The Upset

Best of the West: February 2

2012-02-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

The nation's leading scorer had himself quite a game Thursday night. Here's a look at his performance as well as the other best games from around the West from games on February 2nd.

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Utah names Brian Johnson as offensive coordinator

2012-02-02T10:05:00.003-07:00

Deseret News

The University of Utah ended its search for a new offensive coordinator by hiring in house. Utah and head coach Kyle Whittingham have named Brian Johnson as the offensive coordinator. Johnson has coached quarterbacks at Utah for the last two season, and led the Utes to the 2009 Sugar Bowl title (for the 2008 season) while quarterback himself.

Utah also made several other coaching changes today.

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2012 Western BracketBusters Schedule

2012-01-31T08:00:00.001-07:00

Here is the full schedule for all western teams playing in BracketBusters matchups:

TV GAMES

Fri. Feb 17
Valparaiso (15-8) @ Loyola Marymount (13-9) | 7:00 pm MT - ESPN2

Sat. Feb 18

Drake (13-9) @ New Mexico State (15-7) | 1:00 pm MT - ESPNU

Nevada (18-3) @ Iona (17-5) | 2:00 pm MT - ESPN/2

Saint Mary's (21-2) @ Murray State (21-0) | 4:00 pm MT - ESPN/2

Texas-Arlington (15-5) @ Weber State (16-4) | 6:00 pm MT - ESPN3

Long Beach State (16-6) @ Creighton (20-2) | 8:00 pm MT - ESPN2

NON-TV GAMES

Larry Nance Jr channels his inner Jumpman

2012-01-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Even though San Diego State prevailed over Wyoming, despite a crazy journey to get to Laramie, Larry Nance Jr. still provided us with this nice nugget.

Big Sky Bracketbuster Predictions

2012-01-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our man Jonathan Reed posted his predictions for what teams each Big Sky school will draw in this year's Bracketbusters in February.
http://www.bigskybball.com/2012/01/predictions-on-big-sky-bracket-buster.html

Western Hoops Update: Jan 6

2012-01-06T16:09:00.002-07:00

Here's a round-up of all of last night's action, and where each western basketball conference stands heading into the weekend.

BIG SKY

Many Big Sky teams are falling behind early, as 5 of the 9 schools already have two conference losses.

WEBER STATE 76 EASTERN WASHINGTON 69

The Wildcats moved to 3-0 by picking up a win in their first conference road game of the year. The Cliffs (Ederaine and Colimon) scored 20 and 18 respectively for EWU, but it wasn't enough. Damian Lillard put Weber on his back down the stretch for the win, and ended with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lillard upped his nation-leading average to 25.5 PPG. Scott Bamforth added 19 of his own on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc.

Weber State (3-0) and Montana (2-0) are atop the conference, with Montana State and Northern Colorado having one loss each.

Brent Pease likely leaving Boise for Florida

2012-01-06T13:31:00.001-07:00

Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun is reporting that Brent Pease will be the new offensive coordinator to replace Charlie Weis at Florida. (But that Will Muschamp texted him saying "nothing done.")

This news comes right on the heels of Chad Crippe tweeting (from the Idaho Statesman) that Pease was likely leaving to either Florida or Alabama. Pease came to Boise as a receivers coach when Chris Petersen took over as head coach in 2006, and became the offensive coordinator for 2011 after Bryan Harsin left for Texas.

Crippe reports that receivers coach Robert Prince will likely take over as offensive coordinator for Boise State.

CFB Epidemic: Trusting the Kicking Game

2012-01-03T11:36:00.002-07:00

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

There are certainly plenty of things in which college football coaches have more knowledge and experience than I do. There is certainly a reason those coaches are coaching and I am not. But on display yesterday during our normally-New-Year's-Day fare of college football was a mind-numbing show of coaches trusting kickers to come through in the clutch.

