Week 9 Mountain West Conference Football Predictions

Utah has a bye, and BYU tries to recover in week 9...

Just like the BYU Cougars last week I wasn't on my game picking. Scott came away with a narrow victory thanks to Air Force coming back and beating UNLV by a single point. Here are the results/standings:

Mark [Last Week 5-3(.625) Overall 49-25(.662) Head-To-Head 3-2-2]
Scott [Last Week 6-2(.750) Overall 48-26(.648) Head-To-Head 2-3-2]

The Air Force/New Mexico game should help shape if the Falcons can hold up as the season is winding down. BYU also needs to recover or else they could get punked at home by the Rebels. Here are the prediction for week 9:

UNLV @ #21 BYU 12PM MT The Mtn

BYU got there butts kicked, but they are very lucky to be getting UNLV at this point in the season. UNLV is coming off of two weeks of tough fought losses, and now they are looking to try and prepare to play at Provo this weekend and host TCU the next. UNLV has a good running back, and receivers that can test BYU's weak secondary; however, playing at home will give BYU's defense a boast and the offense energy.

BYU 42 UNLV 21

How does BYU respond to last week’s beat down? Bronco stated at halftime of the TCU game that we would learn a lot about the BYU football team in the second half of the game. Well, we learned that the BYU defense is not as good as a lot of people thought, the offense depends WAY too much on Collie, and that the coaching staff got out coached. As good as Collie and Hall are, the most important player for BYU is Harvey Unga, they need to get him the ball. UNLV has a chance to turn their season. After a 3-1 start, they have dropped three in a row. Clayton presents a huge challenge for the BYU defense. If the Cougars can’t get pressure on Clayton, he will shred the BYU secondary apart. I expect UNLV to pound the ball early with Summers and look to expose the BYU secondary on 3rd down.

BYU 31 UNLV 21

New Mexico @ Air Force 6PM MT (Thursday) Versus

If New Mexico wants to compete for a bowl birth this is a must win game. Air Force is looking to finish strong this season, something that the Cadets have failed to do in the past. This game should be a low scoring slug fest with both teams relying on strong ground attacks. Air Force should be able to find a way to win at home.

Air Force 17 New Mexico 14

New Mexico is playing pretty good football right now. They have an opportunity to mix things up in the conference. They rely heavily on their rushing attack and defense. Ther is no hiding what Air Force likes to do. To sum things up, AFA’s QB Shea Smith has only ATTEMPTED 50 passes all year. The offense averages 300 yards rushing each game. They have 7 players who have rushed for 184 yards or more. Air Force grinds this one out on the ground.

Air Force 28 New Mexico 14

Wyoming @ #14 TCU 4PM MT The Mtn

Joe Glenn might just start the game by giving double barrels to Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs, because they are going to get beat silly. It might be interesting to see if the Cowboys get the ball past midfield.

TCU 38 Wyoming 0

TCU admitted that they had BYU circled on their calendar ever since they lost to the Cougars last year in Provo. Do they have a let down game now? Yes and No. I don’t think TCU is as good of a football team as they were against BYU. They executed everything they did to perfection last week. So in terms of their level of play, this will be a down week. But TCU is still a very good football team and deserves their #14 ranking…oh yeah, and they play Wyoming. Poor Cowboys might be shutout again. The Cowboys only score 9 points/game. They just might want to cancel the rest of the season and kick it in Dallas for the winter. I’m sure most players would love that rather than spending their time in Laramie.

TCU 27 Wyoming 3

Colorado State @ San Diego State 7:30PM MT The Mtn

Oh Aztecs how can you shame yourself more? I am sure we will find out this weekend against Colorado State.

Colorado State 35 San Diego State 10

CSU hung around for 2 quarters against Utah last week. CSU is not going to score a ton of points, but their defense might hold SDSU to only 7 points. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that CSU could get bowl eligible? Including this game, they have 4 winnable games on their schedule. SDSU lost by 63 points to New Mexico. The Aztecs are in falling apart. Where would SDSU and USU be without Idaho???

