Yesterday, we talked about players to watch in the Mountain West Conference. Today, we’ll tell you which teams will surprise this fall.
Q: Who is the player to watch in the Mountain West Conference?
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
The answer to this question could legitimately be anybody but San Diego State and Boise State. 2015 was a down year for the Mountain West Conference and it has left a clump of teams at the middle and bottom of the conference trying to break out.
I like San Jose State, Utah State and Colorado State’s chances to separate themselves and get toward the top of the conference.
I also like UNLV but I’m not sure how much of increase they will make in the win column. Tony Sanchez went 3-9 in year one at UNLV and that by itself doesn’t scream success. However, Sanchez inherited a team that went 13-38 under Bobby Hauck.
Sanchez was a risky hire in that he came straight from the high school ranks. One area Sanchez has had an immediate impact is with recruiting. According to 247, the Rebels were fourth in the MWC and landed 11 3-star recruits in the 2016 class.
UNLV has some good running backs to lean on and they now have increased depth to help them be competitive deeper into games. I don’t expect the Rebels to make a run at the conference but don’t be surprised if they upset a couple of teams in 2016.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
Wyoming will be the surprise team in the conference this year.
Make no mistake about it: the Cowboys weren’t very good last season. In the season opener, they ran a grand total of four plays in North Dakota (not the FCS national champions, mind you, just regular North Dakota) territory in the first three quarters. The ‘Pokes followed that up by rushing for 430 yards against Eastern Michigan, but still lost by three touchdowns…at home.
Despite these painful losses, Wyoming continued to show improvement on both sides of the ball throughout the course of the year. The Cowboys racked up 485 yards of total offense against bowl-bound Nevada for one victory, and played their best game of the season against UNLV in the finale for the second one.
There’s no reason to think that the momentum from the win over UNLV won’t carry over into this season. After all, the ‘Pokes welcome back 18 starters from last year’s squad, including Brian Hill, who is one of the five most underrated running backs in the country. Expect Craig Bohl’s team to get better every week, which will result in them earning a bowl bid in 2016.
How’s that for a surprise?
