Depressing

Well, that didn't go well. I am tired of seeing an ineffective offense when playing anyone with real defensive skill. The Utah defense should be tired of seeing an ineffective offense. Kyle Wittingham, most of all, should be sick of seeing it. Ever since he has been the head coach, Utah has had mediocre offense saved by talented players. They have continuously had great offensive lines, receivers and Brian Johnson, not to mention the fantastic RBs. Andy Ludwig coached the option read wrong in my opinion and this duel offensive coordinator thing with Aaron Roderick calling the plays isn't working. The other guy didn't work last year either. They need someone with experience calling the plays going into the Pac-12.

I would love to see a guy like Detmer come in and call the plays in Utah. Again, the west coast offense would work really well with Jordan Wynn. Man, if you want to run what I call the Utah Spread (Urban Meyer's offense with a good RB) than bring in Mike Sanford. He has currently taken a Louisville offense and moved them from a 90th ranking to 30th this year. Bring him back out west. You are in the Pac-12 now, I know you don't see the money yet, but you can't afford to sit on what you have. Speaking of Louisville, why not Steve Kragthorpe? It's a Pac-12 OC job. A big name like that could bring splash to a program in the flux. Success at Utah could get Kragthorpe mentioned for another head coaching job. It's win-win.

Here is what I would like to see. I don't care if it's under center, shotgun, pistol or a new thing, but I'd like to see a consistent, multi-faceted running game that is not limited to one style (power read). Added to that a good play action QB who can pass the ball well (read Andy Dalton type). I think Jordan Wynn could fit that role, in a good scheme. Than grab some athletic wideouts and you have a winning combo on offense.

BYU is doing the right thing here, even though I think it's kind of cheesy the way they are doing it (you are being evaluated right now, so it's a good idea to start looking elsewhere). But they are looking for a fresh start from an inconstant offense that has clock management issues, not to mention position management issues, to something knew. It's a chance they have to take. It's a chance Utah should take.

In regards to the bowl game, I have to first say kudos to the defense! They played their guts out! Great job guys. Secondly, good job Boise State for sticking with what got them there and not panicking when it looked bad. Other than that, Utah should fire their offensive staff and start from scratch, as a Pac-12 team.

Vegas Bowl

I know it's late in coming, but here it is. My breakdown of the Vegas Bowl. Normally, even with Utah being a 17 point underdog, I would tell you why I think the mass media is dead wrong and Utah is going to win big. I'm not sure it's going that way this year, but don't count out the UTES! First of all, you have to look at this year. What has happened? Boise beat Va Tech in Washington DC this year and than Va Tech went on to lose to an FCS team (meaning Weber State quality). However, Virginia Tech hasn't lost since and won out in the ACC finishing 10-2 and going to a BCS bowl. And then Boise State went out and rolled through the WAC until they got to Nevada. Nevada beat them in overtime on the 2nd missed field goal of the game by BSU. Utah went on a tear at the beginning of the year starting 8-0 and in the top 10 of both defense and offensive scoring. Jordan Wynn hurt his shoulder in the Iowa State game, a fact they covered up until after the season, and they changed their offense. They beat Air Force not playing well and running way to much and ran into the buzz-saw that I call TCU. Then they lost to Notre Dame by playing their worst game of the season and went on to finish 10-2.

Also, if there was an Achilles Heel to the defense this year is the pass defense. Even though they held TCU and San Diego State to the lowest run totals of the season, both teams threw all over the field on them. If Boise State has one Achilles Heel to their offense, it's staying to committed to the run when it isn't working. You saw that against Virginia Tech and Nevada. So that plays into the Utes hands, however, if they decide they can pick apart Utah's defense by short passes and deep throws, they will be hellish to stop.

So this is going to come down to coaching, and my money on coaching for a bowl game is going with Kyle Wittingham. Utah is 9-0 since 1999 and Boise State is 6-4 in the only 10 games they have played in. BSU's record is kind of a misnomer since they last 5 games they are 2-3. Again that's miss leading because they lost all 3 of those games by a combined 10 points. So who knows what that even means.

The biggest thing with these two teams is that BSU is coming off a loss (Utah State doesn't count) and Utah is coming in with attitude. Here is my hope, they understand their weaknesses and learn from them and surprise BSU and beat them with the physicality. Here is my fear, Utah doesn't understand what they are up against and Chris Peterson abandons the run after the first quarter and blows Utah out of the water by throwing for 500+ yards and scoring 55 points. My predictions for the game, BSU 21-18. And I will cry in my geek soup tonight.

Coaching Changes

Some old and new changes that could and will change the face of football here in Utah have happened. Let's start with some of the old. Miami and Florida both went looking for new head coaches and found them in an up and coming, Urban Meyer-esk Al Golden and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Golden comes from turning Temple from winning 22% of their games in 30 years to 9-4 in 2009 and 8-5 in 2010. Can they become Golden's Hurricanes? Will 9-4 be good enough? In Florida they are going for a mindset change, kind of. Urban Meyer is known for his offense and scoring, but if you go back to 2004 in Utah, his most successful teams have all won from the defense setting up the offense. However, Texas is known for their defense and that all came form Will Muschamp. He will bring the hard hitting attitude that some of these speed demons on the Gator defense need. How does this affect football in Utah? It doesn't. It could have, but it doesn't. The original rumor was Dan Mullen to Florida, but who would have went to Miss St? You know the top 2 names would have been Kyle Wittingham and Gary Patterson. But that's all water under the bridge now. It didn't happen and we have another year to breath.

The things that will change the face of football here in Utah is what BYU just announced. Well, not announced, but leaked. Robert Anai is out as OC and the entire offensive staff has been let go and are free to reapply for whatever position they choose. I have a friend who has a friend who knows somebody (c'mon, it's about BYU so he probably heard it from his wife in Relief Society, those girls know everything that's going on everywhere) that told him that Brandon Doman is going to be the new OC and Ty Detmer would be the new QB coach. Can you imagine Detmer coaching Jake Heaps?! Talk about 3 years of brilliance. There is one catch though, Doman as the OC over Detmer? I'm sorry, as a BYU observer and not a fan, I really hope it's the other way around. I have been reading posts about some BYU fan's saying they wouldn't be comfortable with Detmer being an OC. What's his coaching back round? REALLY?! His last 8 years in the NFL as a player was really just coaching. It was either Andy Reid or Mike Holmgren that said he was invaluable on their staff as a QB coach when he was a player. He is a high school head coach right now. What experience does Brandon Doman have? He has been BYU's QB coach for 5 years and was a drug rep before that. For experience, I'd go with Detmer. Plus, can you imagine a younger, more spread out version of the Chow offense run by those young freaks at BYU? Man, that would be scary for an opposing DC.

With all that said, either way, I think they are better off. Both QB's played for, and said they like, a more traditional West Coast style offense. I would love to see Heaps hand off to Quezada on first down, play action pass down the field to Hoffman on 2nd down for a TD. I love it. Man, I wish Utah would get with the program and maybe bring in Mike McCoy? I wonder what he's doing now? He was a QB coach for the Panther's for a few years in the same way Detmer was for Atlanta. In fact, when Atlanta went to the Super Bowl and beat the Panthers in the NFC Championship game, they were both listed as emergency QB's. Anyway, BYU will grow from this and get better, maybe on both sides of the ball.

Bowl Season

First I'd like to apologize for my lack of writing the past few weeks. I've been geeking out and I'll be better and more consistent.

Right now BYU is killing UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. Not even very exciting to watch really. I am really impressed with this young BYU team and how they have changed this season. I also wonder why recruiting was so poor for a couple years. Not last year obviously, but what happened in between Max Hall and Jake Heaps? Think about it BYU fans, the future is bright because Jake Heaps (Freshman QB), Joshua Quezada (Freshman RB), and Cody Hoffman (Freshman WR) could end up being BYU's version of "The Triplets" from the '90's Cowboys team. All three have come on strong in BYU's resurgence and Heaps to Hoffman and a play action pass to Quezada could get very familiar over the next three years. What about the older guys though? Where did they go or why aren't they the quality of the younger ones? Let's hope that during BYU's independent foray that it's not a pattern that continues.

For the rest of the bowl games, I'll focus on the BCS and a few others. My main bowl, The Vegas Bowl, I will get into at a later date. I'll start at the granddaddy of them all. The Rose Bowl. Wisconsin vs. TCU. Kinda brings back memories of growing up and watching the Rose Bowl on New Years day and both these historic programs... wait, Wisconsin won the Big Ten (which will keep it's name with 12 teams)? TCU is going in place of a Pac-10 team? My pick is TCU, who I think is the best team in the country. Oregon may have a better offense, Auburn may have the Best pro player (if you get paid, you are a pro, not a student athlete), but TCU leads the country in almost every defensive category and is 9th in total offense. They are DAMN good. TCU by 12.

Fiesta Bowl, which should be a rematch between Oklahoma and Boise St. except the stupid BCS gave Uconn the bowl bid even though they didn't deserve it. Oklahoma by 21. At least.

Orange Bowl. Stanford vs. Virginia Tech. Both really good teams. However, my top 5 looks like this: 1. Oregon, 2. TCU , 3. Stanford, 4. Auburn, 5. Boise St. So, I think Stanford will prove that physical football can win in the west and the east. They will beat Va Tech by 10.

Arkansas and Ohio St. are playing in the Sugar Bowl. I honestly can't gauge either team here. The Big 10 was pretty good this year and the SEC was WAY down this year so is Arkansas really any good. Honestly, I'm going Ohio St. to buck the trend of the Big 10 losing to the SEC and win by 10.