To be clear: This isn't about inconsistent kickers. There are 120 FBS teams, and it appears not every school is able to find a consistent kicker. We're looking at the coaches who change the game, slow down their own offenses -- many times offenses that are rolling! -- and choose to settle for field goals. Case number one:

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BYU downs Tulsa 24-21 in the final seconds

2011-12-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Some quick links on BYU's win.
Recap and game balls
BYU 24-21 over Tulsa: Rapid React

PITCH IT! Kickers running the option ends poorly for Air Force

2011-12-29T11:29:00.001-07:00

The Military Bowl was as fantastic as anybody familiar with Toledo and Air Force would have expected. When Air Force completed a long pass to pull the score to 42-41 with less than a minute to play. The Falcons lined up for the extra point and faked it. It was beautiful. The holder rolled out, the kicker was wide open, and this happened:

The ball hitting the turf? No, that wasn't a pitch. The holder cut up-field and tried to score himself with the kicker waiting for the pitch, all by himself. He fumbled as soon as he was hit. Ballsy call from Troy Calhoun, and it worked, too, minus the execution. In hindsight, maybe keep your offense on the field and line up with players used to handling the option.

Stat Pack: Toledo and Air Force could be a show

2011-12-28T11:59:00.001-07:00

In about 2.5 hours (2:30 pm MT) Air Force will square off against Toledo in the Military Bowl. If you have been blessed enough to partake of Toledo MACtion at any time this year, you have seen TONS of points scored. But at least with Tim Jefferson at the helm (and with Toledo's defense), Air Force will certainly have the capability of putting up points. Here's a stat pack to compare the two squads:

Air Force is 7-5. The Falcons have not beat any team with a winning or .500 record, and played two FCS schools this season. AFA's losses were to TCU, at Notre Dame, San Diego State, at Boise State, and Wyoming.

Toledo is 8-4. The Rockets have two wins over winning teams, and two more over teams with a .500 record. It's losses were at Ohio State, Boise State, in OT at Syracuse (where a ref blew a PAT call that cost Toledo the game), and Northern Illinois.

Keep an eye on turnovers. Toledo has been one of the best in turnover margin, while Air Force likes to fumble. It rained yesterday and the field crew had a tarp over the field, and weather is supposed to be decent today. We'll have to see if the field conditions have any effect.

	AIR FORCE		TOLEDO
STAT	#	Rank	#	Rank
Rushing O	320 ypg	2	221 ypg	14
Passing O	139 ypg	113	272 ypg	29
TOTAL O	459 ypg	19	493 ypg	8

Rushing D	228 ypg	113	123 ypg	26
Passing D	163 ypg	6	278 ypg	109
TOTAL D	391 ypg	69	401 ypg	76

TO Margin	0 pg	59	+1.33 pg	3
Sacks	1.42 pg	93	1.83 pg	68
Sacks Allowed	0.75 pg	6	0.75 pg	6

Boise State, Moore end an era with a bang

2011-12-23T11:01:00.003-07:00

Moore led Boise State in a romp over Arizona State (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Kellen Moore and the Boise State Broncos capped an amazing four-year run with a dominating blowout of Arizona State on Thursday night, winning the Las Vegas Bowl with a 56-24 tally. As the quarterback with the most wins of all time took his final college snap with a victory kneel, I found myself saddened yet in awe.

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A look at departing, new MWC coaches

2011-12-20T13:10:00.003-07:00

Four schools will debut new football coaches next year in the Mountain West Conference. Here is a quick look at the departing coaches from these schools and where the program sits after their tenure.

PAT HILL
FRESNO STATE

Tenure: 15 seasons.
Record: 112-80 (.583)
Bowls: 11 (4-7)
Best Season: 2001. The 11-3 Bulldogs beat Colorado, #10 Oregon State, and #23 Wisconsin to start the season, only to be derailed by Boise State and Hawaii.

The mustachioed Bulldog of the Valley made famous the phrase "play anyone, anytime, anywhere." Say what you want about Pat Hill -- that he'll "lose to anyone, anytime, anywhere" -- but the bottom line is Hill put Fresno on the map. Sure, in all his success and time, he never had anything like an undefeated season. This fact is magnified by Boise State's meteoric, swift rise within the same conference. But Hill believed in his players, and believed in challenging them with strong matchups and national travel. Unfortunately, Hill's undoing may have been his inability to win the conference separate from Fresno's tough non-conference scheduling. The Bulldogs won just one conference title in his 15 years, a three-way shared title in 1999. He leaves a legacy appreciated at the school of allowing and helping his athletes to succeed academically.

