The WAC is at it again…

Hot: Bronco Stadium on GAME DAY

Seriously, was it just me or was it 7 million degrees during the first quarter of Saturday night’s game? It was just me? Hmmm, okay. Bronco Stadium was still hot in many other ways this weekend, though. Anyone happen to catch College Game Day? Yeah, that’s right. It was in BOISE (boy see, no Z). Super hot. Oh, oh….and did you hear that Mark May actually gave BSU a teeny little bit of credit for once!?! (He said he would pick the Broncos over the Horned Frogs at a neutral site……I mean….hello Fiesta Bowl? Anyone?…..but still that is practically gushing for Mark May to say it.) Hot. And despite refs that had apparently never seen holding before and had a score to settle with BSU (practically GAVE Oregon State a touchdown, actually), the Broncos pulled out the win and keep the dream alive! Hot, hot, hottie, hot.

Not: Bullying the little guys

Yeah, yeah, Ohio State is amazing. I’m not going to say they aren’t. But, the fact is, we really haven’t seen them do anything all that great so far this season. Sure, they beat Miami, but they didn’t destroy them. And the rest of their opponents? Marshall, Ohio, Eastern Michigan…..give me a break. I think your AD can do a little better than that, Buckeyes. It will be interesting to see just how amazing they look when they meet up with the four remaining ranked opponents on their schedule—particularly Michigan to close out the season.

Hot: The Wolfpack, Part Un

Hold on to your seats, NC State fans! This year your team is actually good (and, no, hell has not frozen over). With the exception of a close game with Central Florida (of all teams), State has been dominating its opponents this season and has finally worked its way into the hearts of the media voters (currently ranked 23 in the AP poll…..the coaches are yet to be convinced it seems). To be fair, though, Georgia Tech is really the only “tough” opponent the Wolfpack has faced so far. And, for Boise State’s sake, I hope this winning streak comes to an end this weekend against Virginia Tech.

Not: Padron me, but are you sure you’re a QB?

Speaking 100% honestly, if SMU’s QB could throw a pass under pressure (both physical and mental), the Mustangs would have beaten TCU Friday night. For the entire second half, nearly every pass was overthrown, underthrown, wide right, or wide left. Barring the (very slim) possibility that the entire receiver core ran their routes wrong for two quarters, I am going to have to put the weight of this one on Padron’s shoulders. SMU had chance after chance to pull out the upset and every time, he poorly passed it away. In fact, he only completed 14 of 35 attempts Friday night. Well, 15, if you count the one he completed to TCU’s Tejay Johnson for a pick six. Back to work, June “the QB master” Jones.

Hot: Bruin up some Longhorn Stew

UCLA cooked up a delicious pot of Longhorn Stew for Texas fans Saturday. In case you want to make some for yourselves, the ingredients are: 5 turnovers (4 in the first half), 1 embarrassed Mack Brown, 100,000 disgusted fans, and 264 rushing yards (only 27 passing) against the nation’s top defense. Undoubtedly, the Bruins will be eating leftovers all week. Yummy!

Not: It’s just so WAC

Oh, come on WAC. You were just starting to make the conference proud and then you go and do this. No. I don’t want your excuses. Go think about what you’ve done (or didn’t do in this case). And don’t come back until you’re ready to behave. Oh, you need specifics, huh? Well, Idaho, really awesome work on that loss to Colorado State (who had lost their last 12 games). And, Fresno….Ole Miss? Really? They lost to VANDERBILT. Come on. And you let them get nearly 600 total yards and 55 points? Did you even take your defense, Pat Hill? Sigh. Hold it, Utah State. You’re aren’t getting out of here without a lecture! San Diego State!?!? You almost beat Oklahoma and then get destroyed by SDSU? I can’t even look at you right now.

Hot: Holy TOLEDO!

Toledo, I would like to formally express my sincere thanks for listening to Bronco Nation and shaping up your act. Since your less-than-thrilling 2-point season opening performance, you have won 3 straight. Most notably, taking down the Big Ten’s Purdue over the weekend. This is especially notable considering that Toledo came into the game with the nation’s worst offense (which is really quite hard to manage this season). While the Bronco Nation is proud of you, we look forward to handing you your second loss soon.

