http://www.yardbarker.com/content/team/450 Recent articles about the Air Force Falcons en-us We all know football season is close when media day arrives. There usually is not much news just the same old coach speak about one game at a time bla, bla bla stuff. Each coach was interviewed by a local radio station and I will post that once it is available on their site. Also, to view all of the podium interviews by coaches, players and Commissioner Craig Thompson go to the offical MWC media day web site. Also this season marks the 10th anniversary of the Mountain West Conference, when they broke away from the 16 team Western Athletic Conference that was a miserable failure, and then added TCU in 2005. The news that comes out is the preseason all conference teams and the league order of finish. Looks like there is a tier system with the league split into thirds. I am not giving any clues about my order of finish, which I will start presenting starting in August. To me Colorado State and Air Force should be switched, Air Force only returns three offensive starters and will struggle. As for the Rams they will have one of the leagues best running back duo in Kyle Bell and Gatrell Johnosn III that should challenge the Utes and BYU for best two back program, plus Kory Sperry who had an season ending knee injury was a huge play making tight end and will help ease in the new quarterback at Fort Collins. 2008 Mountain West Conference Preseason Football Poll Rk. Team (first place votes) Points 1. BYU (29) 299 2. Utah (5) 274 3. TCU 239 4. New Mexico 197 5. Wyoming 156 6. Air Force 141 7. San Diego State 92 8. Colorado State 73 9. UNLV 59 Below is the preseason all conference team listed below. 2008 Preseason All-Mountain West Football Team Position Student-Athlete Class School OFFENSE WR Austin Collie** Jr. BYU WR Ryan Wolfe Jr. UNLV OL Nick Charles** Jr. Air Force OL Ray Feinga* Sr. BYU OL Dallas Reynolds* Sr. BYU OL Blake Schlueter** Sr. TCU OL Robert Conley** Sr. Utah TE Dennis Pitta* Jr. BYU QB Max Hall* Jr. BYU RB Harvey Unga** So. BYU RB Rodney Ferguson* Sr. New Mexico DEFENSE DL Jan Jorgensen* Jr. BYU DL Paul Kruger So. Utah DL John Fletcher** Jr. Wyoming DL/LB Ryan Kemp Sr. Air Force LB Ward Dobbs** Sr. Wyoming LB Russell Allen Sr. San Diego State LB Jason Phillips** Sr. TCU DB Brice McCain** Sr. Utah DB DeAndre Wright* Sr. New Mexico DB Stephen Hodge** Sr. TCU DB Robert Johnson Jr. Utah SPECIALISTS P Louie Sakoda* Sr. Utah PK Louie Sakoda** Sr. Utah Ret. Devin Moore Sr. Wyoming Offensive Player of the Year: Max Hall, Jr., QB, BYU Defensive Player of the Year: Jason Phillips, Sr., LB, TCU Special Teams Player of the Year: Louie Sakoda, Sr., PK/P, Utah Freshman of the Year: Braylon Broughton, DE, TCU Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:40:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294992 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294992 Game one of the Commander in Chief's Trophy, for the Falcons. This mid season game at the Academy will feature first full year head coach Ken Niumatalolo who was an assistant last year under long time coach Paul Johnson who left for Georgia Tech, but Niumatalolo did have a nice showing in the Poinsettia Bowl in a close loss to Utah. There have been rumors of the Navy running the triple option and wishbone this year, but that most likely will be a section of the playbook, so do not expect the Midshipmen to run a full triple option or wishbone. Niumatalolo will keep consistency with the program for eleven years as an assistant, including most recently as offensive coordinator. Offense: Everyone knows that Navy will run, run, and then run some more. The option is Navy's choice of offensive attack and then they mix in the ocassional deep pass once the defensive backs are pulled in to help with the option. Navy does return quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada who is a Senior and is very capable of running the option. To run the option well the quarterback must have good timing and know when to pitch or hold the ball themselves and run, which he has. Last season Kaheaku-Enhada ran for 834 yards and 12 touchdowns, and then he also passed for 952 yards. He is looking to go for 1,000 yards passing and recieving which has not been accomplished since 2003 by Craig Candeto. As for the running tandem Navy will be lead by Senior Fullback Eric Kettani who ran for 882 yards last year in his first year of significant time. Another back that will garner attention is Junior Kevin Campbell who had limited action last year. Navy will play many different backs to give teams different looks from speed backs to the full back dive to keep the defense honest. Even though passing is not the strong point of Navy, they actually do a very good job of balancing the pass agaisnt the rush. Navy spreads the ball to many different receiveres and backs, and one interesting stat is that the recievers averaged 16.74 yards per catch. That yard per catch is five yards less then the top passing team in the country Texas Tech. Their passing game is quite effective when teams move in their safeties. Defense: This is not the best aspect of the Navy team, during last season they did give up 36 points per game. That does not give a true representation of their defense, because while Navy does give up a lot of points they also make timely stops. Last season they had three wins by less then a touchdown, because of the defense. Then there was the North Texas game that Navy won 74-62 and the defense made timely stops at the end to perserve the victory. The defense is undersized mainly because the type of athletes Navy gets, but they are fast and play smart football. One thing they need to improve on from last year is wrapping up and finishing tackles and also defending the pass which is something that they struggled with last year. Early Prediction: This game is always close, and Air Force is looking for revenge after losing on the road last year and having lost five in a row. Air Force has lost too much offense this year and even with Navy having a new coach as of now it is safe to say that Navy will pull this out in a close game that will be within ten points. Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:27:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289672 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289672 This one will be similar to the Colorado State preview since they also play the Houston Cougars. This game is taking place in Houston and is during week three of the season. By this game the Falcons will have played Southern Utah and conference foe Wyoming Cowboys and should be ready for this Houston game. The same can be said for the Cougars who will have played I-AA Southern University and then play Oklahoma State in week two, so Houston will have had a big challenge the week prior and could be looking to rebound after a possible loss to Oklahoma State. Offense: The Houston Cougars return six starters on the offensive side of the ball, and will be lead by wide receiver Mark Hafner who had 445 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Those are modest stats, but when playing behind Donnie Avery and Jeron Harvey who are no longer with the program, because of graduated, those are pretty good stats for a third wideout. With the Cougars new coach Kevin Sumlin he has improved the offensive output at each stop he has made, but his biggest improvement was with Texas A&M where Sumlin was moved into the offensive coordinator role, and the Aggies averaged 33.0 points per game after posting just 16.0 per game before he took control. He is an innovator on offense and should keep the recent tradition from Art Briles of being able to score bunches of points. The QB position is one that is muddled, but whoever gets the position should thrive in. The two quarterbacks are currently listed as number one on the depth chart which should be figured out in fall camp. The two are Case Keenum and Blake Joseph who split time last with Keenum playing in every game and starting eight, while Joseph played in eleven and started in five games. Keenum has more mobility and rushed for 412 yards and nine touchdowns which is solid for a quarterback. As for passing Keenum had 2,259 yards, 68 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. While Blake Joseph in less time threw a comparable percentage, however Joseph's touchdown to interception ratio was 2.25 to 1.5 but that could be inflated due to playing time. Whoever is at the quarterback position they should be able to thrive. Being the third game of the season the quarterback situation still might be in the air and having a quarterback by committe, because it is doubtful anything will be proven by playing Southern where both should get plenty of time. Depending on how the Oklahoma State game goes, where both should play again there that will be the game where a starter could be named. The key lose at running back is Anthony Alridge who will be replaced by Terrance Ganaway who as a back up had 550 yards, six touchdowns, and an average of 5.0 per carry and should be able to put up similar numbers as Alridge who rushed just under 1,600 yards. If these new players who are taking over starting spots and a quarterback is chosen Houston's offense should not skip a beat from last year. Defense: The defense will need to help carry the offense while it finds its way and becomes acquainted with the new offense, by this game the offense should be up to speed and help the defense as well. There are eight returning starters on defense from a team who did give up 27 points per game, which needs to improve to help the Cougars be in more games. Last year the offense was able to just out score teams and the defense was called upon to make timely stops when it counted, but not this year the defense will need to share the load. Returning start on defense are defensive end Phillip Hunt who had 10.5 sacks and 18 for loss, and will see a lot of double teams and free up another player to make the play, but Hunt is the leader of the front seven. In the secondary the Cougars return Kenneth Fontenette and Ernest Miller and these had four picks and eleven passes broken up, and will only get better. Early Prediction: This game being on the road does favor the Houston Cougars, but the Falcons are accustomed to the throwing attack of Houston. With the inexperience of the Falcons offense they will not be able to score enough points, so look for Houston to win by ten points. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:16:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289367 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289367 A look at Notre Dame's past record against teams from the Mountain West. Notre Dame has mostly played Air Force and BYU, but will play San Diego State for the first time on September 6, 2008. Tue, 06 May 2008 15:24:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263992 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263992 Instead of mostly every game on New Years Day, the casual sports fan must now wade through three weeks of bowl games and hope you can catch maybe one or two that will remain with you until the next bowl season comes around. This year might not produce the greatest bowl game ever, but here are seven bowl games that you must tune into. Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:33:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/51337 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/51337 So far we're 1-0 with our pick of Utah last night. Let us know your top ten confidence picks for the bowl games this holiday season. Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:43:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50738 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50738 ALL 32 BOWL GAMES PREVIEWED! FIO staff writer Dan Mesday takes a look at each bowl game on tap for the coming weeks, and gives his preview of what's to come. Included: Reasons To Watch, Interesting Facts, and The Pick for the winners of each bowl. Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:58:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50227 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/50227 The disappointing Cal football season will end with a disappointing performance in the not so exciting Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force. I predict Air Force to run all over our defense and for our offense to continue to suck as they have for the entire second half of this season. I hope Nate Longshore is not under center for this game. Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:50:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40147 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40147 The new rankings are in and are as follows: 1. Ohio State (57) 8-0 1,612 2. Boston College (2) 7-0 1,494 3. LSU (5) 7-1 1,479 4. Oklahoma 7-1 1,421 5. Oregon 6-1 1,355 6. West Virginia 6-1 1,228 7. Arizona State (1) 7-0 1,156 8. Virginia Tech 6-1 1,111 9. USC 6-1 1,107 9. Florida 5-2 1,107 11. South Florida 6-1 980 12. Kansas 7-0 960 13. Missouri 6-1 925 14. Kentucky 6-2 719 15. South Carolina 6-2 649 16. Hawaii 7-0 573 17. Texas 5-2 497 18. California 5-2 444 19. Michigan 6-2 401 20. Georgia 5-2 394 21. Virginia 7-1 315 22. Alabama 6-2 263 23. Auburn 5-3 248 24. Penn State 6-2 209 25. Rutgers 5-2 174 Others Receiving Votes UCLA 77, Boise State 72, Wake Forest 50, Connecticut 26, Clemson 21, Wisconsin 17, Air Force 11, Brigham Young 6, Texas Tech 6, Troy 4, Tennessee 3, Fresno State 3, Oklahoma State 3, Kansas State 2, Purdue 1, Cincinnati 1, Texas A&M 1. Dropped From Rankings Tennessee 20, Texas Tech 22, Cincinnati 23, Kansas State 25. Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:37:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/32211 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/32211 Check out this Week 5 preview from FIO staff writer Dan Mesday, which includes: OSU coach's meltdown, Penn State Fear, Louisville Done, and previews of this week's top games! Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:15:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/28898 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/28898 Will BYU once again win the conference? Is TCU the BCS buster this year? Will Utah once again regain the top spot in the conference? Read these blogger's opinions what will happen this season for each team. Vote how many games you think they will win. Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:47:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25488 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/25488 FIO staff writer Dan Mesday writes up an outlook of the Mountain West Conference. If your college fantasy football league covers the MWC player pool, you'll want to read this article... includes: key returnees, key losses, must-see games, and 2007 outlook. Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:25:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21135 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/21135 The Air Force Falcons hired former player and current Houston Texans offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun as their new head coach, replacing Fisher DeBerry. The Air Force team has suffered through three losing seasons and two off the field incidents under DeBerry. Calhoun is the first former player to head the football program. Wed, 27 Dec 2006 03:27:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/7429 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/7429 Fisher DeBerry has stepped down after 27 years at Air Force. He cited family issues and just an overall need to move on with the next phase of his life. DeBerry led the Air Force Academy to a 35-11 record against Army and Navy, while finishing as the all-time winningest coach in Air Force history. With DeBerry retiring, the third longest active coaching streak comes to an end, behind Bobby Bowden and Joe Pa. Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:42:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6929 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6929 Tennessee spent last weekend against Cal announcing their resurgence amidst widespread questions. They looked dominant and confident. This weekend, their evil twin shows up and narrowly avoids an upset bid by the hapless cadets of Air Force. Not even the guys in Vegas are going to know what to expect next weekend. Sun, 10 Sep 2006 02:42:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2181 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/2181