For the Independence Bowl, I am taking Air Force to roll over Georgia Tech, proving that they are legit.

The New Era Pinstripe Bowl, All I'm going to say is Syracuse is back in a bowl game for the first time since Donavan McNabb was the QB there. So I really don't care, I just think it's cool that they are turning it around.

The Hyundai Sun Bowl pits Notre Dame vs. Miami. I honestly want ND to win so Utah looks better, but I hope Miami wins because growing up, I loved the Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson Miami teams. I don't know why, but I did. On a side note, I want to go through all the coaching changes that may happen and how it will effect Utah but I will do that on a different post.

In the Fight Hunger Bowl, Nevada is going to run all over Boston College. I honestly think this could be the "surprise" blow out of the year.

And finally, the "National Championship". Oregon against Auburn. Pac-10 vs. SEC. You've read my top 5. I think it will be a high scoring, close game until mid way through the 3rd quarter. Oregon has better coaches, and better players at almost every position and will pull away from the one man team of Auburn. I've seen Auburn a couple times this year and have not been impressed by the defense at all. The only reason they beat Miss St is the Miss St wideouts kept dropping balls. I watched 2 td's dropped and another pass that would have put them in field goal range in the 4th to tie it. I have seen a lot of Oregon games and the only time I thought anything bad about them is when they blew up Stanford in the 2nd half. The first half was dominated by Stanford's run game and Andrew Luck (Best QB in the country) beating them in the play-action pass. They fixed it at half time and destroyed the 3rd best team in the country. Oregon by 3 at the half, oregon by 24 at the end. Go DUCKS.

Post for Wynn

This explains a lot. If Jordan Wynn hasn't been healthy since Iowa State? That makes TONS of sense. That's when he started throwing the ball in the dirt, the offense got really conservative and wasn't able to throw the ball down field. Here is the article that I got it from. Now maybe all the Wynn haters will go away and realize it wasn't all his fault. I'm not absolving him of blame either, but I will excuse him a bit now. Also, I'm going to delve into the bowl match ups for both Utah and BYU in another post, but let's hope it's Nevada and NOT Boise State in the Vegas Bowl against Utah. It's the defense that worries me.

Conference Changes

Alright, a kind of mid-week, off subject post. TCU announced today that as of the school year 2012-2013 they will be joining the Big East in all sports. So let's look at the current Mountain West Conference schools and see what's going to be in place over the next 2 years.

Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming. Of those 9 teams Utah and BYU will be leaving next year (2011-2012) and Boise State will be leaving the WAC to enter. So it will look like this next football season:

Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV and Wyoming. The following year TCU will leave and Fresno State and Nevada will enter the MWC. So it will look like this:

Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming. Is this a BCS quality conference? With only Boise State and Nevada having any success over the last few years, not a chance in hell. So Boise State leaves a conference that has a great partnership with ESPN and gets to show a lot of their games nationally to a conference without any kind of national exposer at all and it's pretty much the same conference. Here's what the WAC looks like right now:

Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State. Now let's compare the current WAC next to what the MWC will be.

Because BSU, FSU and Nevada are all the same, I'll skip those. Air Force is better than anyone else in the WAC right now and with SDSU climbing, they may be equal to Hawaii. So the new MWC will be better in that respect. After that you have a wash. Colorado State and New Mexico have seen their heydays come and go, as has Utah State. But again, MWC is better. New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech are not any good at all, along with Wyoming, Idaho and UNLV. Honestly, the new MWC will be a better conference since teams like LTU don't even want to play in the west and San Jose State may contemplate going back down into the Big West and play against Montana and Weber State. But is it worth it for BSU? I don't think so. Just wait Bronco fans until you can't see them on TV anymore.

Will this move benefit TCU? Let's look at the Big East as of 2012-2013 (unless further changes appear). Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, TCU, U. Southern Florida and West Virginia. (just football) The people who I know read this are pretty smart, so who would you pick to win the conference this year? TCU by a lot. In 2 years? If they aren't projected to be in the top 3, I'll wear purple for a week straight. In my opinion, TCU is going to frequent the BCS like BYU frequents the BYU invitational (Vegas Bowl). Not every year, but close enough that the Big East will be known as TCU and everyone else like USC and the PAC-10 over the past decade.

I still want to know if BYU is going to garner any more respect in the bowls than the list of affiliations for Navy. Poinsettia, Eagle Bank (?), Kraft Fight Hunger(?) and Armed Forces Bowls. I also would like to see the PAC-12 get better affiliations now. Another thing, if Boise State and New Mexico can host bowls, why can't Salt Lake? I'd love to see the Deseret First University Credit Union or even the Miller Family Bowl at Rice-Eccles. I'd even drive to Provo (wearing red, listening to Metallica and not shaving) to watch it at Levell Edwards.

GO UTES!

Hooray! The Utes must be living right on and off the field to block that field goal!! Go Utes!

Alright, now that is out of my system, I'll get down to my real break down of the game. The Utes sucked. They played their worst game outside of Notre Dame. (That includes TCU). Yet they still won, is that a sign of how bad BYU is? No, not at all. BYU has really changed this season for the better. What it does show however, is how resilient this Utah team can really be. They got beat down in the early part of the game but only allowed 6 points at half, which left Kyle Whittingham clapping on the sidelines that his team was only down 6. The whole T. Cain thing in the second half failed as much as I thought it would if they ever did it. The offensive problems don't just revolve around the QB position. Again, it's the play calling. As a friend of mine mentioned, they seem to get something going, and change the play calling before it stops working and stop themselves. If something works, do it until it doesn't. Make the other defense make you change your calls.

Am I going to call for Aaron Rodericks's head? Not yet, he is no where near the idiot that Ludwig was and he was making good decisions earlier in the year. What happened? Why is Wynn all of the sudden lining up in the pistol offense which is designed for a running threat at QB, which Wynn is decidedly not. I loved almost every play from the line up where Wynn was in the typical shotgun, and you had 2 RB's either flanking him or lined up on one side of him with a 2 yard gap between them. You can do anything from that and you don't have to worry about the QB's lack of run game. My thing is, if you want to run the option read offense, you need someone who the defense fears will run the ball. You don't need Cam Newton or even an Alex Smith, but Jordan Wynn is so afraid of contact, he'll dive head first or slide 3 yards down field on a 3rd and 5 instead of lowering his shoulder and going for the first down. I think that's when most Utah fan's fell into the Cain for president category. And why run the ball between the tackles on all but 2 run plays? Why not try the Utah shuffle pass, an end around, Eddie Wide actually going wide? Why is every pass a double crossing pattern with the TE's going on a fly pattern? Why not get Shaky the ball on bubble screen's? Why not try Shaky and Brooks on the same side of the field and have one go deep and one do a post or even dual cross posts? If I were a defensive coordinator, that would scare the beegeebees out of me.

I'll give it to BYU though, they played great! If they had been playing a lesser defense, they would have had 21 points on the board at half. The BYU defense really came to play today and it's just amazing how different they are from the beginning of the season. I know I complain about Mendenhall and his pious remarks, but man, he knows how to plan a defense. I almost wish he would get fired and come to Utah as the DC. ALMOST, but not quite.

On a side note, I hate how bad play calls keep coming up. It WAS a fumble in this game, it WAS a fumble vs. SDSU. SDSU got screwed with a no call block in the back vs Missouri, Arizona got screwed last year in a call I can't remember, but they did. Oklahoma filled a complaint against the Pac-10 3 years ago. Just about every week, someone is justified in talking about some horrific call from the officials. They need to be held more accountable. In all sports. I loved when the MWC actually suspended officials this year (and I don't think this one is as egregious as those calls). I hope more conferences and the NCAA takes a note and actually hold these guys accountable for blatantly blowing calls. That being said, I've never blamed a football game on officials because there are way to many factors and players to say that 1 or 2 bad calls make it one way or the other (basketball though, I will blame officials, especially Steve Javy). Again I'm going to bring up Super Bowl XL and the Seahawks. Of all the calls that went against the 'Hawks, the only one I complain about is the "blocking below the waist" call on Matt Hassleback's tackle of the guy who intercepted his ball. Other than that, the offensive pass interference WAS the right call. It's NEVER called, but it was the right one. The holding call, meh, either way. If Seattle had scored TD's instead of Field Goals in the first half or didn't lead the league in dropped passes that year (I swear they did it all in that one game), they would have won that game regardless of the calls. So to all my friends who read this that are BYU fan's, I'm sorry your team couldn't score TD's instead of field goals and couldn't run the ball at all or block someone from blocking your field goal. That is why you lost, not the one call. Sorry guys, but it's true.

Rivalry!

Utah hosting BYU this week will be my big one. 4 weeks ago this looked like it wasn't going to be a game at all. Utah was rolling at 7-0 and killing everyone! BYU was 2-5 and it looked like they were not getting anywhere with all that young talent on the team. Than Utah ran into Air Force, TCU, Notre Dame (still the worst I've seen since UNLV) and San Diego State and BYU played Wyoming, UNLV, CSU and New Mexico. BYU rolled through their opponents only allowing 44 points while scoring 169. Utah got bulldozed, first by Air Force, even though they won the game, the Falcon's shook the confidence of the Utes. Than TCU came into town and demoralized them 47-7, and they went into South Bend Indiana and let TCU beat them again falling to the Fighting Irish 28-3. They still looked punch drunk in the first quarter as they played the Aztecs in San Diego before turning it on for a comeback win. In that stretch, Utah got outscored by their opposition 132-76 and just didn't look good through 3 and 1 quarter of those games. So it's a tale of 2 seasons for each team. BYU is coming in 6-5 and Utah is 9-2.