Official Departure: Fired.
Replacement: Tim DeRuyter. This will be the first head coaching gig for the former Air Force linebacker. DeRuyter was the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M for the past two seasons, taking a unit that was ranked 107th in total defense in 2009 and coaching them to 51st (2010) and 66th (2011) rankings in his two seasons there. Previously, he spent time as a defensive coach at Air Force, Ohio, Navy, and Nevada.
Official Fresno State Release

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Idaho Potato Bowl Preview: Utah State vs Ohio

2011-12-16T09:32:00.001-07:00

UTAH STATE (7-5) vs OHIO (9-4)

IDAHO POTATO BOWL | BOISE ID

Sat. December 17 | 3:30 pm MT | ESPN

New Orleans Bowl Preview: SDSU vs LA-Lafayette

2011-12-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

SAN DIEGO STATE (8-4) vs

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (8-4)

NEW ORLEANS BOWL | NEW ORLEANS LA

Sat. December 17 | 7:00 pm MT | ESPN

New Mexico Bowl Preview: Wyoming vs Temple

2011-12-15T10:11:00.001-07:00

WYOMING (8-4) vs TEMPLE (8-4)

NEW MEXICO BOWL | ALBUQUERQUE NM

Sat. December 17 | 12:00 pm MT | ESPN

Louisiana Tech's Ryan Allen wins Ray Guy Award

2011-12-12T12:22:00.002-07:00

via LaTechSports.com

Louisiana Tech's Ryan Allen won the Ray Guy Award at last Thursday's college football awards show, the honor given to the nation's best punter. Allen is the first player from a non-AQ school to win the award.

While national writers were flipping their lids about LSU's Brad Wing not being one of the finalists, Allen, Louisiana's other superb punter, had in his pocket the nation's #1 ranking in punts inside the 20-yard line (37) and punts inside the 10-yard line (20). Allen's mastery of the art of the "coffin-corner" kick won him the award, as only 6% of his punts resulted in a touchback.

After the 2010 campaign, Allen spent the off-season in Alabama working with punting coach Mike McCabe, who personally instructed last year's winner, Chas Henry of Florida.

A native of Salem, Oregon, Allen started his college career at nearby Oregon State where he began as a walk-on. "The other kid I walked-on with ended up getting the starting role," Allen recounts. "It was a blessing in disguise [because] I got to keep my redshirt freshman year."

Allen went to a camp in Las Vegas while he searched for a transfer destination. Louisiana Tech's soon-to-be head coach, Sonny Dykes, was at the camp, and Allen found his way to Ruston.

"It’s been a punter’s dream," Allen said of Louisiana Tech's WAC championship season. "I’ve been blessed to be in certain instances where I could switch the field position and pin them inside their 20. I couldn’t ask for a better season and for the opportunities I’ve been given."

Of Allen's 26 punts that were returned, only one was returned for five yards or more (11 were returned for one, zero, or negative yards; 14 more were returned for less than five yards).

Lillard drops 31 as Weber State cruises over Southern Utah

2011-12-11T09:35:00.001-07:00

OGDEN -- Weber State played its best game since its convincing home victory against Utah State early in the season, downing future Big Sky opponent Southern Utah 84-66 on Saturday night at the Dee Events Center.

After a performance against BYU that resulted in hardly any assists for the team as a whole, the Wildcats assisted 20 of their 30 field goals to cruise to the victory. Damian Lillard put in an impressive first half, reaching 18 points after throwing down a dunk in traffic with a defender contesting, giving Weber a 44-32 halftime lead.

Lillard spent the first ten minutes of the second half facilitating the offense as the Wildcats stretched the lead without Lillard attempting a shot. Kyle Tresnak finished with 15 points in the post, with Byron Fulton and Jordan Richardson each adding 10. Lillard's night was over after dropping in a three-pointer with three minutes remaining, finishing with 31 points on 9-15 shooting, with nine assists and zero turnovers on the night. Interestingly for the Wildcats, Scott Bamforth, one of the best three-point shooters in the country, did not attempt a single shot in 30 minutes of play.

Ray Jones, Jr. led all Southern Utah scorers with 14 points on 6-8 shooting. Jackson Stevenett, hailing from nearby (to Ogden) Kaysville with family looking on, added 12 points and a team-high five assists. The Thunderbirds are now 4-5 and have nine days off before traveling to Troy, then hosting UC-Davis before embarking on its 18-game Summit League schedule.

