New Mexico Bowl Recap

40 35

What a game this was, and if you liked offense then this was the game for you. As expected the running backs dominated the offense. Gattrell Johnson III from Colorado State was named the games MVP because of this stat line: 27 carries, 285 yards, 2 touchdowns plus he caught 5 passes for 90 yards for a total of 375 of total offense. On the Fresno State side they had two backs over 100 yards wit Anthony Harding who had 2 scores and 120 yards, and then Lonyae Miler also had two scores plus 113 yards.

Fresno was the team that got off to the fast start by scoring their first score within four minutes, and then the Rams countered with a similar drive and scored very quickly. The game went back and forth through the first three quarters, but it was the fourth quarter that separated the two teams. The Rams down 28-20 going into the fourth quarter and scored 20 unanswered points to put the game out of reach.

The rushing game gave up big yards per play, but the Rams nearly averaged a first down per play with 9.6 yards per rush attempt. Fresno was no slouch as they were able to rush for 6.4 per rush.

The difference in this game was that Colorado State quarterback Bill Farris played an exceptional game going 17 for 29 with 257 yards along with one score and pick. The passing game for the Rams yielded 15.11 yards per catch with 5 catches that went 69, 57, 22, 21, and 19 yards. Farris was also able to spread the ball around to eight different receivers, as well. The success in the rushing game was no surprise for the Rams, because running up the middle was Fresno's achilles, but they supposedly had great defensive speed and the Rams were able to still swing the ball to every part of the field.

Fresno State on the other hand was unable to beat the Colorado State secondary in the passing game. The Rams were well prepared after playing in the Mountain West where four of the teams pass the ball around and spread the field in their offense. That was the real difference because Colorado State was able to pass when they needed to and had big catches by Rashaun Greer who only had one catch but it was a 69 yard touchdown, and then super tight end Kory Sperry caught a 22 yard touchdown reception while being double teamed in the corner of the endzone.

The 77 yard rushing touchdown by Gattrell Johnson with 1:46 remaining, and this was the Rams first bowl win in seven years, and this was the first bowl win by a first year head coach at Colorado State. The Rams look to be in safe hands in the future after turning the program over from legend Sunny Lubbick to current head coach Steve Fairchild.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by Email or in your Feeder

New Mexico Bowl Preview: Colorado State vs. Fresno State

(6-6) (7-4)

New Mexico Bowl, University Stadium 2:30PM MT TV:




The ever so many bowl games are here and this game features two old WAC rivals, and gives this game some meaning to what league is superior. Fresno State was a team that fell of the map after being in the top 25 and being mentioned as a BCS buster.

Then the Bulldogs do what they do best which is beat a big name opponent at Rutgers and then played then number 10 Wisconsin to a close lose. After that Fresno did their typical thing and lose a few conference games and then get crushed in their biggest conference game against Boise State.

Colorado State was not expected to be this good with first year coach Steve Fairchild and a new quarterback, but the Rams were lead by their running attack of Gattrel Johnson III and Kyle Bell.

Fresno had their bowl game invited wrapped up in early November, but the Rams had to win their last two games to become bowl eligible and also has to defeat their rival Wyoming on the last game of the year.

What to expect in this game is a lot of points and the total to have at least 55. Both teams are pretty identical in total offense per game, with the Rams having a slight edge in the running game and Fresno having the edge in the passing game.

The Rams' ground attack is fueled by first-team All-MWC 225-pound RB Gartrell Johnson, who is a powerful between-the-tackles runner. Behind Johnson, 234-pound Kyle Bell provides excellent depth, and he too is at his best running inside. This doesn't bode well for a Fresno State run defense that's giving up an average of 5.3 yards per carry, so look for the Rams to try to control the time of possession and ride the running game.

Even if the running game gets stalled or the Rams have to pass they have one of the best tight ends in the country in Kory Sperry who catches anything thrown his way. If not for Dennis Pita from BYU, Sperry would be getting some big time recognition.

Rashaun Greer is another receiving threat for the Rams who has 1,045 yards on the year and a couple of scores, but the real strength is the running game of Colorado State.

Fresno will not back down from anyone and should look to pass against the Rams, because the Rams only have 9 sacks on the year. So, they will have plenty of time to find their main receivers in Chastin West, Seyi Ajirotutu and Devon Wylie should have plenty of time to separate from the coverage.