Although the records are still so different the teams are not right now. BYU's defense is looking really good and Utah's defense feel apart against San Diego State. It was the first time I felt that the defense let down the offense this year. If they can't shore it up, look for BYU to throw the ball all over the field with their freshman WR and QB combo. I expect this game to be tight, and go down to the fourth quarter, maybe the last drive once again. It's either going to be 7-3 Utah or 47-44 Utah. (Come on, did you really expect me to pick the kitty cats?)

GO UTES!

Utes vs. Aztecs

All right, my first attempt at this didn't work so well because I'm at work, so I'll make it short and sweet.

BYU is playing New Mexico. Again, Bingham could beat this team. So I expect another huge blowout win for the Cougars.

Utah is playing at San Diego State. For the first time since Marshall Faulk was at SDSU this team looks really good. With Utah playing as bad as they have over the last 3 weeks (see former posts), this could get ugly real quick. If Utah could get back to early season form, it could get ugly the other way. What ever team wins the turnover battle will win this game. If Utah can get over their dropsies syndrome and 3-n-out idis, I think utah could pull out a win against a really good SDSU team. It sadens me to say this but my pick this week is SDSU by 8.

What the Hell was that?!

Wow, Utah looks really really bad right now. They are playing outside their heads, not making good decisions nor are they playing with any heart. The offense was so bad that it not only took the air out of themselves, but the defense lost it to. The O line is taking a lot of heat for the past two weeks, unnecessarily in my opinion. I think Wynn is holding the ball to long, drifting to far back into the pocket and running out of the pocket before the pressure gets to him. He is throwing the ball into the dirt right now and I haven't seen him play right since the Wyoming game. I'm not blaming everything on him, he is the QB though and needs to take a huge step forward mentally for this offense to get back on track.

Another huge issue has been the play calling of Aaron Roderick. Before the Airforce game, the offense was almost dead even, but since that game, the are sporadic at best. They tried to run the ball down the throats of AF without stretching the field at all. Against TCU, they abandoned the run to try to get back into the game after being down 14-0 early. After Wynn got picked deep against TCU, they haven't thrown deep at all, not once. Against Notre Dame, they killed themselves by not getting back into the offense they had before. Utah excels at power running the ball up the gut and than calling play action pass with either a deep pass or a crossing pattern by one of the WR's. They are trying to get those deep passes without the play action so the DB's are all over the WR's. Because of that, teams are dropping 8 to 9 guys into "the box" and Utah can't get any running lanes open and every yard is hard fought. With Utah's passing game only being out in the flat or 5-10 yards down field, the linebackers and defensive backs don't have to drop back, so the 5-10 yard passes are closing up as well. In other words, run the ball, play action pass, stretch the field deep. Catch the ball when it comes, hold the ball when you have it, throw it to where a receiver can catch it and run.

On the other side of the ball, it's about going back to basics. Tackling is a huge issue right now. They are not doing it, they are hitting and arm tackling. Simplify the scheme, these guys are used to a 4-3 man based defense with some zone blitzes mixed in. Not a weird combo of 4-3 zone and 3-4 or 3-3-5 zone. Get back to basics, you don't have the Paul Kruger, Koa Misi, Robert Johnson, Eric Weddle, Sioni Pouha, Shaun Smith, etc., to cover for mistakes. This is a very good, blue collar defense that is playing really well as a team that just needs to be allowed to do what they do best. Defensive line eating up blocks and getting some pressure, linebackers staying in their gabs and covering their zones and defensive backs covering WR's tight.

It's not only that these guys have lost the past 2 weeks, they haven't played well and just got blown out by a BAD Notre Dame team. It's gut check time going into a 7-3 San Diego State as a 5 point underdog. Get back the bark, more importantly, get back the bite. Don't let TCU beat you a 3rd time. Even if Utah loses this game but fights hard, that will be better than what I've witnessed the past 2 weeks.

I Didn't Forget!

Sorry about the late post this week. I didn't forget about this though. So let's get right into it. Utah is going to Notre Dame. Utah is a 4 point favorite over a bad Notre Dame team. I think the Utes are smarting from last week and ready to show the country what they can do. They are better on both sides of the line than ND and if they play their defense (no more of this 3-3-5 zone blitz crap, where did that come from?), they will shut down any hopes of ND having any kind of a run game and putting it all on a freshman QB making his 3rd start. I'm saying Utes and Utes big. 21 points for me.

BYU is going to Colorado State as a 5 point favorite. If this young BYU team keeps improving, I wouldn't doubt that the final is even bigger than the 5 point line. However, they have yet to win on the road and CSU is actually better than their paltry record. So I will say BYU to at least cover the spread, maybe win by 6.

The Aggies are a 7 point favorite going into San Jose State. Everyone wins there, so I am beating on the Aggies for this one. The big question for SJSU, should they stay in the FBS when the WAC breaks up or step down to the FCS and actually be able to compete?

Oregon is going to just kill Cal, they don't have the defense to hold OU beneath 42 points and Cal just can't put up that many points.

Auburn hosting Georgia might actually be interesting with all the hub-bub surrounding Cam Newton and him getting paid to play at Auburn. I think the Bulldogs can either scare the hell out of this team or even pull off an upset here. I wouldn't bet to highly on the latter, but I sau Georgia keeps it close.

TCU big over SDSU, 56-0. SDSU may not even cross the 50.

LSU, Stanford, Wisconsin, and Nebraska will all roll to easy wins this week while Ohio State struggles, but beats the Nittney Lions and the Oklahoma State rounds up the Longhorns into the pen (I couldn't help myself), where they will stay for the rest of the season.

Beyond that, the only interesting game is South Carolina at Florida. Steve Spurrier against the team he played for and coached to his first National Title. It's always a story and I think he will actually pull off a victory here.

That Was Unexpected

I haven't seen anything like that since Boise State in 2002. TCU came into Utah and showed why they are ranked #1 in almost every defensive category. However, I think the biggest problem for the Utes was the Utes. They got out coached by them selves. They ran a 3-3-5 defense almost the entire game. Why would you do that when your number one defensive attribute is your defensive line? In the 5th DB spot they played a mix of people, including Lamar Chapman down to Christian Cox. I saw the best corner for Utah blitzing at least 1/4 the time and a speed rusher backing out into coverage. The only 2 TCU drives I saw Utah put up any real threat was when they ran their typical 4-3 defense. They over schemed for TCU and got out of what got them undefeated in the first place.

On offense it wasn't any better. Maybe even worse. Utah is best when they run the ball and throw off play action. The Utes thought they would attack the #1 pass defense through the air more than run at them with a bigger, and more physical o-line than they have faced all year. On the touchdown drive, they got back to what they do best. Running the ball with Matt Asiatta and throwing off play action pass. What happened the next drive? They threw on first and second down going for a screen on 3rd down. So... punt. Well, at least I can say my National Champion pick is still alive.

Utah has to come out next week against Notre Dame and just kill them to show they still have reason to be in the top 20.

LSU just beat Alabama as well. That means Auburn needs to lose to Georgia AND Alabama so the National Championship can be TCU vs. Oregon. Or hell, let Oregon lose to Arizona and Oregon State. So that way, it will be TCU vs. Boise State again. Now that would be a hell of a game!

This is it!

This week is the week! Utah students and fans are invited to camp out for College Gameday that is coming to Utah for the biggest game of the week. This is the Under Armor Blackout week at the U. So, if you are going to the game, do not wear white at all. You shouldn't even wear red. You should all wear black, or some combo of black and red. I won't be going to the game but I will be wearing my Blackout Jersey all day Saturday and my red polo on friday. Dr. Chris Hill sent an email to the media asking for at least 10k Ute Fans to show up for College Gameday. I really hope this happens. C'mon Utah Fans! U-T-A-H, Utah Utah Utah Utes!

Now for the break down. Because of the sheer magnitude of this game, I'm going into lot's of detail and break down matchups.

I'll start with what I believe is the key to this game. The Offensive Line. Utah's O-Line is massive at an average of 6-5 and 316 pounds. The weak link is LT John Cullen. Calling him a weak link is proof of how good this O line is. They have only allowed 3 sacks this season and are creating HUGE holes the past 2 weeks for the double back system. By comparison, The TCU Horned Frogs are almost as good. They have only allowed 5 sacks the whole season. I give the edge to Utah here. I think this is such an important position for this game, because both defenses LOVE to pressure the QB and run blitz.

I'll stay in the trenches for my second thought. The D-line is what changed the game last year for TCU and the year before for Utah. If Jerry Hughes wasn't in the back field disrupting, he was occupying 2 or 3 O-Linemen so guys like Tank Carder could get an extraordinary amount of tackles and even a pick 6. This year, there is no Paul Kruger or Koa Misi for the Utes and no Jerry Hughes for TCU. But both D-lines are filled with super talented, hard working, hard hitting guys. Utah just happens to have more of them rotating in 10-12 guys consistently. So again, the edge goes to Utah here for man power.

Let's get into the "sexy" positions now. Utah has a dual-headed RB system with Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide getting nearly equal carries and yards. Together they are having a good year at 206 attempts and 998 yards. They both do a pretty good job catching out of the back field as well and both are really smart in blitz pick ups. TCU has the "guy" though. Ed Wesley is running rough shod all over everyone right now. He is rushing for 6.8 YPC and has 938 yards on the season so far. They don't throw to him much, but he does great in reading blitzes as well. They also have a "change of pace" back in Matthew Tucker. He has gained 496 Yards this season on just over 100 carries. He's not as big of a threat as Wesley, but still a good back to while Wesley gets a breather. This one is a toss up though I am leaning toward the Horned Frogs even though I LOVE the Utes backfield.

