Friday, October 30, 2009

Some previews and predictions from the MWC

Well my beloved Cougs are off for the week but I'll give y'all a rundown from the rest of the conference.

UNLV at TCU: Don't even know why I'm predicting this one. I think UNLV will be in this game for about a quarter before it's out of reach. TCU is just too good and UNLV is just too bad. An upset could save Sanfords job but don't count on it. TCU 41 UNLV 14





Air Force at CSU: This game is going to be a nail biter, but CSU is struggling to much to overcome Air Force's stellar defence. CSU's offense is better than Wyoming's and on par with Utah's but their Defense is no where near Utah's or Wyoming's. Because this is an instate rivalry it will be closer than it should be. I'm going with Air Force 21 CSU 17





New Mexico at SDSU: A few weeks ago I would have called this a pick em between two of the bottom dwellers in the MWC. SDSU has shown however that it is clearly the better team than New Mexico this year. In California this game won't even be close. SDSU 42 New Mexico 10





Wyoming at Utah: Up until a couple weeks ago when Wyoming got shut out by Air Force, I wanted to pick an upset for the Cowboys in this game. Now I'm not so sure the Poke's off the fire power to keep up with the Utes in SLC. Wyoming's D should keep them in the game as Utah's offense is nothing to write home about, but Utah's D will likely hold the Cowboy's offense to a touchdown or less. I've got a lot of faith in Wyoming though so I'm going to give them a few more points. Utah 21 Wyoming 14





Last Week: 2-2


Overall Record: 20-5

Monday, October 26, 2009

Why did Saturday hurt so bad?

At 9pm on Saturday I started feeling a little nauseous but it wasn't just because my beloved Cougars lost. It was because they lost and they looked terrible doing it. You see I understand that you will lose a couple games every year because it is extremely hard to go undefeated. But you don't have to lose them like that. Watching the offense try and move the ball on Saturday made me want to take out my Music 201 text book and start writing a thesis paper on Famous Composers from the 15th Century. Yes it was that bad. The only position group that looked worse than the offense were the Officials. No really they were awful. Take away some crucial bad calls by the officials and BYU only loses 14-7 or 17-7 at worst. I can't really blame the loss on the 7 blind mice but I can blame them for robbing me of the chance to see a close game. Who knows, maybe Max could've put together a last minute drive to tie the game? It wouldn't be the first time for Hall, who has lead his team for come from behind wins 7 times in his career. It wouldn't even have been the first time against a top 10 team. It seams that the MWC was intent on assuring a TCU win and a MWC BCS bid from the get go. So let me tell which calls were missed and why they cost us big time.

1. The touchdown "catch". Yeah he caught the ball and it was a very good catch at that. It's just that the NCAA has this dang rule that says you have to be in bounds when you catch the ball. A lot of people will say that it was too close to call and that it could have gone either way. Well I was sitting about 15 ft from the play on the front row and that call was obvious. Yes it was close but it was still obvious that he was out of bounds when he caught the ball. Then the players tried to show the officials the proof and they pointed to the turf that was torn up where the receiver tried to drag his foot. The whole divot was out of bounds! Either this game was called before it started or someone forgot to tell the officials that white means out of bounds. Cost: 4 pts. (We'll assume they woud've gotten the field goal) and a lot of momentum. Score TCU 21 BYU 7 Actual: TCU 17 BYU 7

2. The Phantom Roughing the passer. Another 3rd down play that was given a first down and another shot at a touchdown. We ended up holding them to a feild goal so we only lost 3 points and maybe they would've kicked the 40 yarder anyway. TCU 24 BYU 7 Actual: TCU 20 BYU 7

3. The Phantom P.I. on 3rd and long. I've watched this replay talked to several people about the replay and Logan was a good 3 ft away from the receiver on this play. I'm not sure what the ref was watching here. Cost: 7 pts. TCU scored on a long touchdown I think 2 plays later. Score TCU 31 BYU 7 Actual: TCU 20 BYU 7

Honerable Menti0n: Offensive P.I. on Oneil Chambers when he is 15 yards down field from the play. No P.I. late in the game when the linebacker tackles Unga while he's trying to catch the pass from Riley Stephenson. The first Touchdown TCU got was questionable when the guy lost the ball as he was trying to dive to the pilon. Probably would've gotten the TD anyway though.