The running game could be another strength for Fresno, because Colorado State is not great in stopping the run as they gave up 5.2 yards per carry. However the main back for Fresno, Ryan Mathews has been hampered by a knee injury for the better part of the season, and it's unknown whether he'll be able play in the game. The replacement will be Anthony Harding and Jamal Rashad and the way the offensive line for Fresno will allow them to be able to run against the Rams defense.

The Essentials
Colorado State
Offense - 377 ypg, 247 ypg passing, 129 ypg rushing
Defense - 407 ypg, 222 ypg passing, 185 ypg rushing
Wins versus Bowl Teams - Houston

Fresno State
Offense - 383 ypg, 206 ypg passing, 177 ypg rushing
Defense - 393 ypg, 196 ypg passing, 197 ypg rushing
Wins versus Bowl Teams - Rutgers

Prediction: Colorado State 27 Fresno State 21

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by Email or in your Feeder

San Diego Coaching search down to three

There are still three candidates left, but Mike Martz is off the list and the new arrival is Ball State head man Brady Hoke.

Hoke lead Ball State to a 12-1 record their best in school history, and a good reason that Hoke is interested in the job is that according to the San Diego Union Tribune is that San Diego State could triple is current salary of $240,000 annually.

The other two candidates if you forgotten are Dennis Franchione, who has coached and New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, and Texas A&M and then there is DeWayne Walker current UCLA defensive coordinator.

The front runner at this time, in my opinion is Dennis Franchione because he has proven twice to being able to turn around programs of this caliber, and then Brady Hoke because of his success at Ball State, and then Walker mainly because UCLA was terrible on defense.

Walker is a good coach but he needs to show it on the field with his teams.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection in your Feeder

Mike Locksley’s Payday

The new head man at the University of New Mexico, Mike Locksley, was introduced and had his press conference yesterday. His contract is quite surprising which is a six-year contract worth $750,000 annually. That amount is huge if it is just his base, because most coaches in the league make almost that amount with incentives.

“Locks is the whole package,” Illini coach Ron Zook said. “He can coach, he can recruit and he can motivate his players. He did a tremendous job with our offense here and will be missed.”

“We’re not going to take a back seat to anybody in the Mountain West,” Lockeley said. “We’re not going to take a back seat to anybody in the nation.”

This choice is very good for New Mexico and the league because of his offensive success at Illinois and he turned around that program to a Rose Bowl visit in two years to go along with a dynamic offense.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection in your Feeder

San Diego State narrows search, UNLV’s Sanford gets extension

The secretive job search for the next San Diego State head coach is leaking out. The San Diego Union Tribune is reporting that there are three finalist for their vacant job. As mentioned last week one is current San Francisco 49er offensive coordinator Mike Martz, Former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, and current UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker all are having second interviews.

Mike Martz is an interesting choice since he has been in the NFL since 1999 and was a head coach for a few years, but he has served plenty of time in the college ranks. Martz would be the flashy hire with his offense that might be able bring the Aztecs out of the basement in the MWC and lure in recruits who like his offensive style. Below is Martz’s college coaching history.

San Diego Mesa: 1974, 1976-1977
San Jose State: 1975
Santa Ana College: 1978
Fresno State University: 1979
University of the Pacific: 1980-1981
University of Minnesota: 1982
Arizona State University: 1983-1987 as quarterback and wide receiver coach. Was the offensive coordinator in 1984 and from 1988-1991.

Dennis Franchione is known best for turning New Mexico and TCU around from nothing, but he had trouble brining high profile schools as Alabama and Texas A&M up to a higher level.

Walker is just up the road at UCLA and is a great coach, and would instantly help with recruiting in southern California and especially in Los Angeles.

This is some what of a surprise that San Diego State is going after big names, because their football program brings in little or no money. However, that BCS money from Utah will help in the hire with extra cash.

In other coaching news in the league UNLV coach Mike Sanford is getting a three year extension, this coming from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sanford’s extension will keep him at UNLV through the 2012 season. This past year Sanford was on the hot seat after winning only six games in his three year tenure, but this year the team starting off hot and settled with five wins.

AD Hamrick saw enough improvement to grant the contract extension, and recruits have noticed the steps forward as well. This is shaping up to be Sanford’s best class.

UNLV’s recruiting class looks to be very good which could be why an extension was giving, and the prospects to next year look good with a possible bowl bid.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by in your Feeder

Mountain West Coaching News

New Mexico made their hire today and they picked up Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley.

A 17-year coaching veteran, Locksley previously was running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida under Ron Zook, with whom he works at Illinois.