The WR's are another issue all together. Utah has several guys that are "go to" quality. Jereme Brooks is the over the middle, take a hit, make a guy miss and run for the End Zone guy. He has 38 catches for 451 yards. DeVonte Christopher is the deep zone guy who I'm looking forward to watching for the rest of his carrier. He has 26 catches for 499 yards and is coming back this week from injury. Just having him there means a lot to getting the other guys open. The Utes throw to the RB's and TE's alot this year as well but they have 2 underused weapons in Shaky Smithson (13 cathes 234 yards) and Luke Matthews (13 catches for 207 yards). I think they need to find ways to get Shaky the ball. End-a-rounds, reverses, put him in the Asiata package, even try some hook and ladder stuff with him. He is fantastic when he has the ball! TCU is similar in their distribution of the ball, they just run more. They have Jeremy Kerley, Josh Boyce and Bart Johnson who are kind of a 3 headed monster in their spread attack system. Both Kerley and Boyce are burners on the outside and Johnson is the post guy. The 2 are probably better over all receivers than anyone Utah has, however, Utah gets the ball to them more, so edge to Utah.

The QB's are a different story though. Jordan Wynn is a playah! He is a talented gun slinger who will force some things but he usually gets away with it. The Wyoming game is the only exception with 3 picks. Andy Dalton is more of the savvy vet and great game manager. He may be a little more athletic than Wynn as well and has 496 rushing yards to match his 1877 passing yards and 16-5 td to int ratio. Wynns stats are a little different, with him being out for 2 games, he still has 1431 yards, and a 13-6 td-int ratio. The nod here goes to Dalton, and it's a big nod. I'd rather have a game manager with good talent than a gunslinger any day.

In the LB core, Utah has the blue collar, get to work type of guy. I think this is why Utah doesn't get a ton of turn overs this year because they tackle right, and play their positions correctly. It's all about doing your job the best you can, and than doing it again. However, MLB Chaz Walker is leading the team with 61 tackles and is 2nd on the team with 6 tackles for loss. TCU plays a different style defense with the 4-2-5 so their LB's do a lot for them. And they have good one's. Tanner Brock is getting all the hype with his team leading 65 tackles and 4.5 TFL, but I think the best LB I have seen in the MWC in a long time is Tank Carder. His instincts are incredible and hits like a ton of bricks. He has 45 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, and a pick. If TCU's D-line can hold onto blocks, these 2 LB's reek havoc on offenses. Even though Utah has 3 to TCU's 2, TCU gets the plus here.

DB's are great this year for the Utes. Again, no super stars, just lots of guys who come to work. The emotional leader has turned out to be CB Lamar Chapman. He's a little guy who has 42 tackles and leads the team in TFL with 9.5 and sacks with 5.5. Coach Kalani Sitake has rarely dialed up a corner blitz before this year. With Chapman's sure tackling and great angles though, how can you not? He goes in on run blitzes just as much as he does pass blitzes. He is an animal. Brandon Burton can cover any one in the country and no one tests his side this year. The safety's might as well get their CDL's with the trucks they hit people with. Brian Blechen has been a surprise this year as a freshman who came into the program a QB, but he has played well and has 2 picks and all his tackles seen to be timely, BIG hits. Justin Taplin-Ross, or Tap Tap, has great instincts and always seems to be around the ball. The 2 safeties are tied for most picks this year with 2 a piece. With the 4-2-5 TCU runs, they play 2 safeties like LB's and it works well, especially with spread offenses. Colin Jones and Tejay Johnson are animals back there. Both are in the top 3 on the team in tackles and have 3 picks between the 2 of them. Jason Teague probably gets tested more than anyone, and does the best with it. With Utah being a little more traditional and TCU being a 4-2-5. I would say that the DB's are a wash because they each have the athletes they need in their systems.

That leaves Special Teams. Joe Phillips is 9-10 on the year and his miss hit the inside of the goal post before it bounced out. He is really good and Sean Sellwood has a great punt average but is not hugely consistent. Nick Marsh handles the kick offs and has 15 touch backs out of 62 kick offs. Not great, but nice. Utah has a great return team this year though with Shaky Smithson leading the way with 126.5 all purpose yards per game. He is leading the country in punt returns 23.33 yards per return. He gives the Utes great field position and he is always a threat when he touches the ball. Evan Ross for TCU is 6-6 on the year, and hasn't had to be clutch at all this year because of their big leads on everyone. I honestly haven't watched enough of their games to say how their punting is (do they even punt?) and the kickoffs are pretty average with 10 touch backs and most of what I've seen landing around the 5. The Kick returns are handled by Jeremy Kerley mostly and he is average at best and punt returns are 13.5 yards per. The kicking game is a wash but Shaky tips the scales BIG for Utah here.

Utah ranks:

Rushing Offense: 27th-191.5 YPG

Passing Offense: 33rd-258.13 YPG

Total Offense: 21st-449.63 YPG

Scoring Offense: 3rd (thank you Shaky)-45.25 PPG

Rushing Defense: 14th (after Air Force)-102.75 YPG

Passing Efficiency Defense: 23rd-112.76

Total Defense: 6th-267.75 YPG

Scoring Defense: 6th-14.13 PPG

TCU ranks:

Rushing Offense: 9th-270.89 YPG

Passing Offense: 60th-214.78 YPG

Total Offense: 11th-485.67 YPG

Scoring Offense: 9th-40.78 PPG

Rushing Defense: 9th-98.33 YPG

Passing Efficiency Defense: 4th-94.53

Total Defense: 1st-217.33 YPG

Scoring Defense: 1st-8.67 PPG

This is going to be a battle of the titans on both sides of the ball. Utah's offense is better and TCU's defense is better. Both sides of the ball are really good for both teams though. It's going to be a low scoring, hard hitting battle much like the Pitt game was. Everything I see though points to TCU. I hate saying this, but TCU is the better team right now. They are even a 4.5 favorite going into Utah, which means they would be a 7.5 favorite in Texas. However, with Utah being so close in athleticism, TCU can be out coached. And I think that may happen here with Rice-Eccles being a crazy atmosphere and Utah always getting up for big games, I.E. Alabama, I am saying Utah by 1. Or TCU by 2. It's even, I can't decide. I can't pick against how good Utah has been, nor can I pick against my pre-season National Champion pick. (I am biased though, so Utah by 1)

I'm not really going to go into any of the other games this week, I don't really care. I will say real quick though, BYU over UNLV by 14 and Utah State over New Mexico State by 10.

The Utah Spazz!

Alright, so I understand we are only 3 games in, and the team is mostly new players, but this team looks spastic already. Maybe it's just that they haven't found a good rhythm yet, maybe they don't know who they are. Are they a defensive team? Giving up 110 points twice and 99 the third night, I don't think so. Are they run and gun? Again, I don't think so, scoring 88 against Denver, 94 against Phoenix, but where did 120 against the Thunder come from?

Paul Millsap. He went crazy! He went for 30 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists! Al Jefferson was 23 and 10. AK also looked good having 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 blocked shot. It looks like the Jazz could be huge inside this season. DWill also dished out 15 assists and had 16 points.

My biggest complaint threw the first 2 games was they were not passing inside very well. Well, Al jefferson wasn't passing at all. Against the Nuggets, I counted 3 straight possessions where he got the ball, got double OR TRIPLE teamed and still tried to shot over and through people. Against the Suns, I saw the same thing at least 4 times, they just didn't go back to him immediately. If he can grasp the offense and learn to pass out of the double team, he could be really good in this system. Until than, the Jazz need to lean heavily on Millsap. He knows the system, he hustles every play and deserves the chance at being the star. If they do those things, the Jazz could beat anyone in the conference. If not, and if Big Al continues to be selfish and not pass out of the post, this team can and will go down in flames fast.

I Won't Miss Air Force

Being a Utah fan and a fan of the armed forces and all they due for us is kind of conflicting at times. Well, really only once a year. I am looking forward to the time when I don't have to route against Air Force in football. Not only because I respect everything they do on and off the field, but also because they always give Utah fits, regardless of how good the Utes are. 28-23 and giving up 210 yards rushing isn't like Utah this year. However, Air Forces YPG went down from 326 to 313. In that aspect, they did well. Playing Air Force though, knocked Utah's 6th ranked rush defense down to 14th. Honestly, I think they did well on defense, but they needed every one of the 6 turnovers to win. Air Force is an even better team than I thought going into this game and I'm grateful I won't have to route against them every year any more.

Utah State got rolled again. Nevada came out firing and beat them 56-42. The score wasn't even close at half time and the Aggies showed some sign of life to score 42 points in the second half after being down 35-0 at the break. Hopefully next year, They will start to win some of these types of games.

With the bigger BCS picture in mind, Utah, TCU and Boise State all got lucky with 2 more unbeatens falling to conference foes this week. With a 2 loss Iowa beating Michigan State and 1 loss Nebraska derailing Missouri, 3 of the top 5 BCS ranked teams are non-AQ.

BSC Standings:

#1 Oregon

#2 Auburn

#3 TCU

#4 Boise State

#5 Utah

#6 Alabama

#7 Nebraska

#8 Oklahoma

#9 Wisconsin

#10 LSU

With Auburn taking care of business against Ole Miss, they really only have 1 more chance of losing and it's going to be against Alabama. So, if Oregon doesn't falter against Oregon State, I could realistically see Alabama jumping everyone else in the standings if they don't lose again, or Auburn staying put if the same holds true. And a 1 loss TCU/Utah will be going to the Vegas Bowl. Man, I am not going to miss the MWC.