Weber State moved to 6-2 with the win, and travels to play California next Friday. Lillard's performance moved him past Harold Arceneaux on Weber State's all-time scoring list (8th place).

An additional/alternate recap of this game can be found at The Mid-Majority

Boise State, SDSU take football to the Big East; Air Force is staying put; MWC/C-USA headed for merger

2011-12-07T16:26:00.003-07:00

The Big East held a teleconference today to officially announce the additions of Central Florida, SMU, and Houston into the Big East in all sports, and Boise State and San Diego State will join the conference as football-only members.

At the same time, Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Air Force is staying in the Mountain West Conference. (Coincidentally, Troy Calhoun also told Schwab he has not interviewed anywhere and is staying at Air Force just hours earlier.)

The WAC officially announced Boise State is housing its non-football sports in its conference. San Diego State is reportedly taking its non-football schools to the Big West.

Also being reported today is that the Mountain West may not consider adding any schools to replace its two departures, and will take the remaining 8-school lineup into an all-sports merger with Conference-USA (which lost the other three teams added to the Big East).

Here's a quick recap of the teleconference:

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Stat Spotlight: Top 10 rushers by percentage of team's carries

2011-12-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the nation's top 10 rushers with the percentage of their teams' carries included. While not definitive of anything, the backs with the fewest percentage of team carries means that those players could have been given the ball more and rushed for more yards. In other words, had LaMichael James or Robert Turbin been given the rock like Robbie Rouse was, the nation's top-10 rushers list could look a lot different.

PLAYER	SCHOOL	YPG	% OF TEAM CARRIES
LaMichael James	Oregon	149.64	37.7%
Bobby Rainey	WKU	141.25	67.8%
Ronnie Hillman	SDSU	138.00	63.1%
Montee Ball	Wisconsin	135.31	48.9%
Trent Richardson	Alabama	131.92	55.6%
Bernard Pierce	Temple	125.55	42.4%
David Wilson	Va Tech	125.15	49.1%
Zach Line	SMU	122.40	64.2%
Robbie Rouse	Fresno St	119.15	74.9%
Robert Turbin	Utah St	118.00	39.9%

Report: Big East expansion happens tomorrow

2011-12-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports is reporting that the Big East will make official its expansion plans that include Boise State and San Diego State in football only, and Central Florida, Houston, and SMU in all sports.

What does this do to college sports out West? Quite a bit.

First Boise State and San Diego State must find homes for their other sports. The Big West is reportedly happy with adding SDSU, but does not want to add Boise State. Boise is too far away for the all-Cali bus conference (Hawaii is paying its own way in the Big West). The WAC is said to be open to Boise State, but Boise State is unsure about the WAC.

What does this do to SDSU and Boise basketball? Steve Fisher has turned the Aztec program into a western power -- they are 8-2 this season and went 34-3 last year! Leon Rice is turning Boise State around, too -- his Broncos are 7-1 at the moment.

Why would Boise State be unsure about the WAC? Comrade Craig is lurking, ready to poach the WAC again. Will the Mountain West try to add Utah State? San Jose State? Maybe even UTSA?

Will the rumored MWC/C-USA merger come to fruition? If so, some indications (like from UTEP's athletic director) are that it is in consideration for all sports, not just football. If this is the case, surely a school like Louisiana Tech moves to get into C-USA to replace outgoing teams and get inside the merger.

While this expansion won't ripple up into other BCS conferences, it is almost sure to ripple down throughout non-AQ and non-football land.

The Upset Top 20 -- Week 14

2011-12-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the final regular season poll from our voters. It appears our small sample of fans would narrowly put Oklahoma State in the title game against LSU. Make sure to check out the rest of the poll, too, as our voters have different feelings about several teams compared to where they ended up in the AP or Coaches polls.