This guy has the experience of a big time school, and it looks as if New Mexico will be changing their offense to what he did at Illinois with a spread option by using a dual threat quarterback.

The Locksley File
2006-	University of Illinois (offensive coordinator, quarterbacks)
2005	University of Illinois (offensive coordinator, tight ends)
2003-04	University of Florida (running backs/recruiting coordinator)
1998-2002	University of Maryland (running backs/recruiting coordinator)
1997	University of Maryland (running backs)
1996	Army (receivers/tight ends)
1995	University of the Pacific (outside linebackers)
1994	U.S. Naval Prep School (defensive coordinator/defensive line)
1993	U.S. Naval Prep School (defensive coordinator/defensive backs)
1992	Towson University (defensive backs/special teams)
Home Town: Washington, D.C.
Birthdate: Dec. 25, 1969
Family: Wife, Kia; Sons, Mike, Jr. (19), Meiko (15), Kai (10); Daughter, Kori (8)
Education: B.S. Business Administration and Marketing — Towson, 1992
Playing Experience: Towson, 1988-91
Bowl Games: Rose Bowl, 2008; Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, 2004; Outback Bowl, 2004; Peach Bowl, 2002; Poulen/Weed Eater Independence Bowl, 1996
Honors & Awards: 2007, Recruiter of the Year Finalist (Rivals); 2007, Hot Young Assistant Coach (Lindy’s); 2006, Top-20 National Recruiter (Sports Illustrated); 2006, Top-10 Big Ten Recruiter (Rivals); 2005, Top-25 National Recruiter (Rivals); 2003, Top-25 National Recruiter (Rivals)

Other news is that Kalani Sitake will be promoted to the University of Utah’s new defensive coordinator. Also, Gary Andersen who recently left Utah to become Utah State’s head coach will stay on the staff and help with bowl preparation.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection in your Feeder

Final Bowl projections for the MWC

There were no major upsets, well technically if you count Florida because they were behind in the rankings, but a 10 point favorite. There has been steam gaining that since Florida is ranked sixth by the computers and fourth in the coaches poll. I crunched some numbers and if Florida moves up to number three in the computer rankings which is where Alabama was, then if Florida jumps Texas, only 9 poll votes, and takes the second spot and gets the same votes as Oklahoma did at number two, and finally in the Harris poll if they stay true to their rankings Florida would be number one and just for this purpose get the same votes Alabama did at that spot.

Here is a small chart below to point out how close it would be. This is my estimation, but Texas could get a strength of schedule boost for beating Oklahoma earlier and perhaps get a big bump ahead of Florida in the computer, but who knows.

Florida Texas
Computer Avg .920 (3rd ranking) Computer Avg .950 (2nd ranking)
Coaches Poll .9161 (2nd ranking) Coaches Poll .9154 (3rd Ranking)
Harris Poll .9965 (1st ranking) Harris Poll .9115 (3rd Ranking)
Total .9442 Total .9256

Utah vs. Alabama

This is the best possible matchup for Utah because Alabama’s offense is not that great and the only great player is running back Glenn Coffee and freshman Julio Jones is pretty good.

BYU Vs. Arizona

This is a financial decision for the bowl to sell out the crowd and hotel sponsors. BYU gets the reward by playing a 7-6 Arizona team.

Colorado State vs. Fresno State

Fresno has all ready accepted this bowl invite and almost a certainty to be playing Colorado State, because the New Mexico bowl gets the last selection of MWC teams.

Air Force vs. Nevada

This is a good fit, because San Diego has a presecence in the armed services, and this spot is an at large Nevada gets the cut because they are 7-5 and close to the area. There is speculation that TCU and Boise State would play here, but I can not see the bowls releasing either since they both have the chance to play at home. A Boise State versus TCU would be a great matchup and possible one of the highest ranked teams in a non-BCS bowl game.

TCU vs. Houston

This would be another old Southwest Conference matchup. A good matchup between a great offense and a great defense.

Once the official bowl announcements are out I will post on that.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection in your Feeder

Championship Saturday

The two big championship games with the Big XII and SEC have direct implications of where Utah plays their BCS game. Big XII game is Missouir against Oklahoma and the Sooners are a huge favorite and if they win will go to the BCS title game, which would give the Fiesta Bowl first pick since they lost the Big XII who goes to that Bowl.