First Real Test

This week marks Utah's first real test of the season. Sure, they played a tough game against Pitt, but the 2 teams have gone in opposite directions since than and Pitt now looks more like a chihuahua at 4-3 right now. (get it, pitt, chihuahua, man I'm funny.) Utah is another beast all together. Rolling into Air Force at 7-0 and ranked 14th in total offense and 5th in total defense. The schedule the Utes have run so far this season though has not been pretty. They have the 119th (out of 120) strongest schedule based on opponents thus far. Yah, the MWC is no where near going to get a BCS birth. Not with New Mexico, Wyoming and UNLV in the conference. They are three of the worst teams in the NCAA right now. But, in 2008, Utah faced this same schedule and barley squeaked out most of those, albeit they were better versions of the same teams, still though, Utah is blowing these guys out of the water and giving valuable playing time to the backups. But here comes the meat of the schedule. First is Air Force, who has the top ranked rushing offense in the nation. With Utah being ranked 6th in rush defense, something has to give. Typically, in this matchup, both will. Utah will give up yards and field goals, but no TD's. With how good Utah is, I am saying Utah will not only win, but win the points as well. They are favored by 5 but will win by 14.

Utah State is a 24 point dog at Nevada. All I can say is bet the wolfpack. And bet big.

Nationally, there aren't a whole ton of interesting games. Except the fact that most of the top 10 are AT somewhere rather than hosting. Auburn is at Ole' Miss and could be interesting because Ole Miss can score and but I think Auburn will outscore them. Oregon is at USC, sounds daunting, but Oregon's strength's line up with USC weaknesses. Oregon by 21 here. TCU at UNLV, ha ha, not going to be close, unless TCU is looking at Utah next week, which I doubt. Even than, TCU by 21 because they slept through it. Michigan State is at Iowa which may prove to be the most interesting match up yet. Iowa is a 4.5 point favorite, I would bet Michigan State here, at least to cover the spread. This one may be won by a kicker. Missouri is at Nebraska, and with how Nebraska played last week, this one might get crazy as well. I want to say Nebraska by 3, but... I don't know, it's a pick um game and I say over time. Unless Mizzou blows them up early, which they could. Oklahoma is hosting Colorado, and go Sooners big. Ohio State at Minnesota, well, go Buckeyes. Stanford is visiting Washington and is going to just blow of the huskies because they have had trouble with bigger, more physical teams. They can out "cute" you but they can't take a punch in the mouth and Stanford comes out swinging with both fists.

Nothing really compelling except those 2 in the middle, and I'm hoping for both undefeated teams to lose.

Biggest Joke of the Weekend

Wow, after the first couple weeks of the NFL season, I would have called you a liar if you told me the Seahawks would be 4-2 after 6 games. I still don't believe in them being a good team yet, however they did beat the Bears last week so who knows?

Utah beat up CSU 59-6. Well, that's a bit more than my 32 point prediction. I will say though, this is the most impressive I've seen a Utah team since 2004. Even in 2008 when they finished 2nd in the voting as the only unbeaten team in football, they barely squeaked some games through and didn't hit their stride till after the TCU game (which they only won because of some Horn Frog botched field goals). Utah is getting into the meat of their schedule however and it looks to be a little tougher from here on out. AF next week, than TCU, ND, SDSU, and finally BYU.

Speaking of which, I should have bet this game. BYU beat Wyoming in Provo 25-20. More than my 2 point opinion, but Wyoming covered.

I said Hawaii by 5? Well, I meant 50. Hawaii 45-7. Go Aggies!

Missouri beat Oklahoma 36-27 effectively knocking them out of the National Championship contender position.

Auburn beat LSU 24-17.

Wisconsin 31- Iowa 30.

Nebraska over Oklahoma State 51-41. I thought Nebraska had a good defense? I guess not.

The biggest surprise to me this weekend in college football was not on the field. It was the joke of BCS rankings. Auburn jumped everyone and got to the #1 spot when Oregon should be there. I really hope it works itself out to where you see Oregon vs the winner of Utah/TCU (because Nevada finally beats Boise). I still don't believe the SEC is all it's cracked up to be and I think they are even more over rated when I see a team like Auburn, who has zero defense, vault in the poles. They don't face another real challenge until the end of the season either. Their last game in against Alabama, which they will lose big and than Alabama will pole vault over who ever is left unbeaten. Even if it is Oregon form the Pac-10. The SEC is a joke and they don't deserve to have a National Championship contender this year.

BCS rankings:

#1 Auburn

#2 Oregon

#3 Boise State

#4 TCU

#5 Michigan State

#6 Missouri

#7 Alabama

#8 Utah

#9 Oklahoma

#10 Wisconsin

It's a joke at how high these guys rate the SEC teams. I hope LSU goes on to lose against Alabama and Arkansas and Alabama loses to Mississippi State. And Auburn loses to Alabama would make it so no SEC team has fewer than 2 loses. NO SEC IN TITLE THIS YEAR! This all hinges on Oregon going into LA this week and taking care of business against the Trojans, but hey, wouldn't it be funny if the winner of Utah/TCU is ranked 1 and Boise is ranked 2 because the previous happens and Oregon loses to USC but beats Arizona and Michigan State loses to Iowa and Missouri loses to Nebraska? Ok, I am dreaming, but it could work!

Welcome to the Big Time

The Pac-10 announced today that they will have 2 divisions when Utah and Colorado join to form the Pac-12. It will be split north and south. North division will consist of Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford and California. South will be Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona St., UCLA and USC. What this means for Utah? I am not really sure anything for now. I think the divisions are fairly equal as far as power structure, as opposed to the Big XII as of late with Texas and Oklahoma both being in the south division. The media and school representatives have all been clamoring "Don't split us from southern Cal!" I think that sentiment is over rated. They all want to stay playing in southern Cal every year for recruiting purposes. With whatever TV contract they get, they will be on TV and that is truly all that matters for recruiting. If you are going into a kids home and telling him that he could play at Utah and compete for a Rose Bowl or National Championship and play games in either the same time zone or within a cheap flight to SLC, it's going to be easy either way.

With a similar idea, Oregon is at half time right now against UCLA and I know UCLA isn't great, but watching Oregon and their ever changing uniforms is awe inspiring. I just can't believe that the offense is that good, I mean 5 drives, 372 yards, 32 points in 10 minutes time of possession. I don't know how in the world they are not #1 in the BCS pole. Oklahoma?! Really?

With that being sad, here are my picks for the week.

Utah is hosting Colorado State. Utah is a 31 point favorite and I agree with that. CSU is an up and coming team that needs more experience along the O-line. They look like a middle of the pack team in the MWC next year. But not this year. Utah by 32

BYU is coming into the point in their schedule that can make you think they are a decent team. They play Wyoming at home this week and are favored by 10. They both have pretty similar stats but Wyoming has played a much tougher schedule. I will pick BYU because they are at home but I still haven't seen anything from the Cougars offense to think they can score more than 24 points. So I will say BYU by 2. Prove me wrong Cougars.

Utah State is hosting Hawaii and the odds have it Hawaii by 3.5. I want to say the Utah State will jump up and bite Hawaii in the butt, however I can't see any angle that tells me that. Hawaii by 5.

I am going with some extra picks this week because it's a big week for some of the top BCS teams. I mean some BIG games. #1 Oklahoma is playing at #11 Missouri with OU being a 6 point favorite. I am not sure Mizzou can beat them but I haven't seen anything from OU this year that tells me they are #1 in anything. OU by 2.

#6 LSU is visiting #4 Auburn. Auburn scored 63 points in regulation last week against Arkansas but it was the first time I think the offense "clicked". They won't be able to do that against LSU's defense, which is why they are still undefeated. But I don't think LSU's Gary Crowton* offense can generate enough points to match them. Auburn is a 4.5 favorite and 51.5 point over/under. It won't get anywhere near that high. I am guessing Auburn 23- LSU 17.

#15 Iowa hosting #13 Wisconsin. Iowa by 3

#16 Nebraska at #14 Oklahoma State. Big time offense against a pretty good defense. In this game, offense wins, OSU by 6.

* means to look here for a rant.

So, this week I heard a local radio host ask BYU fans if they wanted to keep current OC Robert Anai or bring in Gary Crowton to be the OC. "Are you kidding me?" I thought. "What BYU fan would want that mess to bring back memories of the worst times at the program since before Lavell. I was shocked when the majority said they would only as an OC, but they would. I repeat, "ARE YOU BLEEPING KIDDING ME?!" I will tell you a funny story. There was a guy who was a head coach at Louisiana Tech and had an awesome offensive attack for 3 years. After that, he became an OC in the NFL with the Bears. The first year was good, they ranked 3rd in the NFL in total offense and the Bears have yet to eclipse the total yards for that year. The next year however, is a different story. They were one of the worst offenses in the NFL with the most penalties. (sound familiar?) He than became a head coach at a major college football program with a very good history of winning. Most BYU fans want to forget everything in that time frame but I will remind them anyway. 2 years of AWESOME offense... than it all fell apart. Bad, undisciplined teams on the field, and off the field, well, it was even worse. Players being suspended, expelled and arrested. Even a sex scandal (gasp). Than he went to Oregon as an OC and had 2 years of excellent offense and than 2 years of really bad offense when LSU bailed him out again. Guess what, he had 2 years of awesome offense and the last 2 years? Well, LSU ranked 112 in total offense last year and this year is currently ranked 92nd. Really? BYU fans want that in Provo?! Ok guys, you are probably glad that Bronco or Tom Holmo would NEVER bring that joke back into town.