Not: You play like Athena (aka girls) 

This weekend, Georgia lost to Mississippi State for the first time in 10 meetings. The Bulldogs have lost three games in a row for the first time since 1990 and are 0-3 in the SEC for the first time since 1993. What more is there to say? Except, pack your bags, Mark Richt. Oh, and I’m looking forward to the coming pillow fight between you and Tennessee.

Hot: The Wolf Pack, Part Deux

Like NC State, Nevada broke into the rankings this week and is also off to a 4-0 start to the season. This is the Nevada Wolf Pack’s best start to a season in 19 years (some of their players’ entire lifetimes). With UNLV and SJSU on the schedule for the next two weeks, it looks like Nevada will easily extend their record to 6-0, and may remain undefeated until their Thanksgiving weekend matchup with Boise State.

Not: Maybe croquet is your game?

Oh, Razorbacks. We all thought you had the pesky Tide all wrapped up. But sadly you didn’t, did you? And darn that Nick Saban for going for it on 4th down (deep in Bama territory) to keep you from having a chance to come back and winning. Much like SMU, Arkansas was held back by quarterback issues in the 4th quarter. The normally outstanding Ryan Mallet had only 40% completions in the 4th quarter and two interceptions. Certainly this was the difference between the win and a sad, close loss for the Razorbacks.

Wyoming? Why not!

Hot: Learning Humility

The Wyoming fans were out in full force Saturday. Surprisingly obnoxious, too. And, after a particularly belligerent one told us, “BSU sucks. They could barely beat Virginia Tech who is 0 for 3,” it was clear there were plenty of misinformed (seeing as how VT won this weekend) haters hoping for a miracle that night. There were some signs of intelligent life once the game started, though. One fan was heartily applauded by the Bronco Faithful as he entered the stadium with a sign reading “BYU Good Riddance. BSU Good Addition.” And, after the 51 to 6 beat down, several of the fans that didn’t bail after the 3^rd quarter stopped to welcome BSU to the Mountain West, to thank us for coming out, and to wish us luck in the rest of the season. Apparently the delusional loud mouths skulked out early so they wouldn’t have to face us.  

Not: The Same OLE MISStakes

I hope Masoli is loving the classes he “had” to take at Ole Miss, because he certainly can’t be loving the season so far. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, is ecstatic to have broken a 10 game SEC losing streak (winning zero conference games in 2009). And if losing to Vandy isn’t embarrassing enough on its own, say if they had the most amazing performance in their history, Ole Miss let it happen in the worst way: dropping two touchdown passes, missing a field goal, passing 2 interceptions, and fumbling the ball away to set up Vandy’s final touchdown.

Hot: Running With a Pack of Wild Wolves

After soundly stomping their first two opponents this season it looked as though Cal was headed toward being ranked in week 3 and looking forward to a promising season in the PAC. In fact, after collectively scoring nearly 100 points more than their first two opponents, it’s a little hard to figure why they weren’t ranked in week 2. Well, until Nevada and 17^th season (I believe) senior QB Colin Kaepernick came along anyway. Nevada’s offense might not be real balanced, but it looks like they don’t need to be. With a mobile quarterback and a strong senior running back (Vai Taua), Nevada is definitely looking to make a statement this season. And for that, the WAC thanks you.

Not: B-Y-YOU are Gonna be Sorry Next Season

The whole BYU move to being independent is looking more and more disastrous every week. It would be hard enough to develop a good schedule with a decent team, but BYU is looking like they would be a bottom feeder in the SUNBELT this season! Okay, that might be a little harsh. After all, they beat Washington. …but Nebraska made it pretty clear this weekend just how great the Huskies are. And with Nevada up this weekend, things are not looking to improve in the near future for the Cougars. It breaks my heart (ha). It really does (double ha).   

