Quest for perfection: TCU

Capping the preseason at The Purple Wimple are the TCU Horned Frogs-- and not just because the Wimple is unabashedly biased, but because TCU has the MWC's best chances of running the table and carrying the conference's banner in the post-season. The reasons for excitement about the '09 Frogs are legion.

First, and foremost: few cartel-outsider teams have fielded more talent, experience, and as high a pre-season ranking as have this season's Frogs. (Perhaps only '09 Boise State and '08 BYU are/were similarly situated.) Second, TCU's schedule is pretty good. No Thursday night road games following shortly after a season-defining out-of-conference game; in fact, no weeknight games at all, for the first time in... in over a decade.

Third, east-coast media. The MWC has been an afterthought for the dominant media, in large part because those NY-based chatterers rarely get a chance to see the conference's teams play. When they do, the results have been very nice. Case in point: TCU v. BYU last season, on Thursday, televised on Versus. TCU, unranked going into the game, leveraged that win to a 15th place in the following week's polls. Case in point: Utah approached the Sugar Bowl a heavy underdog, and rode their victory to a 2nd place finish to the season. Thus the importance of TCU's games at Virginia and at Clemson.

Looking more closely at the Frogs, the good news begins in the trenches. On offense, TCU returns the conference's most dominant pair of tackles and more talent at guard than ever in recent memory. (pictured: LT Marshall Newhouse) Very good words have filtered out of camp about the performance of new starter Jake Kirkpatrick at center. On defense, the stand-out performances of the three juniors at DT and RE have quelled fears that the Frogs may not have the horses up front to spread pressure away from all-world DE Jerry Hughes.

Other notable replacements for departed senior stars appear to be performing very well as new starters, Tank Carder and Daryl Washington at LB being most notable. The only question remaining for which Frog fans may yet have reason to grumble is at strong safety, where Colin Jones, Jurrell Thompson, and Malcolm Williams are competing.

TCU replaced its offensive coordinator, promoting two assistants, and brought in Rusty Burns to coach the WRs. These changes herald a higher emphasis on the passing game, for which the Frogs have the personnel to put on a real air show. Junior QB Andy Dalton, starts his third season, working behind the best line he's ever had. He will spread the ball to the conference's deepest corps of wideouts and tight ends. (pictured: WR, KR Jeremy Kerley)

On the ground, Gary Patterson took great pains to stock the proverbial cupboard against the possibility of repeating TCU's dismal showing in the redzone last year against Utah. Joe Turner returns at RB, this season trailed on the three-deep by at least two eye-popping performers in Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker. Waiting in the wings are three (yes, three!) game-changing runningbacks, who either will redshirt or sit out for the mandatory transfer year.

Has this coin a flip side? Yes.

When TCU travels to Provo in October, it will take along a over-four-year long losing streak in the state of Utah. The Wimple believes this is a symptom of the Frogs' inability to carry sufficient intensity on the road to overmatch their foes. In conference games, this problem is nearly extinct; in non-conference games it usually doesn't manifest because TCU's OOC opponents tend to be either sugerpuffs or media darlings against which CGP has stoked the underdog mentality very successfully. TCU's success in the fight for the conference title, and as a BCS buster, depends, then, on how much intensity the Frogs muster while travelling. For sure BYU will be red-hot for its tilt with TCU; Air Force may be flying high as well when the Frogs come calling. These are traps into which TCU has never avoided falling for an entire season, at least not since the leather-helmet era. Witness: Utah '08, SMU '05, Southern Miss '03, San Jose State '00.

This year, however, there's simply no excuse. TCU at least matches its opponents man for man in terms of talent and experience. In most cases, it bests them. This is the season where only one loss will feel like too many; where perfection is an attainable goal (apologies to BYU for reminding it of its ill-fated quest; and to TCU for perhaps cursing it with such a description!) If Gary Patterson rouses his team's competitive fires to the uttermost for hostile crowds, TCU will enjoy the most successful season of any MWC team in the conference's short history.