Surprising Weekend

Utah beat Wyoming in Laramie for perhaps the last time ever. The weather was nice and Utah looked bored while beating down the cowboys. With a great defensive effort, the Utes won 30-6. Not the beating I thought, but still strong enough to move the Utes to 9th in the AP, Coaches and BCS polls. Pretty good, and if they continue to win, they'll continue to climb. They also covered the line so if you bet on my prediction, you won!

BYU's defense again provided a spirited effort against the Horned Frogs. It wasn't enough however and TCU rolled the Cougars 31-3. That one was also a surprise because TCU looks really strong and BYU looks barely breathing. They are coming back to life though in surprising fashion.

Auburn and Arkansas combined for over 1000 yards in a wacky offensive game. They also combined for 108 points. I was wrong again in this one as Auburn beat the Razorbacks 65-43 in regulation. It was a crazy game, especially for an SEC game.

Dan Mullin of Mississippi State coached his team to a victory against his friend and mentor Urban Meyer and the Gators. They won a defensive battle 10-7 that seemed more like a traditional SEC game than from 2 of the people who created the spread option attack. Mississippi State looks like an upcoming team to beat in the SEC though and I'm looking forward to the traditional powers losing their seats to teams like S. Carolina and Miss State.

Also though, #1 Ohio State got beat by #18 Wisconsin, which was their first real test. Texas also knocked of #5 Nebraska which is why Utah was allowed to climb to #9 in all the polls. Now that the BCS standings are out, I will be focusing more on that as well. So here is the first BCS Standings release through the top 10:

#1 Oklahoma 6-0

#2 Oregon 6-0

#3 Boise State 6-0

#4 Auburn 7-0

#5 TCU 7-0

#6 LSU 7-0

#7 Michigan State 7-0

*8 Alabama 6-1

#9 Utah 6-0

#10 Ohio State 6-1

What a Joke

All right people. I am sick and tired of being pointed at as a group and being told I am one way or another because of my religious affiliation. It's wrong, I'm not allowed to do it to others, it shouldn't be done to me. But I'm not here and you don't read this for political commentary, but I have to say, I hope this guy loses his job. His reflection on San Diego State University coupled with the crappy way the student section treated BYU fans last time they went to Cox arena breeds hate on both sides. It needs to stop, it needed to stop decades ago. I just want to link a few things that may prove my point about this guys "love" of mormons.

From his blog.

From his show earlier this week. And that is only part, he went on for about 30 minutes degrading BYU and anyone associated with them because of a blown call. I think everyone should email his show and program director if you think that breeding hate on the radio needs to stop!

How Can This Happen?

Before I go into what I think is a dog weekend in college football, I want to discuss what happened last Saturday while BYU was hosting San Diego State.

In the 4th quarter, with BYU leading 17-14, JJ Diluigi ran off the right guard for an ok gain and the view I got from my spot on the couch, the next thing to happen was an Aztec D linemen getting up with the ball. Much to the chagrin of Coach Hoke, the call on the field was down by contact. He challenged the play, giving the TV guys, from the Mountain Network I might add, plenty of time to look at lots of different angles of the play. The only angle that didn't show the ball on the ground BEFORE his knee, was the first angle they shot the play from with a big o-linemen in the way. Diluigi fumbled and the same guy who stripped the ball from him had full control of the ball while on the ground being contacted by Diluigi. After listening to both announcers say that the call would be overturned for about 3 minutes (double the time they say it should take to review a play), I heard the official announce that the call on the field stands. I was dumbfounded and even told my dad, who I was on the phone with at the time, that San Diego should file a complaint with the league because that could cost them the game. And it very well might have. BYU continued the drive and ended it with their final score of the afternoon, a 1-yard run by Bryan Kariya to go up 24-14.

Everyone who saw that play has to admit that it was a fumble, if you can't please stop reading now, go to the bathroom, remove the blue colored contacts with a Y in the middle. Are they gone? OK, now re-watch the play with this link (it's about 1:45) but put a red jersey on the RB and a blue jersey on the d-lineman. Now you can see it's a fumble. Good for you True Blue Cougar, you have made the first step in not being a moron.

Now knowing that, understand that the MWC actually suspended 3 people from officiating in this week's games. The head official, the replay official and the BYU videographer. They also told SDSU that a controversial Pass Interference call after the Aztecs had stopped BYU on 3rd down should not have been called. I agree with that as well. I normally don't blame the officials for games and I normally agree with what Urban Meyer once said while here in Utah. "You have to play so officials don't matter, you have to make your own luck." That was paraphrased because I can't find where he said it nor the exact wording, but you get the gist. Even when Seattle lost Superbowl XL, I didn't exactly blame the officials. They only "blew" one call in my opinion and the others were just close calls that usually aren't called. This is different however, this could be something of an issue when the officials are actually suspended. I applaud the MWC for taking a stand on a most egregious call and holding the zebras responsible. Why the BYU videographer was involved in the first place, I don't know. I can guess it has something to do with the HD capabilities that BYU has that no one else does, but I don't know. Why was he suspended though? Did he do something... untoward? Did he not live correctly off the field? I hope to find out soon, and I hope that this sets a precedence that officials can and will get punished for bad calls just like the athletes get punished for playing poorly.

Ok, now that's off my chest, my predictions for this week:

First is Utah at Wyoming. Well, for the Cowboys sake, let's hope the Utah 1st teamers miss the bus, even than, T Cain will lead the 2nd team Utes to a huge win. The line is 20.5 right now, I think it's much worse. Utah takes the 3rd scoring offense against the 97th ranked scoring defense. it's going to get ugly and stay ugly. Utah by 31.

Second is BYU going into Ft. Worth Texas to play TCU. If you read my blog often, you know how good I think TCU is. If you want stats, just click here, but this game is going to be the worst loss for BYU since Boise State in 2004. Man that was a cold game. Anyway, the line is TCU by 29.5. Nope TCU by 35.

Utah State has a bye week so they shouldn't lose this week.

My national picks this week are going to be a little different. I want to pick relevant games to the local teams. So, because this pits #7 against #12, I'm going with Auburn hosting Arkansas. Sadly, I think the Razorbacks win it. I say sadly because they would jump Utah, although Auburn might drop past them if that does happen, but Arkansas is just a better all around team. Yes Auburn has Cam Cameron, but have you seen that defense? Yuck.

The other is the Mississippi State at Florida. The reason why it's relevant to us is the coaches. Urban Meyer against Dan Mullin. They were both here in Utah together (Mullin being the QB coach) and they were both in Florida together (Mullin being the OC). Florida has the better Defense and Miss State has the better offense, but I think that Mississippi State smells blood in the water and the Bulldogs are ready for this one. Florida is a 7.5 point favorite and if you bet, bet Mississippi State, they will at least cover and I think they will win.

Go Utes and former Utes!

More to Come

Huge happenings down in Provo and in the MWC with officiating. I will hit on it bigger tonight but this is a huge deal that could have and maybe should have cost BYU the game.

In reality, well, MY reality

The University of Utah football team is ranked 3rd in scoring offense right now behind only Oregon and Oklahoma State. What does that mean? They put up lots and lots of points. However, they are only 29th in total offense thus far. What does that mean? It means they have a really good offense that can and will score from wherever they get the ball. They just have been getting really short fields. That means 2 things.

1: Utah has a good defense. I mean better than expected good. They are currently 10th in total defense. That means a lot of offenses go 3 and out and punt to Utah. The problem for them is Shaky Smithson, which brings us to number 2

2: Shaky Smithson, Shaky Smithson and oh, Shaky Smithson mixed with a dash of Reggie Dunn and Reggie Topps. Utah has 3 punt returns for a touchdown and 1 kickoff return in 5 games. Shaky also has 2 punt returns that he was pushed out inside the 10 yard line.
The great thing about that is how quality of a guy Shaky Smithson is. Not just a great football player, but an excellant human being. He is now the gaurdian of one of his siblings and was the focus of an HBO documentary "Hard Times at Douglas High." He is just a quality guy that I route for everytime he touches the ball. His success on the field has proven that great guys (with good talent) can finish first.

What this means for Utah though, is that they can be REALLY good. They have aspects to their team this year they didn't have a year ago and I would not be surprised if they stunned TCU in Salt Lake. I also wouldn't be surprised if they didn't. TCU is damn good. This is my blog though and I say Utah is going to win it! I'll go into more detail of why it's a possability later, but I really believe it.

In reality though... GO UTES!

Who the...? What the...?

Utah State made me a liar once again. In a 24-6 loss, they apparently had an emotional let down. Come on guys! *sigh*

Missouri blanked Colorado 26-0 showing exactly what I thought earlier. Neither is as good as their record, but Missouri is better than Colorado. By a lot it seems.

New Mexico. Wow, they are better than I thought. They only lost by 2 and actually scored 14 points! To bad they lost to their bitter rivals in New Mexico State (they even have a football program?)! Once again though, they proved that they truly are the worst team in College Football.

After being down 14-10 after the first quarter, and me sweating my prediction, Utah turned on the jets to demolish the Cyclones 68-27. My 24 point prediction was a little, well, under estimated to say the least. They racked up 598 yards on offense (that's NOT including the great kick returns), and it seemed like everyone on the team got in on at least one offensive possession. They went into the Big XII country and came out with another notch on their belt. Go Utes!

