College Football is right around the corner and I will look to continue my College Previews with a look at Western Athletic Conference. Here are the current Odds (Courtesy of BetUS) for teams to win the Western Athletic Conference this year. Louisiana Tech (+110); Utah State (+300); San Jose State (+300); New Mexico State (+550); Idaho (+750); Texas State & Texas-San Antonio have no odds. Here is how I see the WAC stacking up this year.
Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs had a very nice year last year as they went 8-5 overall, while winning the WAC with a 6-1 mark and they should repeat as last league champions in the watered down WAC that has no Nevada or Hawaii in it and has added a couple of team that were FCS teams last year. QB Colby Cameron (1,667 pass yds, 13 TD) is back under center after playing phenomenal football down the stretch. Cameron rarely turns the ball over (3 INT in 215 pass attempts), a great attribute for a young QB to have in an Air Raid system. He’ll also be happy to have WR Quinton Patton (1,202 rec yds, 11 TD) back to reel in some big throws for him. Defensively the Bulldogs were solid last year, allowing 22.3 ppg, and while they lose 6 starters they should still be fine, as the WAC doesn’t have a lot of good offensive teams left now that Hawaii and Nevada are gone. This is clearly the best team in the league and should be able to successfully defend their WAC Title this year.
Utah State: The Aggies were the second best team in the WAC last year and will be the second best team this year as well. Utah State got hot at the end of last season, winning its final five regular season games, all by seven points or less. The defense loses its top two tacklers, but this team has plenty of solid depth on that side of the ball and it will come in handy. There should be no glaring weaknesses on an Aggies defense that led the WAC with 366 YPG allowed and chopped off 6 ppg from what they allowed in 2010. Offensively, sophomore QB Chuckie Keeton (1,200 pass yds, 11 TD) is back after a year in which he threw only two interceptions in eight games. The RB position loses its two leading rushers, including 1,517-yard back Robert Turbin. In steps senior RB Kerwynn Williams (542 rush yds, 6.7 YPC), who should excel as the main ball carrier in an offense that averaged a WAC best 33.6 PPG last season. The Aggies are solid on both sides of the ball, but I just don’t feel they have enough to overtake the Bulldogs this year, especially with a road game at La. Tech in the second to last game of the year.
San Jose State: The Spartan lose half of their starters from last year’s team that went just 5-7, but I feel they are a much improved team over last year. San Jose State is having an interesting offseason. It appears its quarterback job will go to junior college transfer David Fales, who impressed in the spring game (16-for-22, 257 yds). RB David Freeman is back from injury and will move back into the starting lineup, but he’ll be running behind an unreliable offensive line. The receivers will be the strength of an offense that averaged 277 ypg through their last year, namely Noel Grigsby (886 rec yds) and Chandler Jones (566 rec yds). The anchor of the Spartans defense will be Travis Johnson, who had 9.5 sacks a year ago. The front four should be dominant, but they must get better in the secondary and receive more consistent play out of a promising group of linebackers led by top tackler LB Keith Smith (104 tackles). Last year they brought back 11 starters and still allowed 30.3 ppg, but they do have talent on that side of the ball and should improve over last year. I expect the Spartans to get to 6 wins and have a shot at a bowl game this year.
New Mecico State: The Aggies return the fewest starters in the league (7) but this team will still be pretty good this year. New Mexico State had tons of injuries in its 4-9 season, but it will get back QB Andrew Manley, the guy they originally pinned as their starter last year. Manley threw for six touchdowns and three interceptions in three games last year before a season-ending ACL injury. RB Kenny Turner is gone after rushing for 1,074 yards and Manley also loses his best wide receivers. New Mexico State does have solid skill position transfers coming in, along with a good recruiting class, so I expect the offense to be just fine. The Aggies are going to struggle defensively early on as they are losing eight starters and don’t have much depth. Last season, NMSU ranked 112th in the nation in both scoring defense (36.8 PPG) and total defense (462 YPG), but new defensive coordinator David Elson was brought in to improve those numbers. Overall this is an improved team and will be very good down the stretch and that gives them a good shot at becoming bowl eligible.
Texas State: The Bobcats were just 6-6 in the FCS last year, and this year they make the jump to the FBS and it will not all be rosy in their first year up here, but it will not be all that bad either. QB Shaun Rutherford (1,227 pass yds, 12 TD) is going to have an expanded role in an offense that ran more than 60 percent of the time last season. His job is primarily to take care of the ball. RBs Terrence Franks (863 rush yds, 9 TD) and Marcus Curry (637 rush yds) return as well. The defense is a question mark, but they do bring back 9 starters from a group that allowed 28.5 ppg vs FCS opponents last year. They had a mere nine interceptions in 2011 and they lose their top pass rusher, Michael Ebbitt, who had 11.5 sacks last year, so this unit should still struggle. I look for a mediocre first year from the Bobcats, but getting to bowl eligible is still a couple of years away.
Idaho: The Vandals had a miserable year last year as they went just 2-10 overall and with just 10 starters back it will be another long year for Idaho. Junior Taylor Davis has the most experience (28-of- 62, 234 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT) in a weak QB crop and will likely win the job. The offensive line was a strength last year and should be again, while the running game, which will feature former Arizona State RB Ryan Bass (175 rush yds, 2 TD), must improve, otherwise the Vandals will be stuck in a lot of third and- long situations that they can’t afford to be in. The Vandals defense that was lit up at the end of the season, allowing 147 points (49.0 PPG) in the final three games. They are losing two of their top playmakers from that defense (Robinson and Toomer), but they’ll be getting back LB Robert Siavii, a top playmaker in 2010 (13.5 TFL, 4 FF) who missed last season with a knee injury. Weak QB play and a weak defense will lead to many sleepless nights this year for coach Akey.
Texas- San Antonio: UTSA went just 4-6 as an FCS independent, but the school does show a lot of promise as it prepares to jump to FBS. The Roadrunners had some very competitive games with good teams and they’ll return all but one starter from last year’s squad, with the most vita player being QB Eric Soza (2,148 pass yds, 14 TD, 10 INT). The Roadrunners have an abundance of contributors in his backfield and a group of talented sophomore wide receivers led by Kam Jones (578 rec yds). Defensively, UTSA was very good last season and it has the size on its defensive line to stay competitive against WAC opponents. The young secondary should continue to improve as well. Despite 21 returning starters, the Roadrunners still have very few upperclassmen and that will lead to a rough first year at the FBS level, but watch out for them next year.
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