Quest for redemption: BYU

Imagine a team that goes 32-7 over three seasons, never losing at home during that time, garnering a pair of conference championships, bowl victories, and miracle-finish wins over its cross-town rival, the nation's longest winning streak, and 42 three-star or better recruits along the way.

Those are all the ingredients for a juggernaut except one: hunger. Or call it want-to, or kick-your-can-up-one-side-of-the-field-and-down-the-other. BYU had it in '06 and '07, but lacked that final garnish in 2008. The difference? Coach Mendenhall said showed up when playing from behind, and that his staff hadn't coached the players on how to come from behind. "We were protecting last year, rather than pursuing what was next. And there's a huge difference."

Very diplomatic; and very unsatisfying. DE Jan Jorgensen is more honest: "I was a lost soul when it came to football," he says. "Our whole team was lost. . . We were a team without an identity. . . It was like that for a lot of us. I had never felt that at BYU before." The Cougars had been on the top of the mountain for two years, and the enthusiastic expectations that they would top higher mountains wore on them. "Football was not fun," he says. "We played not to lose. There was so much pressure on us last year, so much of it self-created, that football wasn't what it should be -- a fun game."

So how does this downcast crew get its mojo back? Jorgensen says fun was the missing ingredient in 2008. Max Hall echoes the sentiment, when he explains the formula: "We're loose, having fun again."

Fun is the first step. Replacing key personnel is a less sexy answer, but is just as important. And not going as well, either, because of a remarkable string of injuries in Provo this fall. Four seniors graduated on the Cougars' offensive line, and one of their replacements will miss 2009 with an injury. The only returner, LT Matt Reynolds, missed most of practice with a broken finger. He'll get one week of practice before the first snap against Oklahoma.

Cornerback is another question mark for the Cougars. Likely new starter Robbie Buckner missed most of fall camp with an injury; the other starter, Brandon Bradley, missed some of it injured.

Bright spots? There are many. Foremost, all indications point to a reinvigorated team spirit. No more pithy slogans, or blinding hype. It's a fun game, after all; remember? More specifically, DT Russell Tialeva won't leave on a mission until after the season. Vic So'oto is fitting in well as a LB-turned backup DE. The linebacking corps is deep, strong, and experienced. Max Hall is spreading the ball around better than last year. The Cougars have perhaps their best backfield this decade: Manase Tonga, pictured below, returns, joining Harvey Unga (occasionally injured this fall) and J. J. DiLuigi, all of whom have had good camps when playing. Tonga's return is particularly important given the questions at o-line; the returning runner is BYU's best backfield blocker.

McKay Jacobsen, pictured at middle, appears ready to meet the high expectations that greeted his return from a mission; Dennis Pitta, pictured at top, and Andrew George are sharp at TE.

So what's the prognosis for BYU? The Wimple is tempted to downgrade the high expectations given them after spring; instability on the o-line is not a trifling weakness. But after a loss to OU, BYU remains as good, or better, than every remaining team on its schedule. Getting Florida State, Colorado State, TCU, Air Force, and Utah at home has to be the best-breaking difficult schedule in the nation. BYU is the reasonable choice to win every one of those games-- even if only by a hair's breadth.

The biggest condition is the least predictable: injuries. If the Cougars have exhausted the injury bug, look for BYU to remind the conference why it was so feared prior to October 16, 2008.

No victory lap: Utah

The Utes return only half of the starters that won a BCS bowl last season; they replace a program-defining quarterback, key coaching personnel, and take the new crew-- and an NCAA-leading winning streak-- on the road for critical games against BYU and TCU.

That was the Utes' situation to open the 2005 season, and it's nearly identical to what they face this season. The difference?

Depth.

Kyle Whittingham's program has recruited very well since taking over the helm in Salt Lake. Rivals ranked six of Whitt's '05 recruits three stars or better; ten in '06; eight in '07; ten in '08; and a full 16 in '09, including a five-star DE. As crude as the Rivals ranking system may be, it clearly indicates the increase in the caliber of athletes Utah has attracted to its program in the last half-decade.

