. Best of luck to you as well. I'm sure I'll be popping into those threads of yours.


Some notes out of TCU:

Tailback depth
The Frogs expect their game against New Mexico to be physical, especially in the ground game. So TCU will start junior tailback Ryan Christian because of his versatility.

Christian, one of the fastest players on the team, has a veteran to run behind and gives the Frogs options because he can go in motion and become a slot receiver.

Gary Patterson said junior Joseph Turner is "not completely where we need him to be" after off-season knee surgery, but he will play.

"We’ll start with a smaller back," Patterson said. "Aaron [Brown] always plays a part in things with the different things he can do.

"And we have two or three more tailbacks. It’ll be interesting to see who gets off to a good start."

 

[broadwayjoe]

gl jpicks...i'm a virgin to your mwc threads, but definitely hasn't disappointed me so far, and i had some high expectations from reading your nba threads....good stuff thanks for the work. i definitely agree with your byu assessment...one stat that stuck to me when i read it is that their secondary returns nobody that intercepted a pass last year. wow. their schedule is obviously just brutal. with the ats record the last couple of seasons for this squad, i'm looking forward to a couple of good byu fades this year. i think it's very possible they finish behind BOTH utah and tcu in the conference. very clear cut three tiers within the conference i think, but the order of each tier i could see going a number of different ways...i am very excited about this conference this year and look forward to reading your stuff...

 

[JPicks]

Boy, I hope you are wrong; I look to look ahead into the 1st 3 weeks and the SDSU at Notre Dame gm is one I circled; I was hoping for a solid State showing vs SLO and then a spread of 14.

I've been reading about some flyers around the athletic department at SDSU stating "remember 2006" which is a good sign. Obviously had some worries about SDSU overlooking a team that beat them in '06. Nice to see that they're not obviously overlooking SLO. They've got to beat them for any value to be left for week 2.

gl jpicks...i'm a virgin to your mwc threads, but definitely hasn't disappointed me so far, and i had some high expectations from reading your nba threads....good stuff thanks for the work. i definitely agree with your byu assessment...one stat that stuck to me when i read it is that their secondary returns nobody that intercepted a pass last year. wow. their schedule is obviously just brutal. with the ats record the last couple of seasons for this squad, i'm looking forward to a couple of good byu fades this year. i think it's very possible they finish behind BOTH utah and tcu in the conference. very clear cut three tiers within the conference i think, but the order of each tier i could see going a number of different ways...i am very excited about this conference this year and look forward to reading your stuff...

Thanks Joe. As much as I'd like to discount BYU's secondary I had similar expectactions last year when they suprised me to be an above average unit in the MWC. I do agree that there should be some nice spots to fade the Cougars as they've dominated the last two years. Honestly just can't wait for the season to start.

 

[counselor]

It's worth keeping an eye on the weather in New Mexico this weekend as Tropical Storm Julio is supposed to make it's way into Albuquerque this weekend. If it's a wet soggy field you'd have to give the advantage to New Mexico as they are clearly inferior to TCU when it comes to team speed.

Speaking of which, locked in my first play of the year and have yet to post it.

TCU/NMU 1st Half Under 21 (-115)

http://www.weather.com/outlook/even...ortsopt1&query=SPORTS_TEAM_SCHEDULE&team=bzek

Anyone live around there?

 

[horses]

I've been reading about some flyers around the athletic department at SDSU stating "remember 2006" which is a good sign. Obviously had some worries about SDSU overlooking a team that beat them in '06. Nice to see that they're not obviously overlooking SLO. They've got to beat them for any value to be left for week 2.

Rest assured, San Diego St has been putting all their prep time into SLO, not Notre Dame. HC Long knows that after two games, he needs to be sitting at 1-1. It doesn't matter if they beat SLO by 1 point and lose to ND by 100; he needs to be sitting at 1-1. He knows if they don't beat SLO, there is a good chance he won't get to year 4 in his coaching tenure here. Absolutely NO lookahead for the Aztecs this wknd.

 

[JPicks]

http://www.weather.com/outlook/even...ortsopt1&query=SPORTS_TEAM_SCHEDULE&team=bzek

Anyone live around there?

I got the tip about the possible bad weather from a Lobo guy in New Mexico. It seems the Julio threat is all but over and Saturday should be beautiful. Only thing slowing up TCU will be the playing surface. NM has been known to "forget" to mow the field before TCU shows up to slow them down a bit.

And Counselor I was reading thru my MWC threads from last year and I have some pretty funny quotes from you. I'll toss them your way at some point this year.

I've been reading about some flyers around the athletic department at SDSU stating "remember 2006" which is a good sign. Obviously had some worries about SDSU overlooking a team that beat them in '06. Nice to see that they're not obviously overlooking SLO. They've got to beat them for any value to be left for week 2.

Rest assured, San Diego St has been putting all their prep time into SLO, not Notre Dame. HC Long knows that after two games, he needs to be sitting at 1-1. It doesn't matter if they beat SLO by 1 point and lose to ND by 100; he needs to be sitting at 1-1. He knows if they don't beat SLO, there is a good chance he won't get to year 4 in his coaching tenure here. Absolutely NO lookahead for the Aztecs this wknd.

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Nothing better than Notre Dame sandwiched between two must wins for the Aztecs. SJSU has a game @Nebraska while SDSU is playing @Notre Dame and they follow the SDSU game up with a game at Bay Area foe Stanford. I'm starting to come around on your idea of 4 wins being a reasonable O/U for the Aztecs. I can't imagine if the Aztecs were to go 1-3 in their OOC schedule. I'm not really sure that Long would be around to coach the conference schedule.

 

[Pluto Brown]

Thanks for the write-ups JPicks. Im a big TCU fan so I like that the MWC isnt forgotten on this board.

 

[JumpOnBoard]

Lmfao @ Patterson stating not starting Brown because the other guys more physical...uh huh...

Anyways, I'm on the Frogs so hopefully Brown play sigficant snaps.

GL on that under.

 

[JPicks]

Wyoming 2nd Half -7 1 unit