That means Texas would go to the Fiesta Bowl and then then the next pick in the BCS order goes to the bowl who lost their pick and most likely that would be the loser of the SEC title game between Florida and Alabama. Then Fiesta gets the third pick and by most accounts it is between Ohio State, Utah, and yes Cincinnati but really the first two schools.

The Fiesta has all ready hosted two schools who do not come from automatic bid conferences, Utah in 2004 and Boise State in 2006, and may want a bigger draw for television. Ohio State has been to the Fiesta Bowl or in that venue for the title game in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 but the Fiesta has no problem bringing back because the tv eye balls are greater for an Ohio State verse Texas matchup.

Utah could go there because the Utes drew big in 2004, but the Fiesta may feel that they have done their duty by all ready hosting the two non-BCS schools. Ohio State is not the most qualified team, in my opinion, TCU or Boise State are more deserving because TCU lost to Oklahoma and Utah who are currently second and sixth in the BCS, and Boise is undefeated. The BCS is not fair that is why Ohio State will be in a BCS game unless Missouri wins the Big XII title game.

In the SEC title game the winner should make the title game, there is talk that Florida, who has low computer rankings may not jump Texas in the computer polls, which could have a rematch of Texas and Oklahoma in the title game. That is unlikely but possible, but when the Sugar Bowl picks who will take the loser of the SEC title game as their at large and will want the loser to keep the SEC tradition in their bowl.

It looks as if Utah will face the SEC loser in the Sugar Bowl. Later today or early tomorrow I will have the final bowl projections for the MWC.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection in your Feeder

How good would a college football playoff be

Dan Wetzel over at Yahoo Sports outlines what a 16 team playoff would look like this year. I am a huge proponent of a playoff, partly because I like the MWC and that the post season would be awesome. The concept is not hard maybe cut the regular season to 11 games and leagues that have championship games are done by the last weekend in November or first weekend in December. Then play the first two rounds take two weeks off and have the semis on New Years Day and the title a week later.

The NCAA would need to take control of football since right now the BCS owns the post season for football. Make first round game home games and then use bowls for the round of 8 and beyond, which would be seven bowl locations. The rest of the bowls could be used for rewards for teams who do not make this playoffs.

Just look at the potential matchups, Texas Tech-Ohio State, Utah-TCU rematch, Tulsa high powered offense against Oklahoma, and that is just the first round.

I guess in the mean time we have to play for a Mythical National Champion, but we can dream?

Mike Martz to San Diego State?

Well it looks that there is at least some interest in Martz heading to the college ranks. The San Diego Union Tribune has said

But because SDSU is demanding its search be conducted in secrecy, such nonanswers only have added to the increasing buzz that both are at least persons of interest for the Aztecs to replace Chuck Long. Sources have indicated they are.

The other choice is former Minnesota head coach Glen Mason, and since the Aztecs want to keep their search secret hearing any names points to their interest. Martz would most likely take a steep pay cut to coach a team that does not even have a home stadium to play in. However Martz would have a very good quarterback to work with in Ryan Lindley.

Mason has been a program reviver everywhere he has gone, and has won coach of the year in every conference where he has been a head coach at. Mason has ties to SDSU by knowing Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel.

Martz would be a flashy hire, but Mason could be the better choice with his proven track record on the college level.

New Mexico Bowl fills one spot

Fresno State has been officially invited to play a Mountain West team in the New Mexico Bowl, according to the AP. The Bulldogs will be with their head coach Pat Hill who was in the running for the University of Washington job. Fresno is from the Western Athletic Conference and finished the regular season at 7-5. The most likely opponent is Colorado State Rams from the Mountain West. This bowl takes place at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico on December 20th.