So will all of that depth adequately fill in the holes in Utah's depth chart created by last year's critical graduating seniors? That's the $64,000 question. Whittingham says, "We're at a point where we shouldn't have a dip down," and as easy as it is to dismiss that as coachspeak, smart money must favor the Utes in all but its most challenging contests: road trips to Oregon, TCU, and BYU. Were it not for Whittingham's surprise flirtation with starting true freshman Jordan Wynn at QB, pictured above, while saying that five-star JUCO transfer Terrence Cain, pictured below, wasn't really doing any worse under center, smart money might favor the Utes in one or two of those games, too.

Coach W hasn't named a starter yet, but Wynn's surprising climb into the two-deep prompted returning backup Corbin Louks to transfer to Nevada. Neither Wynn nor Cain have ever taken a snap in D-1, so expecting either one to produce the kind of calm game-winning drives in pressure-cooked situations like Brian Johnson did repeatedly in 2008 is asking to have one's cake, and eating it, too. Simply put, Utah will downgrade at least slightly at QB this season.

And QB is just the first depth-question. Ben Vroman and Sean Sellwood replace Louie Sakoda as kicker and punter. Neither will be as good.

Brandon Burton and speedy R.J. Stanford take over from CBs Sean Smith and Brice McCain.

The Utes must replace their right guard and tackle at least once: slated starters Caleb Schlauderaff and Walter Watts both missed practices with knee injuries in the fall.

Derrick Shelby replaces DE Paul Kruger and Nai Fotu replaces Koa Misi while Misi recovers from an injury

With so many new starters, the really remarkable story coming out of SLC this season will be how far the Utes don't fall. 2009 will not be an '05 redux, when the Utes barely managed bowl eligibility. Only a few programs in the conference-- and in the country, really-- can replace as star-studded a cast as graduated from the U after 2008. Despite all the new names penciled into starting spots for the '09 Utes, look for Utah to be just fine in 2009. Will they compete for the conference crown?

No.

But they'll win all their home games, and the easy road games. And look for the Utes to be favored for the MWC title next year, when they face BYU and TCU in SLC.

That's a mighty quick turnaround, all things considered.

Ready to Launch: Air Force

Progressing to the complete teams-- meaning, teams without glaring weaknesses. No program in the Mountain West has been as successful, but as underheralded, as the Air Force Academy's has been for the last two years. Troy Calhoun took over the helm from Fisher DeBerry, and led a senior-laden team to a bowl in '07. Calhoun put the conference on notice that the bar had risen in Colorado Springs when he repeated the feat in '08, with a freshman-heavy crew. Now those freshmen-- QB Tim Jefferson, RB Asher Clark, FB Jared Tew, OL A. J. Wallerstein, Ss Jon Davis, and Phil Ofili, CBs Anthony Wright and P.J. Adeji-Paul, K Erik Soderberg, WRs Zach Kauth and Jonathan Warzeka-- are sophomores with experience. This year they and their Falcon brethren will put Division I on notice: Navy isn't the only service academy of which to be wary when scheduling. Look for AFA to beat Minnesota, in Minneapolis, as well as Army, and possibly Navy. Air Force's success out of conference, and a strong showing in it, will propel the Falcons into the polls for the first time in years.

Media focus will be on the Falcons' steep ground attack. Jefferson, Clark, and the other skill players will work behind a senior-filled offensive line, led by decorated Nick Charles, pictured. This year's AFA will best last season's-- which was the Falcons' best in several years-- and may meet the production it saw during its 12-win season in 1998. If Jefferson and his receivers get in better synch than last season, the Falcons will rewrite the record book for offense, and may oust one of the conference's Big Three for the second year in three. On that note, however, one notable loss this fall was WR Kyle Halderman, who's in the first month of an anticipated two-month recovery from a broken collarbone.

AFA's defense may not get as much recognition, but should. Calhoun has repeatedly had to tell his defense to back off a little in practice; in other words, they're just too good. The Falcons return only one d-lineman, Ben Garland; but Coach Calhoun has been impressed with new starting DE Rick Ricketts. Ken Lamendola leads a good linebacking corps in Colorado Springs. Star CB Reggie Rembert will miss the first few games while suspended, but Elliot Battle has not disappointed as Rembert's replacement. Anthony Wright- one of Calhoun's super sophomores- returns in strength at the other CB spot. Chris Thomas will be the star of the safeties.