Now for the Who the...? BYU beat Sand Diego State. No, check that. They over powered San Diego State. Yes, I said BYU over powered someone. WHAT? A week after Heaps threw 55 passes against Utah State in a losing fashion, he went 15/22 for 126 yards and 1 INT. And boys and girls, this is the BEST I've seen BYU look this year. And it's not even close. BYU ran the ball 62 times. 62 TIMES! When was the last time you saw a BYU team run the ball 62 times? I don't think I ever have. They protected a freshman QB the way I think they should have all year long, running the ball. I think they found a go-to back in Bryan Kariya as well. He didn't have the numbers that JJ Deluigi had, but he was in there when it counted. Also, the defense looked inspired. The made tackles, they took great angles on faster SDSU guys and they covered the best WR combo in the MWC. Over all, this looks like a completely different team than I have seen up to this point. Don't get cocky though Cougar fans, TCU looms on the horizon.

What the...? Alabama got beat? Not only did they get beat, they were not really ever in the game. I know the score was 35-21, but after the Game Cocks opened up a 14-0 lead, they played even the rest of the game, matching them score for score. So there goes my pick for the National Champion... unless the BCS figures a way to keep both an undefeated Boise State and an undefeated TCU/Utah out of it. So let's all join hands and pray for all the SEC teams to lose at least 1 game and hopefully 2! Here's hoping for a non SEC National Champion this year!

Thursday's Predictions and a side note

Let's start this week a little different. I want to go after my 2 national game picks first.

Let's start with one that might peak some local interest. Colorado at Missouri. The reason that this will be of interest locally is that the national media will be comparing Utah to Colorado starting next year. You know, the Pac-12 newbies. Missouri is 4-0 and is putting up some interesting numbers. However they have only played one respectable defense (San Diego State) and put up 27 points on them. CU is 3-1 with a wins over Georgia (not as good as you think), Hawaii and Colorado State. The loss was a blowout 52-7 by Cal. I don't think either team is as good as their record but Mizzou is better than CU. Not really defensively but offensively. If Mizzou can get out to an early start and make CU one dimensional, it could get ugly. Missouri by 17.

This one really has no interest to me, other than how bad can it get for a team. It's like watching a train wreck. New Mexico @ New Mexico State. You can't watch this game. I wouldn't watch this game if you paid me. Well, maybe if you paid me a salary, but... I would say for two really bad, I mean REALLY bad football teams, this may be either teams best chance to get a W. Sadly, it will go to State because they just aren't AS bad as NM. NMS 10 NM 6.

Utah State @ Louisiana Tech. This game is either going to be a carry over from the success last week for USU or a let down from an emotional win. Because this is a Biased Sports Report, I am going to say it's the former. Utah State is better than Louisiana Tech. They have better defensive numbers (surprisingly) even though they have played better teams. They have a better offense even though they have played better teams. They are on the cusp of growing their program much like the Utes did when they hired Ron McBride. This will be a route. Aggies by 24.

BYU is hosting San Diego State. I would love/hate to pick BYU here. I can't do it. They have yet to prove to me anything and SDSU is showing life in that program for the first time since Marshall Faulk. They are favored by 4.5. I doubt it. BYU is 96th in total offense and 101 in total defense. SDSU is 7th in total offense and 22nd in total defense. I'm going to say blowout. Sorry Cougar fans, all 65 thousand who will be at the game, this is going to be ugly. The only hope I see for a close game is that the defense wakes up under the tutelage of Bronco. I don't see it and I think SDSU by 24 because they let off the gas in the 4th.

Utah is playing in Big 12 country at Iowa State. The Cyclones offense can't even dream about scoring a ton on the 7th ranked defense in the country. With their own defense ranked 84th, I doubt they can stop the offense which is ranked 45th, but I think Shaky and the defense have a lot to do with the lower ranking because of the field position. Well, and those damn turnover's. Utah is favored by 6 and if I were a betting man, this would be my game of the week. Go Utah and go big. Utah may only win by 24 because they run the ball the entire 3rd and 4th quarters. Utah is really good. Not only because I'm biased, but they are ranked 10th in the nation because other people think so as well.

On a side note, Utah and BYU inked a deal today to play each other in football and basketball over the next 2 years. I love it, I really do. However, there is a but. The games are both going to be in Sept. I don't love that idea at all but the worst part about it, it's not even going to be the opening game of the year. 2011 is Sept 17th in Provo and 2012 is in Salt Lake on Sept 15th. Possibly the 3rd week of the season. I hate it! The only hope to that is that it's just a 2 year deal. If they wish to keep the national consideration for this game being as big as it is, they need to fix it before they sign another deal. I understand why they did it that way right now, Utah has to feel their way around the Pac-12 and BYU has some limitations right now. Let's hope that Utah can get some clout and say they need to be playing BYU in November instead of early in the year. I mean, they do it for Notre Dame against both Stanford and USC. They have done it for UCLA vs. both Utah and BYU. They can release certain dates upon request and I really don't want to see Utah playing Colorado in the last game of the year in some made up rivalry. It should be the same week that UW plays Wazzu, OU plays OSU, ASU vs AU, USC vs UCLA, Stanford Cal. Colorado can even talk CSU into playing them that week instead of the opening game every year. RIVALRY WEEKEND! PLEASE FIX THIS before you sing the next contract.

The other thing, with BYU, Utah, Utah State, Weber State, Southern Utah, UVSC (or whatever it's called now) all having legit (using the term loosely for Utah) Basketball programs, they need to do an instate tournament every year. A round robin style that every one plays each other and the 2 with the best record play again. Or even bracket it, with Utah State and BYU on either side of the bracket so they would meet in the end if they both won out. That would prove the true best team in the state every year. I would go to that tourney wherever it was held! Hold it in Saint George, I don't care, HOLD IT! It needs to get done TOMORROW!

Saturday Results and an Early Reaction to Sunday

I've already chronicled my first pick and I would rather not get into it again. So here we go with the other 2 picks. I was a little off on the Oregon Stanford game. OU took Stanford's best hit right on the nose, and when their eyes were cleared they were down 21-3 early in the 2nd quarter. They than rolled off a 49-10 run and blew up any critics word and how good this team really is. They jumped Boise State in the rankings and should have jumped Ohio State.

With that being said, Alabama proved again that no one should underestimate them. They are easily the best team I have seen in college football this year. Oregon, Boise State and TCU should all be right there behind them, but still choking on the dust they are kicking up. 'Bama's defense handled the mediocre Florida offense just fine and their offense showed glaring flaws in a defense I thought was really good. These guys are really well coached and are great athletes. This team is for real, maybe the best team in College Football since the 2005 USC team. And I hate saying that since I think the SEC as a whole is over rated. How is Ole' Miss better than Utah, TCU or even BYU (not this year though).

Early sunday thoughts on the NFL. I don't comment much on the NFL just because I love NCAA much more, however, I still am a fan. *crying* Why do the Seahawks suck so bad on the road? Or, conversely, how can they beat anyone at home with how bad they are? I just want them to become respectable again. I am starting to feel like a browns fan over here! COME ON GUYS! GET IT TOGETHER! Also, is the Colt's reign of terror over? They are a lowly 2-2 and don't look as sharp as I am used to seeing them. What about the NFC East? They were suppose to be the toughest division in football. They don't look like it right now. The Packers offense looks really good and even though the defense has some playmakers, it's a little like swiss cheese, holes all over the field. If they can patch it slightly, they will be a force because they can score anytime, anywhere. Speaking of scoring anytime, anywhere, the Saints are barely squeaking by and Brees has an MCL tear? Why does anyone put there face on the cover of Madden anymore? Did he think that New Orleans Voodoo would keep him safe? History shows that the Madden Curse is the strongest curse in the universe.

Here is the start

BYU started a change today in the firing of defensive coordinator Jaime Hill. In an article posted by KSL, Hill was quoted by saying "I was fired, I didn't resign, I'm OK, I'll be fine." This is the first move made by the hapless Cougars and I don't think it will be the last. If the offense continues to struggle the way it has, we may see some changes on that side of the ball in the off season as well. Maybe not Robert Anae, but someone will be going.

BYU blues

Another loss for BYU. And it wasn't even close. They showed no fight, no energy. My wife looked at Jake Heaps in the 4th quarter and said "He looks like he wants to puke, his team has let him down." Perfectly said. Too many dropped passes, it sounds like a broken record, but I'll keep playing it till it stops. One of the picks was the receiver cutting the route short and Heaps noticed it mid throw and lofted it to the middle of the field. I'm not saying that Heaps played perfect either. He threw one ball that should have been a pick six but it got dropped, he was even starting to run to angle on a tackle. He over shot and under threw receivers. But over all, he was the only player that showed anything on the field tonight for BYU. On the other side of the ball the defense had too many missed tackles, too many blown coverages. Utah State punched BYU in the mouth, dragged them behind the woodshed and emerged 3 hours later shaking the dust off their hands. It was an absolute drubbing. Good for the Aggies, they looked like they turned a corner tonight. Was that just because it was BYU or could they carry it into the rest of the season? It remains to be seen but for their sake, I hope it carries. It would be good to see 3 good programs in the state of Utah. I would relish it in fact.

I'm going to look at BYU's schedule again:

vs. Washington W 23-17

@ Air Force L 35-14

@ Florida State L 34-10

vs. Nevada L 27-13

@ Utah State L 31-16

vs. SDSU Prediction: L (the team that beat up the team that beat BYU up)

@ TCU Prediction: L (worst loss of the year here, could be 56-0)

vs. Wyoming Prediction: W (only because it's at Lavell Edwards)

vs. UNLV Prediction: W (it's still UNLV)

@ Colorado State Prediction: W (still CSU)

vs. New Mexico Prediction: W (Bingham AND Alta could beat that squad)

@ Utah Prediction: L (Not a freakin chance)

When was the last time BYU only won 5 games? 2004, the last year under Crowton. Yes Cougar fans, it's THAT bad right now. My questions right now if I were a Cougar fan would not be if we can salvage this year, but what about next year? Will that offensive line be able to pick up blocks better? Are there enough WRs out there to fill a spot that needs to be binged? Are the LBs ever going to get better? Can the defensive line eat a block already? Who will Heaps hand the ball off to? At this rate, Harvey Langi would be better than anyone they have, and he looks to be committing to Stanford. (I hope to hell NOT! He needs, I mean needs to be a UTE!)