2008 Mountain West All-Conference Football Team Announced

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL FIRST-TEAM
Offense
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
QB	Brian Johnson	Sr.	Utah
WR	Austin Collie	Jr.	BYU
WR	Ryan Wolfe*	Jr.	UNLV
RB	Gartrell Johnson III	Sr.	Colorado State
RB	Devin Moore	Sr.	Wyoming
TE	Dennis Pitta*#	Jr.	BYU
OL	Ray Feinga*	Sr.	BYU
OL	Dallas Reynolds*	Sr.	BYU
OL	Blake Schlueter	Sr.	TCU
OL	Zane Beadles	Jr.	Utah
OL	Robert Conley	Sr.	Utah
PK	Louie Sakoda	Sr.	Utah
PR/KR	Jeremy Kerley	So.	TCU
Defense
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
DL	Jake Paulson	Sr.	Air Force
DL	Jan Jorgensen*	Jr.	BYU
DL	Jerry Hughes#	Jr.	TCU
DL	Paul Kruger	So.	Utah
LB	Robert Henson	Sr.	TCU
LB	Jason Phillips*	Sr.	TCU
LB	Ward Dobbs	Sr.	Wyoming
DB	Glover Quin	Sr.	New Mexico
DB	Brice McCain	Sr.	Utah
DB	Stephen Hodge	Sr.	TCU
DB	Sean Smith	Jr.	Utah
P	Louie Sakoda*	Sr.	Utah
*--Two-Time First-Team Selection #--Unanimous Selection
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL SECOND-TEAM
Offense
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
QB	Max Hall	Jr.	BYU
WR	Rashaun Greer	Jr.	Colorado State
WR	Freddie Brown	Sr.	Utah
RB	Harvey Unga	So.	BYU
RB	Rodney Ferguson	Sr.	New Mexico
TE	Kory Sperry	Sr.	Colorado State
OL	Nick Charles	Jr.	Air Force
OL	Travis Bright	Sr.	BYU
OL	Shelley Smith	Jr.	Colorado State
OL	Erik Cook	Jr.	New Mexico
OL	Marshall Newhouse	Jr.	TCU
PK	Ryan Harrison	Sr.	Air Force
PR/KR	Ian Clark	Jr.	New Mexico
Defense
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School
DL	Cody Moore	Sr.	TCU
DL	Matt Panfil	Sr.	TCU
DL	Koa Misi	Jr.	Utah
DL	John Fletcher	Jr.	Wyoming
LB	David Nixon	Sr.	BYU
LB	Jason Beauchamp	Jr.	UNLV
LB	Stevenson Sylvester	Jr.	Utah
DB	Chris Thomas	Jr.	Air Force
DB	DeAndre Wright	Sr.	New Mexico
DB	Steven Coleman	Sr.	TCU
DB	Rafael Priest	Jr.	TCU
P	Anthony Hartz	Jr.	Colorado State
HONORABLE MENTION
Air Force:	Chris Campbell, Jr., OL; Andrew Pipes, Sr., C; Reggie Rembert; So.; KR; Ken Lamendola, So., LB; Hunter Altman; Sr., LB.
BYU:	C.J. Santiago, Sr., P; David Tafuna, Sr., DB.
Colorado State:	Tim Walter, Jr., C; Jason Smith, Sr., PK; Ricky Brewer, So., LB, Mychal Sisson, Fr., LB.
New Mexico:	Zach Arnett, Sr., LB; Herbert Felder, Sr., LB.
San Diego State:	Russell Allen, Sr., LB; B.J. Williams, So., DE; Corey Boudreaux, Sr., DB.
TCU:	Andy Dalton, So., QB; Jimmy Young, So., WR; Marcus Cannon, So., OL; Aaron Brown; Sr., KR; James Vess, Sr., NT; Nick Sanders; Jr., CB; Anson Kelton, Fr., P.
UNLV:	Casey Flair, Sr., WR, Frank Summers, Sr., RB; Johan Asiata, Sr., OL; Malo Tuamua; So., DL.
Utah:	Zane Taylor, So., OL; David Reed, Jr., KR; Greg Newman, Sr., DL; Mike Wright; Jr., LB.
Wyoming:	Kyle Howard, Sr., OL; Mitch Unrein, Jr., DL; Tim Bond; Sr., C; Chris Prosinski, So., DB.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Brian Johnson, Sr., QB, Utah
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Jerry Hughes, Jr., DE, TCU
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Louie Sakoda, Sr., PK/P, Utah
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Tim Jefferson, QB, Air Force
COACH OF THE YEAR Kyle Whittingham, Utah

Previewing BYU Opponents: Washington Huskies

The Cougars take on Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The Huskies have not been relevant in at least 15 years as a top flight program.
The Huskies have not had a winning season since 2002, and that year they were 7-6 and last year they only won four games. However, when fans see teams from Non-BCS play and beat a BCS team they assume an upset when it rarely is an upset. Playing in Seattle will be tough, because Husky stadium is a tough place to play, for any school.


The stigma of the Pac-10 is that everyone can score, and little defense is played. Washington could only kind of score and played little or no defense, the Huskies averaged just under 27 per game, but their defense gave up 31 per game. BYU has a high octane offense and should bring the points against Washington.