AFA will miss kicker Ben Harrison, and hands kicking duties over to Erik Soderberg.

To sum up: Air Force fields the first complete team in this year's MWC preview lineup. They'll carry the conference's banner high early in the season, and if the machine clicks on all cylinders, will have much to say about which team hoists the banner at the season's end. Playing UNLV and TCU at home makes those two games much more interesting than they might be on the road. BYU, Utah, Navy, and Colorado State on the road is one very tough road schedule. This year's Falcons are up to the challenge, however, and probably will not have a losing road record. Drawing Navy on the road evens the odds AFA will bring the Commander-in-Chief trophy. AFA has potential for a double-digit win total in 2009, if it can stay healthy.

One piece shy: Colorado State, UNLV

Two teams in the MWC are only one piece shy of fielding very competitive units. Colorado State needs a consistently adequate quarterback, and UNLV needs a consistently adequate runningback. Both teams hoped newcomers would step in and fill those roles during the offseason; neither are quite sure they've found their men. Bowl eligibility likely turns on whether or not each team completes its respective personnel puzzles. Because they are both trying to fill one last position, the Wimple considers these teams to be just one piece shy of a clear path to the 2009 post-season.

Pop quiz: who had the second-best passing attack in the conference last season? Surprise: it was Colorado State, averaging over 242 yards per game in the air. While all of that team's receivers return, the Rams are fishing more and more desperately for a quarterback to sling the pigskin at the returners. Senior Grant Stucker and JUCO transfer Jon Eastman have the competition to themselves, mainly, because Klay Kubiak's recovery from shoulder surgery is progressing slower than hoped. Coach Fairchild isn't mincing words about his competitors under center. "I think our quarterbacks are letting our offensive development down," said the coach early in fall drills.

The prognosis hasn't improved. "I didn't have [consistency] in the spring, and I haven't gotten it yet here. I want somebody to be able to go through the whole practice without beating us, without just some sort of major error. We don't have to have great throws or any big-time plays. Just consistently doing what they're supposed to do. We're not there yet." After a later scrimmage, Fairchild said, "it was the absolute worst practice in my 30 years of coaching that I've seen at quarterback."

QB coach Daren Wilkinson hinted that Coach F's ire might be more motivational than accurate, but Rams fans probably ought to pare their expectations of improving on last season's passing numbers slightly downward. This time last year Billy Farris was pulling away with the starting job. That hasn't happened this year.

Elsewhere, the picture rosens significantly. The Rams return all five starting offensive linemen, and may not experience any dropoff at linebacker, contrary to expectations this spring. Mychal Sisson, pictured, Michael Kawulok, and Alex Williams will be a strength for the defense. The secondary will improve from it's dismal '08 performance, especially if the Rams gets full seasons out of safties Elijah-Blu Smith and healthy Klint Kubiak, who join two returning CBs.

Perhaps equally important with the development of a consistent quarterback is the Rams' search for an adequately productive backfield to replace Gartrell Johnson. John Mosure and Leonard Mason have filled that role enough to escape Coach Fairchild's wrath-- which is a notable change since the spring.

This spring, the Wimple disagreed with Phil Steele's rosy preview of this season's Rams. If CSU can't find a reliable QB to feed those great receivers the ball, you'll find CSU at home this Christmas, having come up just shy of a bowl berth in '09.

The missing piece in Las Vegas is a tad smaller than the one missing in Fort Collins. UNLV not only has its quarterback, but has perhaps the MWC's best tandem under center, with returning starter Omar Clayton, a junior, and sophomore Mike Clausen, who has some starting experience, and who pushed Clayton for the starting role in the spring. The Rebels' receivers, O-line, and defense are all improved over '08. The reason UNLV isn't a "two pieces shy" team is because the upgrade to its secondary appears to have succeeded in spades. JUCO transfers safety Alex De Giacomo, pictured, and corners Mike Grant and Warren Ziegler all have risen to the first team, and impressed.