Colorado State 24 San Diego State 10

Fresno State @ Utah State 1PM MT ESPN360

Fresno State isn't as good as people thought they were, but Utah State isn't as good as we thought they were at the beginning of the season. I have no reasoning to base this one, but I think that the Aggies are going to keep this game close. I don't think they will pull a big upset at home. Fresno State's running game is too good for the Aggies to stay in the game late.

Fresno State 21 Utah State 13

Speaking of Utah State, the Aggies get an underachieving Bulldog team at home. Utah State can’t afford to fall behind early. Their only shot at keeping it close is to come out and establish themselves in the first quarter. No team plays with confidence when they are fighting to get out of a 21 point deficit. Once again, they need to find a way to play with a high level of emotion, like they were in the 4th quarter against BYU. It seems as if the team was feeding off the energy of the crowd. The Aggies may keep it close, but the bottom line is that they just aren’t good enough to compete for 60 minutes.

Fresno State 38 Utah State 14

The Big Podcast GAME OF THE WEEK
#6 Oklahoma State @ #1 Texas 1:30 PM MT ABC

This should be a very good game. Texas proved that they are able to take care of business now that they have the top spot with a big win over Missouri. Oklahoma State must go to Texas for there shot at the Longhorns. Oklahoma State has proven that they can win on the road beating Missouri on the road. Oklahoma State has a very good defense that gave Chase Daniels fits, but so did the Longhorn's defense last week. Oklahoma has the tools for beating Texas and they will take the Longhorns by surprise.

Oklahoma State 31 Texas 28

Texas is the best team in college football, at least though the first 8 weeks of the season. Texas’ defense has been good, but not great. The reason they are winning all of their games is that Colt McCoy and the offense simply outscore the opponent. Eventually they will need their defense to win a game for them (although you could argue that they did so last week despite giving up 31 points to Missouri). Probably the biggest surprise of the season has been the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They score a ton of points. Unlike Oklahoma and Missouri, they have a very very good rushing attack. In addition to that, their QB Zac Robinson has grown into a man this year. This game is going to be a nail biter and look for Colt McCoy to lead the Longhorns on a game winning drive late in the 4th quarter.

Texas 41 Oklahoma State 35

#7 Georgia @ #13 LSU 1:30PM MT CBS

Georgia is looking better after the slaughter that Alabama laid on them. LSU is still trying to recover from Florida exposing them two weeks ago. There won't be any officials tackling Georgia this weekend for the Tigers.

Georgia 28 LSU 17

Most defenses in the SEC are monsters, while most offenses are below average. Georgia is one of the few teams with a very good offense. LSU is still struggling to find their identity with a redshirt freshman at the QB position. I expect Georgia’s defense to limit what LSU can do on the other side of the ball. Is it possible that the Bulldogs are looking past the defending national champions to next week’s showdown against Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators? This game is much closer than it should be.

Georgia 17 LSU 14

#3 Penn State @ #9 Ohio State 6PM MT ABC

Ohio State is starting to look like the team that was suppose to compete with USC on the road instead of getting destroyed like the Trojans. This game could go a long ways in determining who will win the Big 10. Penn State after a slow start put away Michigan at home. Yet, so far this season Penn State has played all of their big games at home. Ohio State on the road is going to be when Penn State will trip up.

Ohio State 31 Penn State 24

This is the biggest game of the year in the Big Ten. This is not the same OSU team that lost to OSU at the beginning of the season. Terrelle Pryor has proven that he can lead this Buckeye team to victory. He is still a raw passer, but can get it done with his feet. Having Beanie Wells back is a huge plus for OSU. Penn State looks legit. They have a very proficient offense along with a strong defense. They are the only team in college with both a top ten offense and defense. I don’t know how Paterno does it, I don’t even think Joe remembers how, but they have a great football team in Happy Valley.

Penn State 24 Ohio State 17