MWC Week 3 Preview

Washington State at UNLV: This is a matchup between Washington State of the Pac 12 and UNLV of the Mountain West Conference. UNLV enters this game at 0-2 with losses to Minnesota and Northern Arizona, both by 3 points, to start the season. The Rebels are a running oriented team averaging 174 yards on the ground per game led by Tim Cornett's 268 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. UNLV gives up 383 yards per game ranking them as the 64th best defense nationally while giving up 23.5 points per game. Washington State enters this contest 1-1 with a loss to BYU in the season opener followed by a hard fought win over Eastern Washington in week 2. The Cougars are one of the poorest rushing teams in the nation with 51 yards rushing per game in their two games. Passing is better with 238 yards per game but still not enough to overcome a poor running game. The Cougars are struggling so far on defense giving up 447 yards per game with 25 points allowed per game. Washington State leads the overall series 5-0 with the Cougars winning the most recent meeting 59-7 last fall. Expect UNLV to be more competitive in this matchup but still lose in convincing fashion along the lines of 42-7.

Miami (OH) at Boise State: This is a matchup of Miami OH of the Mid American Conference and Boise State of the Mountain West Conference. The Miami OH RedHawks enter this game at 1-1 with a loss to Ohio State and a win over FCS foe Southern Illinois. The RedHawks get the majority of their offense from the passing game with 269 yards passing per game while the running game struggles to only 54 yards per game. After a huge loss to Ohio State in the season opener, the RedHawks won a closer than expected game versus Southern Illinois by the score of 30-14. Boise State is entering this game at 0-1 with a bye week to recover from a tough loss to Michigan State in the season opener. The Broncos struggled on offense with the loss of Kellen Moore and Doug Martin to the NFL and did not score an offensive touchdown in the season opener. These two teams have only played once, in 2008, with Boise State shutting out the RedHawks 48-0. The Miami OH RedHawks are not the defensive force that Michigan State is and Boise should be able to get the offense running in this game. Expect Boise to start slowly but once their offense gets going, this game could get ugly in the vicinity of 45-14 or so.

Cal Poly at Wyoming: This is a matchup between Cal Poly of the FCS and Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming is heading into this matchup with an 0-2 record following losses to Texas and Toledo to start the season. The Cowboys have been impressive passing the ball with 309 yards per game in the air behind the arm of sophomore Brett Smith. Smith should break several school records before he leaves the Cowboys program. Smith is also the leading rusher for the Cowboy running game with 80 yards rushing in 2 games. The Cowboys need to shore up a struggling defense that gave up 37 and 34 points in the first two games of the season. Cal Poly has only played one game but it was very successful with the Mustangs totaling 458 yards of offense and 41 points in the season opener. The Mustangs held their opponent to 240 yards and 14 points in the blowout win. These two teams have never played in school history. Wyoming is not playing a slouch in their yearly game versus a FCS opponent but the Cowboys should be able to get some things back on track defensively and cruise to a victory behind another 300 yard passing game by Smith.

New Mexico at Texas Tech: This is a matchup between New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference and Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference. The New Mexico Lobos enter this game at 1-1 with a win over Southern but a big loss to Texas the following week. The Lobos rely almost exclusively on the running game with 276 yards on the ground and only 52 yards in the air per game, good for the second worst passing game in the nation. The Lobos have struggled on defense with 21 points allowed to Southern (some in garbage time) and 45 allowed to Texas. Texas Tech enters this game at 2-0 following wins over Northwestern State and Texas State to start the season. The Red Raiders have not been challenged yet and scored 44 or more points in both of the opening games. The Red Raiders rely on a passing attack that has gone for 363 yards per game so far. The two teams have met 44 times with Texas Tech holding a 36-6-2 overall series lead winning the most recent matchup 59-13 last fall. The Lobos are better than last season but still not in the same zip code athletically as Texas Tech and should fall in similar manner to last season. I will go with 42-7 Texas Tech.

Northwestern State at Nevada: This is a matchup between the FCS' Northwestern State and Nevada of the Mountain West Conference. Nevada is entering this game with a 1-1 record after losing in dramatic fashion to South Florida 32-31 last Saturday. Nevada runs a very balanced attack that goes for 250 in the air and 249 on the ground. The defense has faced two solid AQ offenses and given up 28+ in both games but is talented and should lower that number as the season progresses. Northwestern State enters the game at 1-1 following a loss to Texas Tech and a win over Arkansas Monticello. The Demons struggled in their only move up to the FBS level and just do not have the weapons of Nevada. The Wolfpack are angry about the result versus South Florida and look to let out some frustration on the outmanned Demons by the score of 55-14 or so.

North Dakota at San Diego State: This is a matchup between North Dakota of the FCS and Sand Diego State of the Mountain West Conference. Sand Diego State enters this game at 1-1 with a season opening loss to Washington and a week 2 win over Army. The Aztecs struggled in the season opener replacing a 4-year starter at quarterback and one of the best running backs in school history behind Marshall Faulk. The Aztecs looks much better in the big win over Army and should be quite a handful for any team left on their schedule. The North Dakota Bison enter this game at 2-0 with wins versus South Dakota Mines and Portland State to start the season. The Bison step up significantly in opponents with San Diego State. As long as the Aztecs keep away from turnovers, this should be a great confidence building win with a tricky game versus San Jose State next on the schedule. San Diego State 38-13.

Colorado at Fresno State: This is a matchup between Colorado of the Pac 12 Conference and Fresno State of the Mountain West Conference. Fresno State enters this game at 1-1 following a win over Weber State to start the season and a loss to #4 Oregon. The Bulldogs run a solid offense ranking in the top 55 nationally in both passing and rushing the ball. The Bulldogs also are averaging 31 points per game but allow26 per game, significantly weighted by Oregon's 42 points last week. Colorado is limping into this matchup at 0-2 with losses to Colorado State and Sacramento State. The Buffaloes may be the worst AQ team in the nation putting up only 295 yards of offense per game and ranking 95th or worse in both passing and running the ball. This is the 6th meeting between the two schools with Colorado holding the overall series edge at 4-1. The Bulldogs though won the most recent meeting 24-22 in 2001. Things are not stacking up well for Colorado and a meeting with Fresno State is not good for the Buffaloes. Expect Fresno State to take control early in the game and hold on despite a rally in the second half by Colorado. Fresno State 35-25.

Lamar at Hawaii: This is a matchup between Lamar of the FCS and Hawaii of the Mountain West Conference. Hawaii is entering this game at 0-1 following a 49-10 loss to #2 USC in the season opener. The Warriors just want to put that game behind them after struggling on both offense and defense versus a great USC team. The Warriors face Lamar who enter the game at 1-1 with their previous meeting this season with a FBS team resulting in a 40-0 loss to Louisiana. This is the first ever meeting between the schools. Hawaii should be able to get things in order and build some confidence in time for a meeting with a very good Nevada team next week. Hawaii 49-14.