The missing piece is in the backfield. UNLV had high hopes that true freshman Bradley Randle would enroll and sweep the defense off its feet and into the post-season for the first time in... in forever. But that isn't exactly how it's happened, so far. Randle enrolled, and had a good fall. But Randle has played like a true freshman, and the Rebel defense has played like a squad with its hair on fire. Returner C. J. Cox injured his hamstring, and Channing Trotter scampered up the depth chart, perhaps winning himself a tentative starting role come September 5. Don't look for closure in the battle for the Rebel backfield anytime soon.

So the jury's still out; will a lack of a backfield keep UNLV out of the post season? Or is the Rebel run defense finally throwing its (considerable) weight around, stifling what will be a productive running game? The latter may well be the case. UNLV's d-line is improving: monstrous d-lineman Isaako Aaitui has moved inside to his more natural role as a run-stuffing tackle, and all-conference lineman Malo Tuamua has moved outside. Jason Beauchamp plays as much end as linebacker. The Rebels' linebacking corps doesn't miss Beauchamp much, partly because Starr Fuimaono is back and healthy.

In sum, the MWC is fielding a much more complete team in Las Vegas. Coach Sanford's assessment captures the idea: "A year ago, I think the offense was definitely ahead. . . I think there's a lot more competition between offense and defense this year. . . The defense has improved, and I don't think our offense has taken a step back." If the Rebels can find the back to take them a step forward, they'll make Las Vegas a difficult place to win in, for the first time in MWC history.

The Unreadables: SDSU and New Mexico

Next in the Wimple's pre-season parade come two teams that defy confident prognostication: the New Mexico Lobos, and the San Diego State Aztecs. Both sport new coaches and coordinators (the twists: UNM's former leader is now the DC at SDSU, and every single Lobo coach is new to the program this year).

New Mexico wasn't really a team in distress like Wyoming or SDSU were; and early indications are that the change from run to spread won't be as traumatic as one usually expects. Locksley's spreads feature more running than Missouri/Wyoming's, for example. Further, it's easier mentally. "We as coaches are making the checks," the coach explains. "If we see blitz and we don't want to run the play, we check out as opposed to teaching the quarterback . . . and saying, 'If you see this, this or this, run that play, that play or that play. . .' We've got coaches paid to know all that. [For the QB,] you're taking the thinking out of it."
So who'll be running this new attack? Donovan Porterie, now in his 11th (it seems) year under center in Albuquerque, and redshirt freshman B. R. Holbrook have risen to the top of the depth chart. Holbrook has the Lobo's fan sites twitter-painted. (Heralded freshman QB Emmanuel Yeager quit the team shortly after enrolling.)

Look for Roland Bruno, Bryant Williams, and Nick Willhelm to be UNM's go-to receivers. All-MWC center Eric Cook and his now-experienced brethren on the offensive line appear capable of opening holes for freshman Demond Dennis, pictured, who has blown passed Terrence Brown, Kasey Carrier, and A. J. Butler in the backfield depth chart.

The only concern on the defense might be safety Ian Clark's sore shoulder, which kept him out of most practices. But Bubba Forrest played very well Clark's place. If the offense hums along as good as it could, the Lobos may make the MWC's biggest waves out of conference, beating Texas A&M and scaring Texas Tech.

But New Mexico still baffles predictors. Phil Steele relegated them to the conference's second-worst, which seems too low, considering the Lobos' strong returning lines, QB experience, and general good performance and expectations. The Wimple predicted a mushy-middle finish for them this spring, but if the Lobos' own Year One of the spread proves as difficult as Years One usually do, that may be too high. Thus the retreat to professed ignorance: New Mexico is Unreadable in 2009.

The other unreadable, San Diego State, has the most returning experience in the conference, but the least institutional memory of success. New headcoach Brady Hoke worries about both of his lines. He does have experienced returners in both sides of the trenches, however. Jonathan Soto and B.J. Williams are one of the conference's better pairs of DEs, as are Tommie Draheim and Peter Nelson at OT.