	Wk 14 – 12/3
	TEAM	REC	PTS
1	LSU (13)	13-0	260
2	Oklahoma State	11-1	241
3	Alabama	11-1	238
4	USC	10-2	199
5	Boise State	11-1	194
	Oregon	11-2	194
7	Stanford	11-1	188
8	Wisconsin	11-2	156
9	Arkansas	10-2	152
10	Kansas State	10-2	127
11	TCU	10-2	114
12	South Carolina	10-2	101
13	Michigan State	10-3	92
14	Michigan	10-2	90
15	Houston	12-1	71
16	Baylor	9-3	67
17	Clemson	10-3	61
18	Georgia	10-3	47
19	Virginia Tech	11-2	45
20	Southern Miss	11-2	34
Also Receiving Votes: Oklahoma (29), West Virginia (12), Arkansas State (11), Nebraska (5), Northern Illinois (1)

No bowl tie-ins? No problem: The better bowl slate you would get if conference tie-ins were trashed

2011-12-05T13:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to conference tie-ins, the most-winning
QB in the history of college football
plays a 6-6 team in his final bowl

by Jarod Daily

Much of the outcry from college football fans this time of year has to do with the BCS. To be sure, the Biased Corrupt Scam is a terrible system. However, it's only part of the problem.

The entire bowl system is bound by rigid conference ties, ugly politics and a sickening attachment to the dollar (cash that, by the way, often eludes the schools that play in the games) that prevent teams from getting the high-caliber matchups that they've earned and that fans crave. For example, Boise State is an extremely good 11-1 team ranked in the top 10. But do the Broncos get a quality opponent in an attractive bowl game? Nope. They're stuck playing 6-6 Arizona State in the pre-Christmas Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas. Southern Miss, 11-2 and champion of Conference USA, got passed over by the Liberty Bowl — which for years has hosted the champion of C-USA — in favor of 6-6 Vanderbilt and 9-3 Cincinnati. And 9-3 Baylor, with Heisman contender Robert Griffin III at the helm, draws 7-5 Washington in the Alamo Bowl.

Some of these matchups can't be helped: There are only so many 10-win and/or ranked teams. And it is worth noting that very rarely, the bowl system gets something right: This year's Cotton Bowl Classic matches up two top 10 teams in Arkansas and Kansas State. Kudos to the committee of that game for getting a premier matchup and giving two teams the game they've earned. But that particular matchup seems to be the exception that proves the rule.

How, then, could we fix these games, which used to be such an important part of the sports landscape?

Report: Jake Heaps transferring from BYU

2011-12-05T11:05:00.005-07:00

News broke this morning from Mason Kelly, the high school sports recruiting coordinator at the Seattle Times, that Jake Heaps is transferring from Brigham Young. BYU has now confirmed this with an official release.

Kelly is said to be close with Heaps and his family, who hail from the greater Seattle area. Kelly places likely transfer destinations for Heaps as Cal, Washington, Washington State, and maybe USC. Early speculation leans toward Cal and Jeff Tedford's pro-style system, as Zach Maynard will be a senior next year while Heaps must sit. Washington was the final competition for BYU in Heaps's initial recruitment. Washington State may also come into play with Mike Leach--a BYU grad--taking over in Pullman.

After growing pains in his freshman year, Heaps finished 2010 with a bang. With cracked ribs, Heaps led his team on two impressive drives on the road against heated rival Utah (only to have a BYU field goal blocked to deny a victory). In the bowl game, Heaps torched UTEP and led BYU to 50+ points. But this season, with new offensive coordinator Brandon Doman, Heaps regressed. Seeming to lack confidence both in himself and from many of his teammates, Heaps was benched after the stagnating BYU offense put the Cougars in a hole at home against in-state rival Utah State. Heaps saw action in two recent games against Idaho and New Mexico State with Riley Nelson injured, leading BYU to 42-7 victories in both games, but was put back on the bench last week at Hawaii.

Much of the problems surrounding Heaps seemed to be off the field, as speculation (which we have confirmed with sources) abounds regarding a split between upper- and lower-classmen regarding Heaps's work ethic.

For BYU, this would seem to leave Riley Nelson in sole possession of the starting job for 2012 in his senior year, along with fellow senior James Lark serving as the backup. Taysom Hill, originally committed to Stanford, is set to return from his church mission and join the team next year as well.

Update: Here is Mason Kelly's piece on the transfer, including quotes from Heaps

2011 MWC Bowl Schedule

2011-12-05T10:40:00.003-07:00

All five bowl-eligible teams in the Mountain West are bowl bound, as Air Force slides nicely into voids left by Army and Navy both being ineligible for bowl berths.

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