BYU Cougars at Utah State Aggies
My prediction was Cougars win 28 to 21
Final score: Aggies 31, Cougars 16
Boy was I wrong on this one. It seems that the Cougars are very schizophrenic on defense. They played pretty well on the road against Florida State, but then laid a complete egg up in Logan. Because of that and after a 1-4 start, BYU has fired their defensive coordinator. I'm not sure how much that is going to help, but we will see. I wonder if ESPN is looking at the fine print of the contract they signed to broadcast all of BYU's home games as an independent. It sure does not look good in Provo this year. Lots of dropped passes, and plenty of bad defense equals the first losing season in a long time. On the other side, Utah State is playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well. They played very well and got the win at home. Diondre Borel continues to play well and will be another duel threat for the WAC to contend with. Call him Colin Keapernick's mini-me. Next week the Aggies travel to Louisiana Tech to take on the Bulldogs.
Idaho Vandals at Western Michigan Broncos
My prediction was Broncos win 35 to 32
Final score: Vandals 33, Broncos 13
This is another one that I picked wrong. Idaho had not played well on the road at all, but they pulled it together and left Kalamazoo with the win, although it was close and very much in doubt up until late in the game. The main problem for Western Michigan was they couldn't run the ball at all. That made them one-dimensional and QB Alex Carder had to try and do it all on his own. It did not work. There were plenty of turnovers by the Broncos, and a couple came late in the game that led to Idaho scoring and putting it out of reach. The Vandals were plagued by their own turnovers as quarterback Nathan Enderle continued to throw the ball to the other team. He now has 9 interceptions to only 10 touchdowns. But the Vandal defense came alive, forced some turnovers and a lot of bad plays, and held the Broncos to 13 points. Idaho is now 3-2 and has some games in the future that they should be favored in. They are looking to get bowl eligible and will continue that quest after a bye week at Louisiana Tech on October 16.
UC Davis Aggies at San Jose Spartans
My prediction was Aggies win in an upset special 21 to 18
Final score: Aggies 14, Spartans 13
I kind of felt like I was going out on a limb picking this game as my upset special. I nailed it, I guess! It didn't look good for a while as San Jose State was up 13-0 at the half. But QB Randy Wright rallied his UC Davis squad and they came out on fire in the second half! The numbers were not very good for either squad, but Wright did throw a touchdown pass and gain 223 yards through the air. That was the difference. Wright threw a TD and Spartan QB Jordan La Secla threw an interception. The Spartans continue to play completely underwhelming and are actually a late touchdown score away from being 0-4. Needless to say, San Jose State has a long season ahead of them in which I don't see them winning any more games. Well, maybe one if they get lucky.
Cal Poly Mustangs at Fresno State Bulldogs
My prediction was Bulldogs win 42 to 17
Final score: Bulldogs 38, Mustangs 17
Dang I was nearly perfect getting this one right! The Bulldogs were very dominant in every category. The held the Mustangs to only 18 yards passing. That is unheard of. However, they did give up 203 on the ground. That is a concern for coach Pat Hill, as well as the 3 turnovers they had while forcing 0 to Cal Poly. I don't know very much about the Mustangs other than they run the ball a lot and can't pass worth crap. Fresno was supposed to win this game and they did. Now they welcome the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors and hope to continue building on their 3-1 record.
Nevada Wolfpack at UNLV Runnin' Rebels
My prediction was Wolfpack win 45 to 20
Final score: Wolfpack 44, Runnin' Rebels 26
UNLV scored more points than I think they should have. I am not sure if that means that Nevada is the same ol' defense that can't stop anybody, or if UNLV's offense has improved greatly since getting smoked at Idaho. The answer is yes, plus they were playing at home. They were able to force 3 turnovers from the Wolfpack, but could only muster 294 yards of offense, 214 of which came through the air, which is definitely Nevada's weakness. On the other hand, the Wolfpack did what it normally does, eating up yardage on the ground at 374 total for the game. Running back Vai Taua had a huge game going for 188 yards on 19 carries. "Bird Leg" Kaepernick still can't throw the ball very ball, but did go 13 for 17 for 124 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The match up in Reno against Boise State is looking very exciting as each week goes by. Nevada has moved up a little bit in the polls and will host the terrible San Jose State Spartans next week.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors
My prediction was Rainbow Warriors win 41 to 24
Final score: Rainbow Warriors 41, Bulldogs 21
Holy freak I am good at guessing the final scores! This game went exactly as I thought it was going to. The Bulldogs cannot play defense at all, especially on the road. They have serious problems finding out who is going to play quarterback long term, but Ross Jenkins did go 19 for 26, 215 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. The ground game was decent, but not good enough. On the other hand, Hawai'i quarterback Bryant Moniz threw 4 touchdowns and went 42 for 58. What is absolutely amazing is that he threw for 532 yards! LA Tech does suck! I can guess what Boise State will be doing when the Bulldogs come into Bronco Stadium on October 26, lots of Titus Young and Austin Pettis. Next week Hawai'i goes to Fresno and Louisiana Tech heads back home to host Utah State.
Previous weeks' total: 14-3
This week (including Boise State's win): 4-2
Overall: 18-5
With Oregon jumping Boise State in both polls this week, it makes me think of the lower-tier teams in the WAC. San Jose State, Louisiana Tech, and New Mexico State are serious eye sores for the rest of the country to look at. San Jose State losing at home to an FCS school is not good. In no way do the rest of the Broncos' opponents help them with their strength of schedule, except for Nevada and maybe Fresno State. All there is to do is continue to win and hope for two undefeated teams in Reno on November 26th. My guess is Oregon loses at least once either to USC, Arizona, or Oregon State. There is no need or reason to freak out right now and complain that the Broncos lost position in the polls. It was bound to happen knowing how many low caliber teams were on Boise State's schedule. Still, I didn't think it would happen this early. After all, Boise State has beaten two ranked teams to Oregon's one thus far. Regardless, the Broncos are in good position to get into a BCS Bowl. As I have been promoting from the beginning, a lot of chaos would need to go down for them to make it to the national championship game. Being ranked 3rd or 4th does not really matter at this point. Boise State fans, just keep cheering on the Broncos and the Wolfpack and everything will work out fine! Let's go Boise State (and Erin Andrews)!
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