Where the Aztecs excel on defense is at linebacker, where Jerry Milling, Luke Laolagi, and Miles Burress will shine in Rocky Long's 3-3-5. Nick Sanford appears to have sewn up the role of inaugural "Aztec" back. Toss in a few good WRs (Brown, Sampson, and Wallace), and more returners on the lines than... than probably any team in the NCAA, and you have a first-class condundrum. How will SDSU perform in '09? The answer probably lies with the Mountain West's most undervalued quarterback, sophomore Ryan Lindley.
Lindley (pictured) has impressed his position coach with the speed that he's learned Hoke's west coast attack. OC Al Borges adds further praise, "[Lindley]'s taken to heart some of the things we've talked about, particularly regarding some of the footwork issues we're trying to get him to do. There were growing pains in the spring, but they're really not showing up much in the fall.” This should hearten Aztec fans immeasurably, because Lindley was able to make even last year's humble offense run pretty well. Add a much healthier supporting cast, and any life at all in the running game, and this year's Lindley may command an offense that is . . . really good.

Questions remain for the ground attack, however. Attiyyah Henderson, another seemingly 11th-year starter, cracked a bone in his upper back, and has ceded the backfield to Brandon Sullivan, and freshmen Anthony Miller and Ronnie Hillman. Hoke fingers Sullivan to carry the running game with more focus and health this year. Further furrowing the forecaster's brow is SDSU's lines, which, for all their experience, don't have any experience being good.

Consider further these football Rules: (1) the first year of a new scheme always disappoints; (2) thou shalt have strong lines; (3) success is learned; and (4) college teams in pro-sports towns suffer. San Diego State must break all four of these rules in order to excel, and to date it remembers no success doing so. But the Aztecs may hit conference play with three or four skins on its wall; they will begin the season in much better shape physically than they're used to being (note the lighter tans this season, perhaps signalling fewer hours at the beach). How this season's SDSU shakes out is requires too much speculating to give a numbers, or ranking, figure. Something better than last year is the best one can do.

Into the abyss: Wyoming

The Wimple begins its bottom-to-top pre-season review of the Mountain West in Laramie, because if the old saying offense wins game, but defense wins championships is true, then the 2009 Wyoming Cowboys are in deep trouble. They have a fine defense, but how ever will they get that crew into any championship-portending contest without an offense to win the necessary games leading to it?

The simple fact is: they won't. At least not this year. The Wimple's spring prognostication was that

there is exactly a 100% chance the Cowboys are going to spend a season in the wilderness, learning this newfangled high-tempo pass-happy offense. Wyoming is filled with power running players, and even though Karten Sween ran a spread in high school, he's going to work behind a subpar o-line, with receivers who, let's face it, signed with a power running school.

After nearly all of the fall drills, it appears the Wimple was correct. Until Coach C. gets players who are accustomed to (and recruited for) his dizzying spread attack, Wyoming's offense is going to s-t-i-n-k. It stunk in the spring, when dozens of Cowboys were out with injuries. It stunk in the summer, as the players grew into their more rigorous conditioning. It stunk in fall drills, when JUCO transfer Robert Benjamin and senior Karsten Sween got the two-deep to themselves. And it'll stink in the first six, eight, or even ten games this season, as the Cowboys go live in Year One of the spread.

About his broken offense, coach Christensen sounds like a broken record, "we don't catch the ball very well. I don't think there's any secret there." A few days later, “right now, we’re a poor catching football team . . . right now, we are pathetic catching the football." A few days later, "I was very, very disappointed in our mechanics of running the spread offense, the communication, lining up, mental errors -- I thought the offense took a huge step backwards and that's something we've got to get corrected. . . It's not all the quarterbacks. Shoot, it was the line and the receivers, running backs not running hard enough -- you can just name any position and they didn't play very well on offense." A few days later, “the bottom line is you have to catch the ball and were not very good at that right now on a consistent basis.”

And that's just half the bad news. The other half? The same other half that always accompanies teams switching from run-first to pass-first: turnovers. "I'm not going to be pleased until we stop turning the football over," said Christensen about halfway through fall drills. Turnovers dampen even the good news coming out of Laramie. Top-two QB Robert Benjamin's successes all seem to come with the that fateful caveat. Defensive linemen John Fletcher and Mitch Unrein both forced turnovers in one scrimmage, one an interception, the other a forced fumble. But wait: aren't turnovers good for the defense? Not if they only signal an inept offense, which is clearly the issue here.

