Week 3 WAC Previews

Idaho at No. 3 LSU: This is a matchup between Idaho of the Western Athletic Conference and #3 LSU of the SEC. The Idaho Vandals come into this game with an 0-2 record and losses to Eastern Washington and Bowling Green to start the season. Idaho had been outscored by 12.5 points per game on the young season and rank 102nd in total offense with just barely over 300 yards per game. The defense is slightly better ranking 70th overall with 397 yards given up per game but only 20.5 points per game. If the Vandals can find some answers on offense, they could compete for a few wins in conference this fall. #3 LSU has rolled to a 2-0 record and top 3 national ranking with wins over North Texas and Washington to start the season. The Tigers are putting up 41 points per game while only giving up 8.5 giving them a +32.5 scoring margin after two games. The LSU rushing attack if very formidable with 279 yards per game and a 5.69 yards per carry average. The Vandals really have no hope to pull the upset and can only hope to keep the final score reasonable by limiting turnovers and shortening the game by keeping the clock running. Expect another LSU big blowout win to put Idaho at 0-3 early in this season.

Colorado State at San Jose State: This is a matchup between Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference and San Jose State of the Western Athletic Conference. Both teams enter this matchup with 1-1 records but are coming from completely different confidence levels. Colorado State beat rival Colorado to start the season but were dominated by North Dakota State the following week and are struggling horribly on offense with the 102nd ranked passing game and the 107th ranked rushing attack in the nation. The Rams are only scoring 14.5 points per game while giving up 19.5 per game including being outscored 22-7 by NDSU. San Jose State is coming into this matchup with alot of confidence after dispatching UC Davis 45-13 after barely falling to #21 Stanford in the opening week of the season. The Spartans put up nearly 400 yards per game of offense while holding opponents to 266 yards per game, good for 18th nationally after 2 games. San Jose State has outscored opponents 31.0-16.5 on the season. With the Spartan defense playing as well as it has especially versus Stanford, it will be hard for Colorado State to get their offense on track. Expect something similar to the beat down Colorado State experienced last week. San Jose State should win something in the vicinity of 31-10 or 35-14.

New Mexico State at UTEP: This is a matchup between New Mexico State of the Western Athletic Conference and UTEP of Conference USA. New Mexico State is 1-1 with a week 2 loss to MAC power Ohio still stinging. The Aggies have a strong passing attack that is putting up 255 yards per game on the season but the rushing game is still struggling with only 86 yards per game. The defense looked strong in the season opening win but struggled versus a strong balanced attack that Ohio brought in week 2. Ohio may be the best team they face the rest of the season and that is including Auburn and BYU left on the schedule. The Aggies put up an impressive 36.5 points per game but must cut down on the points allowed to set themselves up for a bowl berth. UTEP is 0-2 after losses to #4 Oklahoma and SEC foe Ole Miss to start the season. The Miner offense has been nearly non-existent with an average of 8.5 scored in both of the losses and an overall offense that ranks 114th nationally. The defense is better but tires out because of the extensive number of plays the opposing team gets on offense per game so far. Expect New Mexico State to rely on the game plan put forth by Oklahoma and Ole Miss and tire out the Miner defense and score more of their points in the second and fourth quarters. New Mexico State with the win 24-17.

Rice at Louisiana Tech: This is a matchup between Rice of Conference USA and Louisiana Tech of the Western Athletic Conference. Rice is coming into this game at 1-1 on the heels of an upset win over Kansas in week two. The Owls looked good in the first half versus a stout UCLA team in scoring 24 points before losing big in the second half and came back with a strong finish to beat Kansas in week 2. The Owls put up 380 yards per game on offense but give up 492 yards to opponents in route to being one of the poorest defenses in the nation after two weeks. Louisiana Tech rolls into this matchup at 1-0 following a wild 56-49 victory over Houston that saw the Bulldogs finish the night with 598 yard of total offense in the win. The Bulldogs have major cause for concern with a defense that could not slow down Houston all night and gave up nearly 700 yards and well over 500 in the air to start the season. Some of those defensive woes should be taken care of versus a Rice team that is just not as talented as Louisiana Tech. Expect the Bulldog offense to keep rolling and putting up big points but slowing down the Rice offense and winning along the lines of 49-21.

                                               

Utah State at Wisconsin: This is a matchup between Utah State of the Western Athletic Conference and Wisconsin of the Big 10 and has a chance to be a big night for WAC football. Utah State comes into this game at 2-0 following a 27-20 overtime win over Utah Friday night. The Aggies run a very balanced but explosive offense that puts 260 yards in the air and 214 yards on the ground while scoring 30.5 points per game after two weeks. The Aggies only give up 267 yards per game on the season with only 11.5 points allowed per game. Wisconsin is coming into this game at 1-1 and following one of their poorest offensive showings in many years with only 207 total yards in a 10-7 loss to Oregon State. The Badgers, known for their strong running game behind Heisman candidate Monte Ball, are only averaging 101 yards on the ground per game to go along with the 90th ranked passing game in the nation. The Badgers are only giving up 15.5 points per game behind a tough defense but their offensive struggles have overtaken the defensive highlights. The Badgers must get their offense back on track and show everyone why they were ranked so highly to start the season. Expect this to go along the lines of the previous two weeks with the game being on the line in the 4th quarter. I think Utah State comes up just short in the upset bid losing 31-27.