Hot: Here’s to you Mr. Robinson

All you Michigan fans out there better get out your Hello Kitty notepads and pens and write Denard Robinson a letter of admiration and thank him for blessing your program with his awesomocity. So far this season he has scored 4 rushing TDs and 4 passing TDs, and has accounted for 671 yards in the air and 559 yards on the ground. Oh, and if you still have a next year, Coach Rodriguez, you better buy Denard a pony or something (PS….Wyoming has an awesome one they might sell you for cheap).

Not: UConn’t Get Much Worse

Alright, alright. So Temple is 3-0 for the first time since 1979. But even so, their win again UConn Saturday was their first over a BCS opponent since they beat SYRACUSE in 2004. And, sure, UConn did blow out Texas Southern last week, but right now it is looking like that might be the only win they get this season. Maybe they should have put BYU on the schedule this season. It might have been the pillow fight of the week!

Hot: The Biggest (Game) Balls Ever

Notre Dame and Michigan State battled and back and forth all game, eventually ending regulation tied at 28, and forcing an overtime showdown. The Fighting Irish got the ball first, going up by 3 with a field goal. The Spartans too looked like they would be forced to attempt a field goal to tie things up and take it into OT number two. But, not so fast my friend (in honor of Game Day coming to Boise!), on the ballsiest of all OT plays, Michigan State faked the kick and instead passed the ball for a TD to win the game. This was undoubtedly the most thrilling moment of this weekend’s football matchups. Nice work, Spartans!

Not: The Lesser of Two Tigers

Clemson! We were pulling for you. How dare you let us down like that? If you missed it, Clemson nearly beat Auburn for the first time in 59 years Saturday. That is, until a PENALTY was called after the successful double-overtime-forcing field goal. The illegal procedure call backed Clemson up 5 yards and resulted in a missed second attempt. I think Dalton Freeman, the center who double clutched the ball on the first attempt, had to hitchhike home after the game.

7 Reasons why I told FBS football we needed to see other people

1. It builds you up just so it can tear you down.

Remember the glorious afterglow following the huge-ratings-getting Virginia Tech opener? You know, when all was right in Bronco Nation and the country was paying BSU the respect it deserved. Well FBS football simply could not stand for that so it engineered a VT loss to James Madison just days later. Sure, the Virginia Tech athletic department is partially responsible for thinking that its team could recover and prepare for another game in 4 days, but I’m pretty sure college football put them up to it. That and the Hokies undoubtedly realized that boycotting potatoes was really only a punishment for their taste buds so then decided that losing this week was the best way to carry out their revenge against Boise State.

2. It will do just about anything to get on TV

So what is a team to do when they aren’t getting the media attention they believe they deserve? Your mom might say to keep your head up and try harder: the media can’t ignore you forever. But is that what FBS football does? No. FBS football would rather take the easy way out and lose to an FCS team instead. Besides the James Madison win, Minnesota decided to give one to South Dakota, Ball State rolled over for Liberty, and Washington State barely eeked out the win against Montana State. I guess if you can’t get positive attention, negative attention is better than none at all.

3. It enjoys toying with your emotions

On the 40th Anniversary of the tragic Marshall plane crash, it looked like magic was going to happen. Marshal was about to get its first victory over their rivals, the Mountaineers, in 10 tries. With a 15 point lead going into the 4th quarter and raucous home crowd on hand, everything looked to be in Marshall’s favor. That is, until FBS football woke up from its nap. Subsequently, WVU scored the needed 15 points to take the game into overtime and Marshall missed the field goal needed to take it into a second overtime. And, thus, the Thundering Herd was quieted yet again.

4. It doesn’t come through for you, no matter how supportive you are

Penn State, Miami, and Wyoming were all supposed to come out on top Saturday. Well, by supposed to, I mean no one thought they would, but I believed with all my might that they could shake up the college football world over the weekend. Sadly, not one of them even tried to prove me right. Each team happily dreamed of sock hops and clam bakes while letting Alabama, Ohio State, and Texas (respectively) run away with the win and ruining what was supposed to be a big day of huge matchups in the process.

