MWC: Week 2

Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:08 am

Not a great week for the conference, imo.

-Boise State takes a second straight L, opening the season 0-2 for the first time in almost two decades. Granted, UCF is a legitimately talented team, but they're a far cry from Washington...and BSU did not look good in a lot of aspects.

-Fresno State regresses; after beating a lower-tier P5, they eek out a win in 2OT after a dogfight with a bad FCS team.

-San Diego State gets blown out by UCLA

-UNLV gets [understandably] blown out by #2 Michigan

-AFA squeaks out an unconvincing 13-3 win over Sam Houston State.

-Hawai'i ends up beating their FCS opponent Albany, but looks God-awful in the process

-Nevada gets blown the f*** out by now-FCS Idaho.

-SJSU, USU, and UNM all rebound a bit with beatdowns of their FCS opponents (Cal Poly, ISU, and Tennessee Tech, respectively).

-Wyoming follows up the TTU upset with a solid win over their FCS opponent, though a few mistakes and sloppy play...and questionable coaching/playcalling towards the end...raises a few questions and muddies it up a bit.

If there was ever a season where we needed to grab the bull by the horns and do something, this is it.

Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:29 am

The mountain is wide open this year. Looks like we can beat anybody; however, it looks like almost anybody can beat us. Other than the Texas game, we should have real chance in every contest.

Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:34 am

It’s a bad conference for the second year in a row. With our defensive line, I like our chances against anyone.

Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:56 am

OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:34 am It’s a bad conference for the second year in a row. With our defensive line, I like our chances against anyone.

Not having marquee teams is getting to be a concerning trend.

Sun Sep 10, 2023 11:05 am

Boise will figure it out, but it's nice to see them being humbled. AFA defense really had a hell of a game yesterday holding SH to 80 yards of total offense. Fresno was probably looking ahead a bit to ASU and still celebrating last weekend. Pokes are definitely top 2 in the league right now.

Sun Sep 10, 2023 11:51 am

Is the Portal largely responsible for these MWC team's weakness?

Sun Sep 10, 2023 12:53 pm

Adv8RU12 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 11:51 am Is the Portal largely responsible for these MWC team's weakness?

NIL and portal are big parts of it. Expect the gap between the MWC and P5 to continue to grow.

Mon Sep 11, 2023 11:19 am

I feel the MWC is as wide open as ever! Truly. If there were ever a year.. let this be it.

AFA and utard state play this week. A massive game for so early in the season. I'll be watching that one closely.

Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:23 am

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 11:19 am I feel the MWC is as wide open as ever! Truly. If there were ever a year.. let this be it.

AFA and utard state play this week. A massive game for so early in the season. I'll be watching that one closely.

Some wacky sh** has happened the last few years between those two.

Neither team looks great, but neither of them looks like a team I'm willing to overlook yet either. Definitely setting up for another weird one.

Should be an interesting game to watch for sure. In spite of what one may think based on my preseason predictions, I'd love to see AFA take an L and start off conference play behind the sticks.

Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:31 am

DamThatRiver22 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:23 am
LanderPoke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 11:19 am I feel the MWC is as wide open as ever! Truly. If there were ever a year.. let this be it.

AFA and utard state play this week. A massive game for so early in the season. I'll be watching that one closely.
Some wacky sh** has happened the last few years between those two.

Neither team looks great, but neither of them looks like a team I'm willing to overlook yet either. Definitely setting up for another weird one.

Should be an interesting game to watch for sure. In spite of what one may think based on my preseason predictions, I'd love to see AFA take an L and start off conference play behind the sticks.

Me, too. I actually think utah shart is going to be OK this year. They played Iowa tough and waxxed the poop out of Idaho State. I am picking utah shart to win this one. AFA has played two patsies and struggled with one, so I am not sure what to think about them.

I just realized we don't play utah shart this year.

Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:54 am

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:31 am
I just realized we don't play utah shart this year.

It's great. Hope that continues.

Thu Sep 14, 2023 5:09 pm

This is our year. You can feel it.

Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:11 pm

I agree the MWC is wide open. Wyo has a good a chance as any other team... except maybe Nevada, who just looks HORRIBLE.

I don't expect us to beat Texas, not after they beat Alabama. Ewers is the real deal. He is super talented and should be in the Top 3 for the Heisman. I think it's fair for us to play to not get embarrassed. We are four touchdown underdogs.

Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:09 am

WYO_Fan_inPA wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:11 pm I agree the MWC is wide open. Wyo has a good a chance as any other team... except maybe Nevada, who just looks HORRIBLE.

I don't expect us to beat Texas, not after they beat Alabama. Ewers is the real deal. He is super talented and should be in the Top 3 for the Heisman. I think it's fair for us to play to not get embarrassed. We are four touchdown underdogs.

Ewers is very good when he has time to stand in the pocket and go through his progressions and reads. His best quality is his football IQ. Given time, he will mostly find the open receiver and he has good enough physical skills to make the throws.

However, if he is under pressure and has to move out of the pocket, it is an entirely different story. One of the keys to the game for us will be finding a way to get consistent pressure on Ewers. Texas has a pretty good pass blocking O-line, so it won't be easy. We will have to get creative in how we bring the pressure. I'm really hoping we don't rush four on first and second downs - we won't get enough pressure that way and Ewers will pick our secondary apart. I've been impressed with our third down blitz packages this year - they have been quite creative and effective. We will need to be willing to do some of that on earlier downs against Texas.

Fri Sep 15, 2023 11:50 am

TheRealUW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:09 am
WYO_Fan_inPA wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:11 pm I agree the MWC is wide open. Wyo has a good a chance as any other team... except maybe Nevada, who just looks HORRIBLE.

I don't expect us to beat Texas, not after they beat Alabama. Ewers is the real deal. He is super talented and should be in the Top 3 for the Heisman. I think it's fair for us to play to not get embarrassed. We are four touchdown underdogs.
Ewers is very good when he has time to stand in the pocket and go through his progressions and reads. His best quality is his football IQ. Given time, he will mostly find the open receiver and he has good enough physical skills to make the throws.

However, if he is under pressure and has to move out of the pocket, it is an entirely different story. One of the keys to the game for us will be finding a way to get consistent pressure on Ewers. Texas has a pretty good pass blocking O-line, so it won't be easy. We will have to get creative in how we bring the pressure. I'm really hoping we don't rush four on first and second downs - we won't get enough pressure that way and Ewers will pick our secondary apart. I've been impressed with our third down blitz packages this year - they have been quite creative and effective. We will need to be willing to do some of that on earlier downs against Texas.

Yeah it's a good point. Also, Texas has a solid defense that played well against Bama. We really have to find some sort of balance to throw them off. Can't be a run only game or we will get beat early.