OK my point with the officiating isn't that they cost BYU the game (Our terrible offensive game play did that for us) but that it felt like they robbed the fans of a chance to see a good game. The defense didn't look as bad as the score showed but a 17-14 TCU win wasn't going to get TCU many votes in the polls either. I really think the MWC had this one in the books before it started. They wanted to make sure the MWC got a bid into the BCS and BYU win likely wasn't going to do that. Just like last year when TCU got the short end of the stick against Utah last year.
So why did Saturday hurt so bad? Well because for the second big home game in a row our troops got blown out of the water and the stands were left half empty midway through the 4th quarter.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A little bit of this and a little bit of that


I did alright last week going 3-1 but that's not saying much when all you have to do is go with the "big three" and you'll get at least three points as long as none of the big three are playing each other. BYU plays TCU this week so I can't count on my guaranteed 3 points this week and instead I'll have to rely on my knowledge (or lack of) to get me some correct picks.

Air Force at Utah: If this game was in Colorado Springs I would be inclined to pick an upset this week. Utah is finding their stride on offense while their defense continues to keep them in games. Air Force has shown a really good defense this year too though so this could be a very low scoring affair for most of the game with Air Force getting a couple touchdowns early and then Utah getting a few late. Utah 24 Air Force 17

San Diego St. at Colorado St.: I think the winner of this match up will use the momentum and end up as the 5th place team in the MWC and the loser will end up the 7th place team. Both defenses have been pretty porous for the most part this year and so I expect this one to be a shoot-out. BYU made both these offenses look good when they played them, giving both quarterbacks all day to throw. The difference in this game will be A. CSU has the home field advantage and B. CSU should be toughened up and hungry for a win after facing Utah, TCU and BYU in consecutive weeks. CSU 45 SDSU 42

UNLV at New Mexico: This is just a battle to see which log goes down the drain first and which one can hold on till the next flush. Seriously these are two really bad football teams. It will be ugly but UNLV is going to run away with this one. UNLV 42 New Mexico 17

TCU at BYU: This is going to be a dog fight. College Game Day is headed to Provo to air their weekly show and the crowd will be very pumped up in part because of CGD. I think this will be a very clean football game with very few mistakes, maybe a fumble from each side. I think it will probably be a lot like BYU vs TCU from 2007. TCU has only allowed more than 30 points 3 times since joining the MWC and 2 of those are to BYU. I'm going with the home(r) team on this one. BYU 31 TCU 27

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Stong Side Weak Side: TCU

STRONG SIDE

  • Receivers get to wear purple for home games which makes it easier for Dalton to see.

  • Dalton has the same jersey number as Ty Detmer which could confuse BYU's secondary.

  • Defense is so fast that sometimes it seems like there are 12 men on the field.

  • Special Teams can block for a long time with out getting a holding or clipping call.



WEAK SIDE:

  • Receivers have to wear white uniforms on the road making it more difficult for Dalton to see

  • Dalton could have chosen #15 which would have confused the BYU secondary even more

  • Defense only uses 11 players at a time

  • Starting Safety Sir Demarco Bledsoe was never actually knighted and he is not related to Drew Bledsoe

