Mountain West Conference Preview

By on August 8, 2010

Mountain West is an interesting conference to me. You have 2 solid teams with TCU and Utah. After that, you have a fight for the middle 5 spots. And finally, you have 2 teams that can’t exactly find their way. Even still, you have Boise State moving over in 2011, which will really stir things up. This year, this is how it should fall into place:

These guys just beat teams up last year, and not much should change this year. The Horned Frogs had a 34 point average margin of victory. TCU will be looking good, retuning 9 offensive starters – 4 on the offensive line. Senior Quarterback, Andy Dalton, a Manning award finalist, will enjoy his last year at TCU and should use the stage to showcase his style for NFL scouts. The only weakness they have is their defensive secondary, and it’s not a major hole.

Utah Utes

Having a 1,000 yard rusher in Senior Running Back Eddie Wide, and a 1,000 yard Receiver in David Reed back in the mix, this will help the Utes to the top of the MWC. Utah will return 4 starters on the offensive line. Utah has a young, undersized defense, but with the Offensive firepower they have, it might not even be an issue.

Even though BYU will be returning 11 starters, they will be starting some true freshmen in some key roles. You will see true freshman, Jake  Heaps, start at Quarterback, and two other true freshmen, in the Linebacker spots. The Cougars also lost star Running Back,  Harvey Unga, due to violating the Mormon honor code, and with no true starter at Running Back, they will need to find a Back quick.

The Falcons return most of the key positions in QB, RB, and WR on offense, and 7 on Defense. Running Back is their strongest position on offense, but I think their defense will be the reason they stay in the top 5 of the MWC

Wyoming Cowboys

Wyoming is really starting to build a solid team, and with defensive leaders like Junior, middle Linebacker, Brian Hendricks, and Senior DB, Chris Prosinski.  A  player you may want to keep an eye on – is Sophomore Running Back, Alvester Alexander. If the offense can match the play of the defense, you could see the Cowboys jump way up to third or fourth in the standings.

UNLV Runnin' Rebels

The Rebels are young on both sides of the field, and they will be working with a new system and a new head coach. Phillip Payne, the Junior Wide Receiver, who has 14 touchdowns in 21 games, will be returning and should be the biggest threat on the offense.

The Rams should have the youngest starting offense in the conference, and with inexperience comes mistakes. Colorado State will rely heavily on their defense, lead by Junior Linebacker, Michal Sisson, to keep games close while their offense matures.

CARMEN MESSINA! The Lobos should be glad this Junior Linebacker is on their squad. He dominated opposing offensives last year, racking up 162 tackles. I guarantee this kid will play in the NFL. He has it all: size, speed, strength, and intelligence. With that being said, they have a solid running game and they are very young at the Quarterback position, so expect to see them run, run, run.

San Diego St. Aztecs

The Aztecs are very young all over the field, and that may not bode well for them this year. They did hire former Aztec and Cleveland Brown Quarterback, Brian Sipe as their Quarterbacks’ coach, so maybe his skill can rub off on a kid or two.

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