5. It gives you false hope about where you stand 

Would anyone like to Volunteer to play defense at Tennessee? Cause (Justin Wilcox or not) they don’t seem to get it. Tennessee had a pretty good handle on Oregon during the first half—or at least until the weather delay—going into the locker room with a tied score of 13. But FBS football must have replaced the players’ souls with those of the Lobos for the second half. At least, that’s what it looked like. The offense managed no points in the second half and the defense managed only to watch the Ducks in awe as they scored often and in style.

6. It always compares you to others

“The WAC doesn’t compare to conferences like the ACC.” We’ve all heard it, right? How about we take a closer look at this statement? How many WAC teams have lost to FCS schools this season? None. How many ACC teams have? One. How many points has the WAC scored against ranked opponents in the last 2 weeks? 127. And how many has the ACC scored? 101. How many total games has the WAC lost? 7. How many has the ACC lost? 8. And how many ranked teams does the WAC have? One. And the ACC? One. Surprising as it is, the WAC is looking pretty comparable to the ACC. So how about you give them a little credit? They rarely deserve it.

7. It is obsessed with image

USC may not be eligible to be ranked in the coaches poll, but don’t worry Trojan fans, the AP is as enamored as ever. USC has beaten Hawaii, strictly because Hawaii’s defense failed to show up, and barely escaped an unranked Virginia. Yet, for some reason, the AP still feels that they should be ranked #18, ahead of teams that have faced tougher opponents or had more convincing wins, such as Michigan, Kentucky, Arizona, and even California. Yes, with the AP it’s really your reputation that matters, not so much your performance.

And we’re off!

Hot: Utah Statement

If I had a time machine, or even 3 wishes from a magic genie, I would get the Aggies unfortunate pass back and give them another chance at sending the entire Sooner fan base leaping from the tops of nearby buildings and bridges. Come on, be honest. Who among you really thought Utah State (who has only beaten 1 ranked team in its history) would even score against Oklahoma? A win would have been better, Aggies, but you certainly did the WAC proud by making the Sooners earn the W. In fact, Utah State had 4 turnovers and no 4th down conversions, and STILL made it a game. I’m gonna go way out on a limb this week and proclaim that I love the Aggies. Yeah, love. I said it.

Not: Winning the game 3 times, only to lose

Okay, you got me. Dwyer High (#11) versus Glenville High (#6) is not a college matchup, but it WAS on ESPN and I do know one of Dwyer High’s coaches (shout out to Reggie Stanley) so I feel it’s only right to include this game, or it’s officials rather, on the not list this week. All in all, both teams were penalized altogether too many times and often the game got messy, but as the clock ran out, the officials made it clear that they would determine who got the W, not the players. The situation is this: with little over 3 minutes to play, Dwyer was down by 4 points. They managed two crazy fourth down conversions to keep their would-be-game-winning drive alive. Next up: a long pass to the corner of the end zone, which was caught in bounds (very clearly) and called out by the officials. Okay, no replay in high school so the boys brush it off and keep playing. New situation: 1st and goal with about a minute to play. The quarterback keeps it and pushes his way into the end zone, barely. Officials call? No touchdown. Try again. Now with about 30 seconds to play, they run the same play and this time the entire pile makes it into the end zone, clearly another touchdown (yes….that is the 3rd one with no points to show). And the officials call it down on the 1 yard line as time expires. Biggest rip off I have ever seen.

Hot: Making the most of the hand you’re dealt

If you didn’t hear about the NCAA investigation of UNC, all you need to know is that they were basically forced to travel to Atlanta to face off against LSU with the high school junior varsity version of their team. Everyone, even true blue Carolina fans, was certain that LSU would dominate what would have been a close exciting game. Wait… What’s that? It WAS a close, exciting game? And LSU might as well mark this one as a loss because only barely winning to a depleted ACC opponent is just too embarrassing? Huh. I did not see that coming. Okay, so Carolina didn’t win. But when you consider the fact that they were playing without 13 important players and were down by 20 points at half time, and had a chance to win in the finals seconds of the game, that’s not half bad. In fact, it likely means that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season. Well, if they can get that whole special teams thing figure out anyway.

