Knudson: Unbeaten…So Far

By Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
September 8, 2011
 
It’s always nice to begin a season unbeaten which Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Wyoming and yours truly were all able to do in Week One. All of them are now 1-0, while I’m 8-0 after nailing all eight picks in the first week.
 
Okay, I know it’s not the toughest week to forecast outcomes. Still, it beats the starts of TCU, New Mexico and UNLV, the three MW teams to fall. So what did we learn in Week One? First, Kellen Moore is one bad dude (Boise State is off this week. More on Moore next week), Colorado State may have found themselves something special in Nordly Capi and Casey Pachall, while not Andy Dalton just yet, is going to be just fine, thank you.
 
And oh yes, the MW stands at 1-2 vs. AQ conferences after the first week. On to Week Two:
 
Game of the Week:  TCU (0-1) at Air Force (1-0)
 
Gone are Dalton and the 25-game winning streak. But of more immediate concern for Gary Patterson is how Baylor torched the Frogs normally stalwart defense for 564 yards of total offense. Sensational Baylor QB Robert Griffin III passed for 359 yards and five TDs. Whoa.     
 
Air Force won’t pass for that many yards but they’ll run the ball better than the Bears, which has to worry TCU, even though the Frogs have historically handled the Falcon’s wishbone attack pretty well. On the other side of the ball, Air Force is a much better defensive team than Baylor. Can Pachall carry over the late game momentum he found during TCU’s near-miraculous comeback? Can TCU’s offense play keep-a-way with the another strong ground attack, which both wears down the Falcon ‘D’ and keeps Tim Jefferson and company on the sidelines?
 
Should be a great game. Expect more defense this week than last.
 
Air Force 20, TCU 16
 
New Mexico (0-1) at Arkansas (1-0) (vs. AQ game #4)
 
No question the Lobos look improved in a close loss to Colorado State. No doubt the Lobos left the field thinking they should have won - and they probably should have. How will they bounce back from that?
 
Starting QB Tarean Austin can do some good things with both his feet and his arm but ball security was a big time issue in game one, and mistakes like he made against CSU could end up costing UNM a boatload of points against the nationally ranked Razorbacks.
 
Arkansas 36, New Mexico 17
 
UNLV (0-1) at Washington State (1-0)  (vs. AQ game #5)
 
No rest for the AQ weary Rebels. After getting clobbered by defending Big Ten champ Wisconsin, they get an improved Pac 12 team in Washington State. The good news for UNLV is that Cougar starting QB Jeff Tuel is not going to play. He was hurt early in the opening game. The bad news is his backup passed for 230 yards and a pair of TD as the Cougars ran up 64 points against woeful Idaho State.
 
As AQ opponents go, Washington State is very beatable. But UNLV – going on the road for the second straight week as well – need someone on defense to step up and make some plays. After allowing 450 yards per game last year, the Rebels allowed Wisconsin to rack up 499 and 51 points. That’s not a good trend.
 
Washington State 38, UNLV 35
 
San Diego State (1-0) at Army (0-1)
 
West Point, New York. Roughly 60 miles north of NYC. The game is being played the day before the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. And the Aztecs are playing the United States Military Academy.
 
To be honest, it sounds like a recipe for disaster for the team that has to fly all the way across the country.
 
Except that the Aztecs have a couple of things going for them: 1) Army will be the third consecutive triple option offense that SDSU has faced, counting the bowl win over Navy at the end of last season. Cal Poly ran it in the opener, too, so Rocky Long’s defense should not be surprised by anything they see. And 2) Army got rolled by Northern Illinois by four touchdowns in the opener. This is not a great Army squad.
 
San Diego State 27, Army 17
 
Northern Colorado (0-1) at Colorado State (1-0)
 
The first of three in-state rivalry games for CSU, with Colorado on tap next week and Air Force later in the season. UNC was a Division II powerhouse in the 1990s under Joe Glenn but have not yet found the magic at the Division I level. New coach and former Bears player Earnest Collins Jr. didn’t get the start he was looking for in an opening loss to Lindenwood and it may take UNC some time to find their legs with the new coaching staff. Meanwhile, with Colorado on deck, this is a game where Pete Thomas and the Rams offense need to step it up. Nothing much clicked on that side in Albuquerque and the running game was still subpar. Then again, if sizzling new defensive end Nordly Capi forces four more fumbles and the Rams defense records 10 more sacks, who needs a lot of offense?
 
Colorado State 44, Northern Colorado 13
 
Texas State (0-1) at Wyoming (1-0)
 
What a difference one word can make. In this case, it’s State, as in Texas State, rather than Texas. Whew.
 
The Longhorns they are not, but Texas State, which will be in the Western Athletic Conference next season, is a program on the rise. Veteran coach Dennis Franchione is back in Texas where he coached both TCU and A&M. Those old recruiting connections will pay off at some point.
 
Will they pay off this year? Not much is expected from the Bobcats this season. They were bombed in the second half of a 50-10 pounding administered by Texas Tech in Week One. Still, Wyoming will not take anyone lightly after a harrowing win last week over Weber State.
 
Wyoming 33, Texas State 23
See all of Mark Knudson's blog entries HERE.