Monday, October 19, 2009

Why BYU will win on Saturday

Last year heading into this game, BYU was undefeated and ranked #7 in the nation. They had beaten a bunch of mediocre teams and their schedule made them look better than they actually were. That all changed when they headed to Fort Worth to take on a ranked TCU team who was 5-1 and was flying just under the radar. This year the table seems to have done an exact 180 degree turn. TCU is undefeated and ranked 7th in the Coaches Poll. They have beaten only 1 team with a winning record (Air Force with wins against: SDSU, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nicholls St.). So far the only thing TCU has proven is that they are better than mediocre. Now TCU heads to Provo to face a ranked BYU team that is 6-1 and flying just under the radar. Last year TCU circled the BYU game on their calender and almost lost to a terrible Colorado St. team the week before because they were prepping for the BYU game. BYU players have been talking about this game since last years beat down and barely escaped San Diego last week with a 38-28 win. The players probably won't admit it but I have to believe that they spent some time on TCU last week. At least I hope they did. BYU's advantage in this game is going to be power. On offense we need to get the ball to our tight ends and then run over their defense with some heavy doses of Harvey Unga. On defense I am very optimistic for a couple of reasons. First off we have done an exceptional job against the run this year (minus Florida St.) and if we can shut that down against TCU then we should be able to pin our ears back and go at the QB on passing downs. Second because TCU hasn't really done all that well on offense, the exception being last weeks game against CSU. The only TCU games that I have watched for an extended period were the SMU and Air Force games and both times I was not impressed by their offense. That having been said, TCU is an excellent football team with speed and discipline on both sides of the football. If BYU is to pull of the upset in Provo they will have to play their best game of the year and the coaches will have to come up with a very good game plan. Score predictions on this game will be later in the week.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Obama is a Heisman Award Finalist, and Ranked 13th in latest BCS polls


White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement late Sunday Night that President Barack Obama would head to New York next year following the College football season to participate in the Heisman Award Ceremony. Gibbs said that Obama was named a finalist for the Heisman, awarded to the most outstanding College Football player, shortly after he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Gibbs alleged that Obama deserved the award despite not having played college football because "President Obama has strong desires for a college football playoff that would be fair for everyone." When asked about the opposition to the award former President Jimmy Carter stated that "Most to the people who are opposed to Obama receiving the award are opposed because he is a black man." Many Obama supporters were also outraged that President Obama was only ranked 13th in the latest BCS Standings saying that right wing computer polls were showing their white supremest tendencies. Most ESPN pundits agree that Obama's main competition for the Heisman is Tim Tebow, except Lou Holtz who insisted during Saturday's show that "Notre Dame was just as deserving as Tim Tebow."

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

MWC Previews and Predictions


Well as promised I went undefeated last week with my picks so that brings my record up to 15-2. In the Utah vs CSU game, I was a Ute touchdown away from predicting the exact final score. The Utah running back got shoestring tackled on about the 10 yard line and what turned out to be the final play before they started kneeling the clock out. I predicted the exact point spread for the TCU vs Air Force game. The final score was 20-17 Horned Frogs, my prediction was 24-21 TCU. In the BYU vs UNLV Game I was only a UNLV field goal from getting the point spread right.
THIS WEEK

Wyoming at Air Force:
After enjoying wins over New Mexico and UNLV, Wyoming heads to Colorado Springs for their first in conference test. Wyoming's D will prove the conquerors in this one. Their offense will struggle against a good Air Force defense. I think this will be a low scoring affair. Wyoming 17 Air Force 14

Colorado St. at TCU:
TCU survived a cold game in Colorado Springs that wasn't as close as the score showed. TCU was mostly in control but they did struggle in the cold weather. They will head back to the warm Texas weather and I expect will lay a beat down on CSU. Well they would if they weren't looking ahead to their Oct. 24th match up against the Cougars. CSU 28 TCU 35

Brigham Young at San Diego St:
BYU's offense has really looked good on artificial turf the last couple of games. They head to San Diego where they will play on real grass again but it will be in a lot better condition than the stuff at LES. The offense will roll mostly but they will be slowed by Rocky Long's D. BYU 42 SDSU 14

Utah at UNLV:
Utah really struggled for most of the game against CSU. This should be cause for concern for Utah fans. The light at the end of the tunnel is how good the offense looked at the end of the game. On the other side, UNLV looks to be digging their own grave lately. They are not a good football team and even the struggling Ute offense won't make them look alive. Utah 35 UNLV 7

Thursday, October 8, 2009

More Previews and Predictions


Ok so last week I kept up my hot streak going 6-1 to bring my record in the last two weeks to 11-2. Not bad, I'll try to go undefeated this week.