Hat's off to the Aggies though. They played great and hopefully they continue the success the showed tonight.

Late report.

Sorry for the day late report. I'm on lunch right now so I'll be quick.
Utah is off this week so... they win!
BYU is visiting Utah State and one of my favorite websites Thepredictionmachine.com says this game is pretty much a pickum. Which is sad for BYU but great for USU. However, I think BYU can fix some offensive woes against this team. But, I also think Utah State will have some offensive success. Both defenses have been dissapointing at best. If BYU can score 37 points, they win by 3. This game though is to close to call.
My national picks starts off this week with the matchup of Stanford at Oregon. Even though I love what Stanford has done, and this game is HUGE for the Rose Bowl and possably National Championship concerns, I just don't think they have enough speed for Oregon. It's strength vs speed though in this match up and we'll see who wins it. I say Oregon kicks a late feild goal to sucure the win by 9.
The other Game is Florida at Alabama. I really want to pick Florida here because of the defense. However, 'Bama has a similar defense, though not as opportunistic, but a much better offense. A lot more poised as well. I think Alabama big. 17 points.

One of my favorite articles every week.

Here it is: Locals in the NFL

What the bleep is wrong down south?

I am not sure if I can post all my thoughts on this. It just might take to long. With Utah going into the Pac-12 (Colorado confirmed entry into the league in 2011) and Utah performing so well on the field this year, I think there may be some green leaking into the blue in Provo. Growing up, I would never have guessed that this would be the case. Right now though, it seems evident. I don't think they have anything to be insecure about though. Over the last 5 years (2005-2009 season's), Utah is 41-17 in the regular season and 5-0 in bowl games. BYU in that same span is 46-13 and 3-2 in bowl games. I think the big difference is that BYU doesn't have that "signature" win over a big time team. Yah I don't want to here about Oklahoma because their Offensive line was crap and they turned out to be a mediocre team.

BYU was in danger of being 2nd fiddle in the conference that they created to a team that was a junior college when Ty Detmer was throwing the ball all over the place, had they stayed in the MWC. So they venture into the unknown of independence. Could be good, could blow up in their faces. At this point, it's to early to tell. But to me, it looked like a knee jerk reaction to Utah going into the Pac-12.

Right now, on the field the cougars are a mess. As I said in an earlier edition, they are sloppy. Sloppy tacklers, sloppy down field coverage, sloppy gap coverage and Andrew Rich looks like the only defender with energy. Offense is even worse. With the inconsistency at the QB position finally settled, the rest of the offense has to get with the program. Those receiver's need to notice that the ball is only spinning one way right now and learn to catch it when it's thrown to them. The offensive line is a joke. I worry about Jake Heaps' health when going against defensive front's like TCU or Utah. Their lone bright spot has been the play of JJ Deluigi and even that has been sporadic. He is a good back, but he just seems to not be able to handle the work load of being the go to back like Harvey Unga was. He also needs to learn blitz pickups better. He is going to get Heaps killed.

I could get into a lot more but I think for cougar fans, the biggest problem is that they see a lot of similarities of this year's team to Utah of last year. Which isn't the case. Not even close. Utah had 6 draft picks in last years NFL draft, most in the first 3 rounds. Name 3 cougars who have that distinction this year. I doubt you could. They have a lot of young talent that need to start seeing the field. Last years Utes also had Asiatta to fall back on, and when he got injured, Eddie Wide III (who surprised me with his productivity) stepped in to lead the conference in rushing. Again, who do the cougars have to fill that role?

Something needs to happen to change the fortunes because as you saw, if BYU falls against either Sand Diego State or (heaven forbid) Utah State, they will only win 6 games this year. That is NOT enough for cougar fans, regardless of what Bronco Mendenhall says about the fans opinions not mattering.

Saturday's results

Wow, all I can say is that I grossly under/over estimated some teams. Utah vs. SJS was ugly. I mean REAL ugly. I said Utah by 42 and it was Utah by 53. They are good.

I said SDSU by 10 over Utah State. I did it twice here. I over estimated Utah State and Under estimated San Diego State. 41-7 SDSU. The Aztecs threw it all over the field and Utah State just couldn't get anything going. Well Utah State, there is always the WAC schedule...

I said Nevada by 8 over BYU. I did the same thing here. The score was 27-13 Nevada, however, that is NOT indicative of how the game played out. Nevada had the ball for 36 minutes and honestly looked as though they were content to just run the ball or dink and dunk pass the ball for short yardage to play keep away from BYU. Now, Jake Heaps looked pretty good. His numbers don't really show it, 24/45 for 229 yards, but he had several receivers drop well thrown balls. BYU just looks bad this year. They are sloppy on offense and sloppy on defense. They may win next week against Utah State, even though that's not a guarantee, but their schedule does not line up well for them. Let's go over it for a bit:

vs. Washington W 23-17

@ Air Force L 35-14

@ Florida State L 34-10

vs. Nevada L 27-13

@ Utah State Prediction: W

vs. San Diego State Prediction: W (only cause it's at home)

@ TCU Prediction: L

vs. Wyoming Prediction: W

vs. UNLV Prediction: W

@ Colorado State Prediction: W

vs. New Mexico Prediction: W

@ Utah Prediction: L

I just predicted 7 wins for BYU. And I believe I was liberal with the W key. Wyoming, UNLV, CSU all look like easy wins for Bingham High school right now, so BYU should have an easy road there. The next 2 games though (USU, SDSU) could be tough. Utah State always plays BYU tough in Logan. Remember 2 years ago Y fans? Well, the fans have become even more rabid since than and the team is better. SDSU look better than it has in years and could present a problem. Is this going to be good enough for Y fans? I don't think so. The perceived arrogance of Bronco Mendenhall and the continued poor performance without NFL quality offensive players already has BYU fans nervous. (Actually, it even makes me think: "Was Max Hall actually good? Nah) I think coach Mendenhall needs a fall guy (WR's coach?) quick.

I said Boise State by 13 and the score was BSU 37-24 over OSU. Man, I nailed that one on the head. Both good teams and OSU showed a TON of fight after getting down early. OSU just played the 2nd of the 2 toughest games they will play all season. They may lose to USC, Stanford, and maybe even Oregon, but I think they will surprise at least one of those teams and maybe fight for the Rose Bowl.

I did it again with Stanford and Notre Dame. I said Stanford by 9 and the score was 37-14 Stanford. They look really good. And really tough. A hard nosed offense with maybe one of the best passing QB's in the country in Andrew Luck, followed by a hard hitting and tough defense. My prediction is Stanford in the Rose Bowl. And Notre Dame, wow, they do not look good and have a scary schedule.

Well, those are the results this week but you'll hear from me more often because I want to chime in on the purposed Andrei Kirilenko trade and more BYU stuff, cause that's just fun to do right now. Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I'm ignoring Washington State until they look better than Weber State. Might be a while. GO COUGS!

Thursday Predictions.

Time for this weeks predictions. I am going to be trying some things here and there to see what I feel best about. Some times I may be picking spreads (for you gamblers out there), sometimes scores, sometimes just the game.

Utah is hosting San Jose State. Thankfully for San Jose fans, they won't be able to watch this game on TV. It's going to be ugly. It's a good bet that Jordan Wynn will start at QB, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is pulled (for his safety) after the first quarter. Than San Jose State will get a steady dose of Terrence Cain and I suspect that the middle of the 3rd quarter you may even see Freshman Griff Robles. Utah by 42.

Utah State is playing in Sand Diego against the Aztecs. Sadly, with SDSU getting better and finally finding a running game, this may get out of hand. SDSU is a 7 1/2 point favorite in this game and I would bet on them covering the spread. SDSU by 10

BYU is hosting Nevada. What has been the BYU defensive achilles heal over the past few years? Mobile and athletic QB's. What is Colin Kaepernick? A mobile, athletic QB who is heading up the nations #5 rushing attack and total offense at #3. Maybe the best QB BYU has faced or even will face all year. BYU's defense is #119 out of 120 schools. Are they in trouble? Yes. Conversely, Nevada is #88 in pass defense and now with Jake Heaps under center for the Y, maybe they can develop a passing attack. This is the week to do it. So do I believe that BYU will get blown out? No, I think this is the week the offense wakes up and plays like a BYU offense, all the drama notwithstanding. Do I believe the Y can win. No. BYU is a 4 point favorite in this game. I think it's going to be a shootout and Nevada's running game will win out. Nevada by 8.

My National picks are easy ones this week. The first is Boise State hosting Oregon State. Now this is interesting because this is considered Boise's biggest game outside of Va Tech and is even bigger than that one now. Oregon State is a really good football team. Possibly, after this week the best 1-2 football team in America. I think with BSU's offense and defense combination, they are one of the top 3 football teams in NCAA right now. BSU is a 17 point favorite. I don't think it will be that big of a blow out. Again, OSU is really good, they just have misfortune of playing TCU and BSU in the first 3 weeks. Who else has had to play 2 of the top 3 teams in the country? BSU by 13.

Stanford at Notre Dame. Stanford is favored by 5 and however I look at this, I can't believe it will be that close. As much as I want ND to only lose to Utah from here on out, this has Stanford written all over it. Stanford by 9.