Week 8 Preview
A full slate of conference games are on tap for week 8 of the season. The action begins Friday night as Colorado State hosts Wyoming in The Border War. The game will be televised on ESPN2. On Saturday, #9/10 Utah welcomes UNLV to Salt Lake City, Air Force hosts BYU in Colorado Springs and San Diego State travels to Albuquerque to face New Mexico.
Week 7 Wrap
In the lone non-conference game of the week, Utah cruised past North Carolina, 46-16, in its first-ever game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.
In league play, New Mexico captured its first MWC win of the season with a 24-20 win at UNLV. Colorado State also grabbed its first conference victory with a 21-17 win at San Diego State. Wyoming had its three game win streak halted as BYU defeated the Cowboys, 24-13.
ESPN+Plus Game of the Week
The ESPN+Plus Game of the Week will feature Air Force and BYU Saturday at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo. Trey Bender (play-by-play), Kelly Stouffer (color) and Anne-Marie Anderson (sidelines) will call the action beginning at 1 p.m. MT.
Let's Talk About Rankings
Utah climbed to #9 in the AP Poll and remained #10 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Utes' No. 9 ranking is the highest for a Mountain West team since Dec. 2, 2001 when BYU was 8th in the Coaches Poll. Earlier that season, the Cougars had the MWC's highest ranking ever at 7th in the Nov. 25 Coaches Poll. Teams from the Mountain West Conference are 15-13 all-time when taking a national Top 25 ranking into a non-conference game. Conversely, MWC teams are 7-31 vs. ranked non-conference opponents.
Last Week's Top Performers
Passing
29-37-1 for 341 yards and 4 TDs - Alex Smith, Utah vs. North Carolina
Rushing,br>
24 for 171 yards and a TD - Curtis Brown, BYU vs. Wyoming
26 for 141 yards and a TD - DonTrell Moore, New Mexico at UNLV
18 for 110 yards - Dominique Dorsey, UNLV vs. New Mexico
Receiving
10 for 154 yards and a TD - Steve Savoy, Utah vs. North Carolina
6 for 144 yards and 2 TDs - Earvin Johnson, UNLV vs. New Mexico
7 for 129 yards and a TD - Jeff Webb, San Diego State vs. Colorado State
Tackles
14 (8-6) - Kirk Morrison, San Diego State vs. Colorado State
11 (9-2) - Adam Lancisero, Colorado State at San Diego State
11 (5-6) - Eric Weddell, Utah vs. North Carolina
11 (2-9) - Brady Poppinga, BYU vs. Wyoming
11 (8-3) - John Wendling, Wyoming at BYU
11 (5-6) - Reggie Butler, UNLV vs. New Mexico
Inside the Numbers
91% - Utah head coach Urban Meyer's winning percentage against automatic qualifying BCS opponents. In 11 career games, Meyer is 10-1 against BCS teams. The win over Texas A&M in the season opener avenged his only loss to a BCS school. Meyer is 5-1 against the BCS as Utah's head coach.
6 - The current number of undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA in 2004.
7 - Utah is seventh in the first BCS Poll of the 2004 season. The seventh-postion by the Utes is the highest by a non-automatic qualifying BCS team ever in the intial poll of a season.
13 - The total number of pass breakups by New Mexico CB Brandon Payne. He leads both the Mountain West and NCAA in pass breakups this season. He is one deflection shy of Eric Jack's single-season school record of 14 set in 1993.
12 - The number of consecutive field goals between 40 and 49 yards for BYU's Matt Payne, tying the NCAA record. Payne's 46-yard, second-quarter field goal tied John Carney of Notre Dame, who set the record with 12 straight field goals during the 1984-85 seasons.
10 - Utah's current win streak that ranks third nationally (Boise State-16, Southern California-14). The Utes won their final four games in 2003 and are 5-0 this season. The Utes' last loss was Oct. 25, 2003 against New Mexico, 47-35.
8 - The Utes' consecutive road or neutral site win streak that started on Sept. 27, 2003 at Colorado State.
3 - The number of field goals Colorado State senior kicker Jeff Babcock needs to break Steve DeLine's school record of 46 (1983-86) career field goals. Babcock has also attempted 60 field goals, eight shy of breaking Jon Poole's record set from 1980-83.
1 - Caleb Hanie will be the first true freshman quarterback to start a game for Colorado State since Mark Miller in 1981.
2 - Colorado State wide receiver David Anderson's national ranking in receiving yards per game (133.00). The MWC is one of three conferences (Big Ten, Pac 10) with at least two players ranked in the top 10. BYU's Todd Watkins is ninth with 109.17 yards per game.
O - The amount of points Wyoming's defense has allowed in the third quarter this season.
SDSU's Morrison Named Butkus Award Semifinalist
The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando announced last week that San Diego State senior linebacker Kirk Morrison is one of 12 semifinalists for the 2004 Butkus Award, presented annually to the best linebacker in college football. The field will be trimmed to three on on Nov. 11th with the winner announced Dec. 10. The semifinalists were chosen from a preseason watch list of 68 players. Morrison was a first-team All-America linebacker last year, according to College Football News. He is a two-time all-conference player and the reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Morrison is also on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (outstanding defensive player), the Chuck Bednarik Award (outstanding defensive player), the Lombardi Award (outstanding offensive or defensive lineman) and the Lott Trophy (defensive impact player of the year). Morrison is currently fourth all-time at San Diego State with 343 tackles. He entered the season 11th among the nation's active players in career tackles. Morrison is also eighth all-time at SDSU in tackles for loss (39).
Wins Against Automatic Qualifying BCS Conferences
With six wins vs. automatic qualifying BCS conference teams, the MWC is tied for third among the 11 Divsion I-A leagues in non-conference wins against BCS opponents.
Big Ten 7
Conference USA 7 MWC 6
ACC 6
Big XII 6
Big East 5
Pac-10 4
MAC 3
WAC 3
SEC 2
Sun Belt 1
