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Mountain West Conference Preview-Part 2 - Jorge Gonzalez 8/26/2009

Mountain West Conference Part 2

Air Force (14 returning starters)

Head coach Troy Calhoun proved last season that
the Falcons still has a
solid program. The academic and military
restrictions are always going to
be a hurdle that will limit recruiting. The Falcons
proved many critics
wrong last season by making to a bowl game.

The Falcons were 0-3 against the top three teams
in the conference ( TCU,
BYU and Utah) getting beat by a combined score of
122-55 in 2008. The
Falcons are coming back this season with a new
quarterback in Asher Clark.
That is a surprise, especially with the dynamic play
of sophomore
quarterback Tim Jefferson last season. Clark played
running back last
season and will be running the option behind a
veteran offensive line.

The defense will be led by a secondary that has
three returning starters.
Chris Thomas is a special player at strong safety
that came up to make
over 100 tackles last year. They will have to play
better against the more
talented and get some help from the front seven.
There are only three
returning starters up front but they are led by last
year's leading
tackler middle linebacker Ken Lamendola (118
tackles).

The non-conference schedule has three winnable
games. While going to Navy
is always tough, Army should be a victory. Utah and
BYU are both road
trips with TCU coming to Colorado Springs.
Unfortunately, five of the six
road games are against teams that played in a bowl
game last season.

Colorado State ( 12 returning starters)

The Colorado State Rams surprised everyone by
getting to a bowl game last
season and beating the Houston Cougars. In just
one season, head coach
Steve Fairfield was able to produce the first winning
season in five
years.

Starting receivers Reshaun Greer ( 63 catches for
1114 yards and 3 TDs)
and Dion Martin ( 51 catches for 859 yards and 10
TDs) might be the best
set of pass catchers in the conference. They will
have a new undetermined
quarterback that will be have the advantage of
playing with an offensive
that has a combined 129 starts.

The defense gave up over 400 yards a game last
season and were the worst
pass rushing team in the country. Five of the front
seven players will
have to be replaced. One bright spot spot will be
the undersized but
explosive outside linebacker Mychal Sisson. He led
the team with 108
tackles and was a freshman all-American. The
secondary have five players
back with starting experience that will be effective
if the Rams can get
any kind of pass rush.

The schedule has the Rams on the road for six
games but Weber State,
Nevada at home and Idaho are winnable games. It
would be a a big start of
the Rams can knock off rival Colorado in the first
game of the season.

Wyoming (16 returning starters)

The Cowboys were one of the worst passing teams
in the country last season
and it cost head coach Joe Glen his job. In comes
David Christensen from
Missouri with the no-huddle offense. The spring
practices were very hard
hitting with a new sheriff in town. There are eight
starters back on a
good defense but the schedule is not friendly.

The offense will need a new quarterback and senior
Karsten Sween will get
the first crack at the starting job after getting
benched last season.
Last years top two rushers are gone but the
offensive line has four
players back that starting experience and should
make the transition to a
new offense easier.

The defense has eight starters back from a unit that
allowed just 330
yards per game. Everyone returns on the defensive
line and they will be
led by senior defensive tackle John Fletcher. The
secondary has three
returning starters and could put up some decent
numbers if the offense can
chew up the clock and allow the defense to get a
rest.

The non-conference schedule isn't pretty with
Texas at home while
traveling to Florida Atlantic and Colorado. They
were the second worst
team in the country last year with -22 turnovers.
With a more physical
coaching philosophy in Laramie, the Cowboys have
the players to pull off
an upset or two if they are able to keep the ball and
move the chains.
However, A bowl game would be too much to ask
for.

San Diego State (15 returning starters)

The Aztecs have a new head coach in Brady Hoke.
He is coming off an
undefeated regular season at Ball State and brings
with him two of the
best coordinators in the business in Al Borges and
Rocky Long. As a team
there were plenty of injuries last season and they
only lose 10 lettermen.
The Aztecs have never gone to a bowl game and
will be looking for their
first winning season since 1998.

The offense has talent with sophomore quarterback
Ryan Lindey back after a
solid rookie campaign. The top rushers are back to
accompany five of the
top six receivers from a year ago. The offensive line
returns four players
with starting experience but the whole unit will
need some time to pick up
the new schemes.

Hoke made a great decision when he hired rocky
Long as his DC. Long was a
successful coach at New Mexico and knows the
conference extremely well.
The defense gave up over 37 points game last
season but they will improve
under Long as this defense will be very aggressive
blitzing at least two
different players on every play. The defensive line
will be led by junior
defensive end BJ Williams.

The schedule starts off with a trip to UCLA but then
gets pretty easy with
games against Southern Utah, Idaho and New
Mexico State. With six home
games that include BYU and TCU. A bowl game will
be tough but they they
will improve on last year's two-win season and an
upset towards the end of
the season is possible.

New Mexico (9 returning starters)

The Lobos said good bye to Rocky Long and
brought in Mike Locksley from
Illinois. Known for his recruiting and high powered
no huddle offense, the
Lobos will have a much different look than they had
in the last 11 years.
Anyway you look at it it will be a rebuilding year for
New Mexico.

The offense will definitely throw more than the
miniscule four touchdowns
they threw last year. The question will be which
quarterback will be
throwing them. Senior Donovan Porterie will get the
first chance but he is
not the mobile quarterback that Locksley is looking
for. Highly recruited
Darren Jones will step in if the offense sputters.

The defense was hit hard by graduation with only
three starters back in
the mix. The bigger problem is that the players will
be switching back to
a more conventional 4-3 alignment after playing in
a 3-3-5 scheme last
season. However Both SS Ian Clark and MLB Clint
McPeek were all-conference
last season and will have to play even better if the
Lobos are to be ad
solid on defense as they were last season.

The out of conference schedule is brutal with Texas
A&M, Texas Tech and
Tulsa. The Lobos will be more exciting under the
new offensive schemes but
getting to bowl game will be tough to do this
season.

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