Week 4 Preview

In Week 3, the Mountain West Conference followed its pattern for the season. The top teams played great football, while the bottom half of the league suffered humiliating losses. Week 4 features a pair of league games, and a couple of exciting non-conference matchups. What will happen this week?

Game of the Week
TCU hosts SMU on Friday night, reviving an old Southwestern Conference rivalry. With a win, the Horned Frogs can take another step toward capturing a BCS berth.

SMU is no ordinary Conference USA opponent, having blown out Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl last season. They enter this game with a 2-1 record, losing their opener to Texas Tech. Unlike June Jones-coached teams of the past, the Mustangs have a balanced offense. RB Zach Line anchors the ground game with an astonishing 7.6 yards per carry. QB Kyle Padron poses a dual threat, completing 55% of his passes, and rushing for over 100 yards (4.3 yards per carry). The defense has limited opposing offenses to a pedestrian 2.7 yards per carry.

Texas Christian continues to carry the banner for the Mountain West. The defending conference champions own impressive victories over Oregon State and Baylor. The Horned Frog defense has dominated its opponents, producing 10 sacks, and yielding only 223 yards per game. Heisman Trophy Candidate Andy Dalton leads a potent TCU offense that averages almost 46 points per game.

The team with the best defense wins this game. TCU�s front seven will take over this game, making SMU one-dimensional. When SMU goes exclusively to the air, the Horned Frogs will start generating turnovers. Even if the Mustangs avoid turnovers, they have no answer defensively for the explosive TCU offense. The Horned Frogs win this one by a couple of scores, and add another quality win to their BCS resume.

Conference Games
Air Force travels to Wyoming this week. Both teams need this win to remain in the running for the conference title.

Wyoming enters the game reeling from a 51-6 loss to Boise State. QB Austyn Carta-Samuels leads a powerful Cowboy passing attack, completing over 70% of his passes. While Wyoming does not have any outstanding defensive statistics, they hung tough against Texas, and made timely plays against Southern Utah.

Despite losing by three against #7 Oklahoma, Air Force proved that they could play with any team in the country. The Falcon defense boasts the top secondary in the conference, led by CB�s Reggie Rembert and Anthony Wright. QB Tim Jefferson, HB Asher Clark, and FB Jared Tew combine to lead the nation�s #1 rushing attack, averaging 399 yards per game.

This game features a contrast in styles. Wyoming spreads the field, and tries to create mismatches in the passing game, while Air Force relies almost exclusively on the triple option. The Cowboys have struggled against the run this season, and will not stop the Falcon ground game. Air Force wins this game by two touchdowns.

New Mexico plays at UNLV to round out the conference schedule. Both teams enter this game at 0-3. This matchup presents an opportunity for the winner to turn things around, and remain in contention for a bowl game.

UNLV limps into this game after losing to Idaho 30-7. Offensively, UNLV has moved the ball with Omar Clayton at QB, but has failed to score points. On the bright side, the Rebel defense has improved each week against the run, limiting Idaho to just 3.1 yards per carry last week.

New Mexico has played the toughest schedule in the country playing Oregon, Texas Tech, and Utah. With the brutality of the schedule, the defense may not be as bad as it appears on paper. Head Coach Mike Locksley has not named a starting QB this week, which will force the Rebels to prepare for both Brad Gruner and Tarean Austin. Austin came off the bench and led the Lobos to their only touchdown last week.

Since neither team runs the ball well, the team with the better passing game will win. Expect for Lobo QB Tarean Austin to provide a spark for the offense, leading New Mexico to a close victory in a defensive struggle.

Non-Conference Games
BYU welcomes Nevada to LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars lost QB Riley Nelson for the season, which leaves the starting job to Jake Heaps. With Heaps as the full-time starter, the Cougars will finally establish a rhythm on offense, something that they could not do while rotating QB�s. Even with the question at QB settled, BYU must stop QB Colin Kaepernick and the Nevada offense, which averages 560 yards per contest. The Cougars have not stopped the run all season long, and will not do so on Saturday. Nevada wins big.

San Diego State visits Utah State this weekend, after suffering a last-minute loss to Missouri. The Aztecs used a balanced offense against Missouri using RB Ronnie Hillman to compliment QB Ryan Lindley. The defense held Missouri to 3.3 season-low yards per carry, and forced three turnovers. The Aztecs will use the same game plan to defeat Utah State. San Diego State wins by two scores.

Utah hosts San Jose State, looking to start the season 4-0. The Ute defense continues to dominate its opponents, particularly in the running game. The offense welcomes back QB Jordan Wynn and C Zane Taylor from injury. With Utah having its full complement of weapons on offense, the Utes will score early and often. Utah wins convincingly, remaining in contention for a BCS berth.

Colorado State plays its home opener against Idaho trying to get its season back on track. The Rams suffered a humiliating loss to MAC opponent Miami (Ohio) last weekend. On the bright side, CSU finally got the passing game working, and scored its first touchdown of the season. Unfortunately, the Rams play a very physical Idaho team that dominated UNLV on both lines of scrimmage last weekend. Idaho rolls over CSU.

Please follow me on Twitter @TPJCollFootball