Not: 2 pts (don’t you get that for putting your uni’s on properly?)

Dear Toledo, For the rest of the season we would appreciate it if your offense showed up for the game. We would like to improve the strength of our schedule (we are in the WAC you know?) and your 2 pitiful points are not going to cut it. Please do better next week. Love, Bronco Nation

Hot: Cheaters not prospering

Remember how Jeremiah Masoli got in trouble with the law for smoking pot and stealing, and subsequently got released from the Ducks? And remember how he made up a BS story about having to transfer schools to take a class he needed so the NCAA would let him play without sitting out a year? Yeah. Well that makes Ole Miss’s loss to Jacksonville State Saturday that much more awesome. If you didn’t know, Ole Miss is in the SEC and Jacksonville State is in the Football Championship Subdivision (the artist formerly known as 1-AA). After being down by 21 points at the half, J’ville State rallied and forced Ole Miss into DOUBLE overtime, which they won on a successful two-point-conversion play.

Not: Going for it on 4th

There are lots of reasons to go for it on 4th down, but when you are ahead by 2 TDs late the game there really aren’t any. You hear me, Tommy Tuberville?? There aren’t any. Yet for some reason Texas Tech did just that twice in the second half: once late in the 3rd quarter and once early in the 4th. The first leading to a FG and the second set up a TD for SMU, which got them back in the game and nearly cost Tech the victory. In fact, SMU had a chance to tie things up and force an overtime (or win on a 2-point conversion) late in the game. Nice play calling, Tech. Really.

Hot: Napping during the second half

When Oregon 59 New Mexico 0 scrolled by on the Bottom Line, I thought for sure that was a final score. Turns out, it wasn’t. Not even close. That was the score at half time! And, no, New Mexico is NOT and FCS school. In fact, they aren’t even a WAC school. Yeah, they are the worst the MWC (and possibly college football) has to offer. Even still, without Jeremiah Masoli and without LaMichael James (serving a one game suspension), a final score of 72 to 0 is pretty impressive. Looks like a great season is still feasible in Eugene. Way to prove me wrong, Ducks.

Not: There’s no D in Beavers, but there’s 2 in Andy Dalton

It’s another critical TCU 3rd down. Anyone know the play call? Andy Dalton on the keeper, you say? No, no, no. That couldn’t possibly work again. Could it? Even the cheerleaders can see that coming by now. And, yet, somehow the Beavers’ defense could neither see it nor stop it. Every time Andy Dalton got the ball, he became invisible (apparently) and easily captured the first down—untouched most of the time. It was incredible really. The Horned Frogs converted 11 of 17 3rd downs and Dalton carried the ball on at least half of them. And the rest of the Beaver’s defense was none too shiny. The offense worked their cute little buns off to stay in the game only to have the defense let TCU walk all over them again and again. TCU had more than double Oregon State’s first downs, had nearly double their total yardage, and had possession for 2/3 of the total game time.

Hot: Boise State proving it in DC

In case you missed it (and be sure to kick yourself if you did), BSU DID beat Virginia Tech in the season opener. In a little nod to their first Fiesta Bowl appearance, they came out big early and then did their best to make everyone watching believe that they didn’t have what it took to close the deal. And, just when all the weak sauce fans had given up hope, the D stepped it up and got the stop so Kellen Moore could march the offense down the field for a game winning TD. Stressful to say the least, but a win is a win is a win. Nice work Broncos. Way to keep the dream alive!

Not: Making it hard on yourself

Okay. So exciting as the big win was, it was not pretty by any means. BSU did just about everything they could to keep VT in the game, which is good for ratings and all, but a clean game would have been better. All said and done, BSU had 2 costly fumbles that resulted in points for VT and 11 penalties for a total of 105 yards, most of which came at the worst possible time. Most of these penalties were completely uncalled for and put the game on the line for the Broncos right to the end. I appreciated the cardio workout I got during the game, but let’s clean it up next week, alright team?