Is there any good news in Laramie. Yes, there is.

Robert Benjamin, pictured, a JUCO transfer, is capable of running the offense both with his arm, and with his feet. . . (you know this is coming) when he throws the ball to the correct team.

The 35 pounds senior TE and JUCO transfer Orlando Arnold shed this offseason aren't his biggest loss; Arnold is the first Cowboy to shake off the bad case of dropsies that plagues the rest of the team. Christensen calls him the team's most-improved player. Senior TE Jesson Salyards is also working with the first team, and is a consistent ball-catcher. Darius Terry and Brandon Stewart are running an option play from the WildFrog formation successfully. Stewart and David Leonard are emerging as the top WRs on the team.

Across the trench, senior DE Mike Neuhaus has performed well in place of slightly-injured John Fletcher on the line. Mitch Unrein, Fletcher, and Fred Givens continue to impress on the D line. Brothers and CB tandem Marcell and Tashaun Gipson look sharp in the secondary. Freshman Shamiel Gray has rocketed up the depth chart, joining Chris Prosinski, Jamichael Hall, and Keith Lewis in the two-deep at safety.

If you're partial to Laramie and its brown and gold, buckle in, keep your eyes on the horizon, and if you must pay close attention to your Cowboys this season, focus on the defense and recruiting. The on-field product this year will fast fade into a footnote: a tweeny year of programmatic puberty. And say to yourself: 2010...

Repeat that. It's theraputic.

watch this movie

It's a documentary about Boise State's dream season (2006), with a heavy and proper focus on the Bronco's Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. Link is in the title of this post.

The epitaph for the BCS will begin, "When BSU beat OU in the '07 Fiesta Bowl..."

Howdy, Dr. Saturday readers

The Wimple was tickled to be linked from SMQ's new digs, Dr. Saturday. The Purple Wimple is the best place to bone up on TCU and the Mountain West. Take a gander, and come back in a few weeks for a feast of rare bird: insight-filled pre-season previews of those teams. The Wimple doesn't do insight-free previews, which (sadly) are the norm for cartel-outsiders.

Seats at the polls

Last season, the Wimple was curious to see the press take interest in the relatively large number of cartel-outsider teams in the polls: as many as six non-cartel teams were ranked at a time in 2008. Being ranked is one of college football's most overlooked Big Deals. Ranked teams get press coverage merely because they're ranked; they get little blurbs on ESPN, in the newspapers, in score rundowns at halftime, etc. Ranked teams are familiar teams, by sheer volume of mentions, if nothing else.

It follows, then, that any non-cartel team on the polls is taking away a certain amount of press coverage from a cartel team: and the Wimple applauds.

So just how unusual was last season's splurge in ranked non-cartel teams? Here follows a survey of non-cartel teams' appearances in the last 17 college football seasons' AP polls, with each season's per-week average. (that's key, because the number of weeks-- and polls-- in the season varies.)

2008-- 73, 4.294
2007-- 30, 1.875
2006-- 28, 1.750
2005-- 37 (23 without Louisville, a tweeny in '05), 2.313 (1.438)
2004-- 57, 3.563
2003-- 48, 2.824
2002-- 33, 1.833
2001-- 44, 2.588
2000-- 37, 2.176
1999-- 47, 2.765
1998-- 22, 1.375
1997-- 29, 1.611
1996-- 41, 2.278
1995-- 5, 0.294
1994-- 33, 1.941
1993-- 21, 1.235
1992-- 10, 0.588

source: AP Poll archive

Clearly the broad trajectory for the outsiders is up; and just as clearly, 2008 was a banner year for press attention to cartel-outsiders. 2009 may exceed it: look for TCU, Boise State, Nevada, BYU, East Carolina, Southern Miss, and perhaps Utah, Air Force, Houston, UTEP, and Central Michigan to spend multiple weeks in the polls.