Offense: Washington returns seven offensive starters back from last years 4-9 team. The Huskies top returning player is QB Jake Locker who is a big man and has speed to burn, and is considered to be similar to Tim Tebow of Florida. Locker had just over 3,000 combined yards with 2,062 passing and 986 rushing yards. Locker did have problems with his accuracy by completing only 47% of his passes and throwing 15 interceptions and only 14 touchdowns.



The running back position will need to replace Louis Rankin who ran for just under 1,300 yards, the likely replacement looks to be Junior Brandon Johnson. Johnson had limited playing time with only 196 yards and 51 carries last season. There is no doubt that Washington will be able to put up some points in this game, it just depends who is going to do it for them.


Defense: The Husky defense returns six players on a defense that was not very good at all last year. The Huskies brought in Ed Donatell to shore up the defense, his previous stops have been a defensive coordinator in the NFL since 1995-2007. This team does need the help because they gave up 31 points per game and could not stop teams very often, so we will see if Donatell can turn things around. This BYU team is similar to most Pac-10 schools that they throw the ball a ton and can score a lot of points.


Early Prediction: Looking at the past for BYU they have struggled and lost early non conference games, with such loses to Arizona, Boston College, Tulsa, and UCLA. This BYU team should be able to win this game by ten points or more, but until BYU can prove that they can consistently win non conference road games the Cougars should not look past any team.

BYU top 5 finish? University of Utah in the BCS?

Those are some predictions floating around from local talk radio in Salt Lake and on Rivals.com. Green Bay Packer Brady Poppinga, who is a former BYU linebacker was on a radio station in Salt Lake saying that BYU will finish in the top five. Then there was a juvenile bet between one of the hosts who said Brady could take a full shot in pads if BYU makes the top five by years end. Top five is a lofty goal for a team that was not won a road non conference game since 2002 when they defeated Utah State, but that should change this year partly because they play Utah State on the road this year, and a subpar Washington. If BYU were to get a top 20 ranking a top 5 finish could be a reality if they go undefeated, but the team has been ranked as high as 13th in an ESPN preseason poll and in the Athlon college magazine.

As for Utah there is an article at Rivals that talks about how the Utes could be a sleeper pick in the BCS race, and that ill hinges upon the team staying healthy. The health starts with QB Brian Johnson who should be 100% healthy this year, and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig will be able to finally run the spread with a quarterback who is capable. Other players who were injured last year were star JUCO transfer Matt Asiata as well as H-back Brent Casteel who went down as well.

Back in 2005 before Brian Johnson tore his ACL he had better numbers through ten games compared to what Alex Smith did in 2004 during the Utes Fiesta Bowl run, so we know he can play. Quietly, the Utes could, possibly, maybe sneak into a BCS bowl game or if you read Phil Steele he has the Utes ranked top 15 in his preseason poll. This Utah team should be the closest to the 2004 team and the best of the Kyle Wittingham era. This team has a chance to make a national splash in the Big House when the Utes play Michigan.

Previewing BYU Opponents: Northern Iowa Panthers

Just as promised here I will previewing all of the non-conference opponents.

The Northern Iowa Panthers were a last minute replacement to play BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium on August 30th. The Panthers are from the Gateway Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, (I-AA) and is a very good one at that. Last season Northern Iowas went 11-0 in the regular season and was ranked number one in the polls. Northern Iowa did defeat an Football Bowl Subdivision team in Iowas State on the road. Their offense was quite impressive by averaging 36 points per game. Northern Iowa eventually lost to Delaware 39-27 in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Over the past 5 years UNI has averaged 9.4 wins per season, so they are accustomed to winning and have had some players make NFL rosters in the recent years.

OFFENSE:

In 2008 the panthers return 6 offensive starters and ARE led by running back Corey Lewis who had over 2,100 all purpose yards and 16 touchdowns. The Panthers do however lose three year starter QB Eric Sanders who passed for 2,806 yards and competed an amazing 75% of his passes, and will be replaced with Patrick Grace who had very limited playing time. Looking back at the Panther offense they like to pass the ball and as mentioned above complete a high percentage of passes.

This game could be entertaining early on since both BYU and Northern Iowas like to pass the ball a lot.

DEFENSE:

Seven defensive starters return to the Panthers and they were very good against their opponents and gave up only 20 points or more just three times all last year. Teams had a tough time running or passing as the their defense was well rounded, but this offense they will be facing is nothing like they have seen at all last year. Saying that this game will provide a stiff test for the Panthers to test this defense.

Early Prediction: The early prediction is a BYU win by at two to three touchdowns, with the game being close for the first half.