BYU at UNLV: The only thing in question about this game is will BYU get 800 Yds of total offense? The Cougars should take care of business early at LES South. BYU 55 UNLV 14

New Mexico at Wyoming: New Mexico is fast becoming the worst team in the MWC. Yes they are even worse than SDSU, which means I think they'll have a tough time of it at Laramie. We could blame it on the cold weather as it will probably snow this weekend in Laramie, or we could blame it on the high altitude too, but we all know that the Lobos will lose because they are terrible. Right now I think the Cowboys and their Freshman QB could go into Albuquerque and come away with a W. I'm taking the Cowboys in this one. Wyoming 28 New Mexico 13

Utah at CSU: The Rams embarrassed the MWC last week by losing to Idaho so I don't really expect much of a fight out of them this week. Add that to the fact that Kyle Whittingham is 4-0 in weeks following a bye and I think Utah will come away with a win even without their star RB. Utah's defense should carry them in this game as their offense struggles to find a groove. Utah 31 CSU 17

TCU at Air Force: Air Force is coming off a tough loss to Navy because of a botched Field Goal in OT. They should be plenty motivated but I don't think it will be enough to take down the Horned Frogs. TCU's defense is just too good. Air Force will hang with TCU but in the end I think they'll drop another close one. TCU 24 Air Force 21

One note, Stay tuned for a basketball preview later this week. I'll be looking at a couple of BYU's Freshman.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

MWC Preview and Predictions

I went 5-1 last week in my predictions so I guess I'm on a roll, lets see if I can keep it going this week.
BYU vs Utah St: Aggie fans are back complaining that BYU football is a drain on the LDS church and a waste of tithing money. I think they are really just complaining that it a drain on their "fandom". Utah St. has only one this "rivalry" once since 1982 so I can understand their frustration. That won't end Friday and the Aggies only hope for happiness is that they wake up Saturday morning to listen to General Conference and President Monson announces the end of BYU athletics.
BYU 42 Utah St. 17

Air Force at Navy: Air Force has had a little trouble with Navy the past few years, but I think this year Air Force has a good advantage. This will be a quick game with both teams trying to control the ball and run the clock out. I'm going to pick Air Force in a close one.
Air Force 21 Navy 17

New Mexico at Texas Tech: New Mexico's season has gotten ugly very fast. The only thing that could turn the Lobo's season around would be a huge upset over Texas Tech. New Mexico is just really really bad though so I don't see that happening.
New Mexico 21 Texas Tech 49

Wyoming at Florida Atl: This was a great job of scheduling by the Wyoming AD. I like this game thrown in between two conference games. This should be a nice win for the Cowboys and a chance to get their new offense in a groove.
Wyoming 35 Florida Atl 13

UNLV at Nevada: With last weeks loss to Wyoming, UNLV replaced Wyoming as one of the worst 3 teams in the conference. I win here would go a long way towards helping them get out of the cellar. UNLV will be up for this game but I think they will lose a heart-breaker to the Wolfpack.
UNLV 34 Nevada 35

New Mexico St. at San Diego St.: This is one game I can't wait to miss. It pitts to terrible teams in a huge stadium and no one will be there to watch. I hope San Diego St. can win this just because it is a WAC opponent.
San Diego 23 New Mexico St. 20

S. Methodist at TCU: I guess this is a rivalry game, sort of. Nothing like the Methodists vs. the Mormons, but they are both Christian schools so that should make it a very fair game right? Well I don't think the Horned Frogs will be very "Christ-like" in this one.
S. Methodist 7 TCU 28