WAC fall camps: hopes are high, better quit while you're ahead

The beautiful optimism of fall camp will give way to the tragic reality of the regular season before long, so WAC teams better enjoy it while it lasts.

Rest assured, they are. Here is a sampling of the high hopes at WAC schools across the country.

 

New Mexico State

Our favorite out-of-touch fanbase has some pretty unfounded expectations this season. But what's new, right?

The Aggies are expecting to make it to a bowl game this season. We think the Aggies will win between seven and nine games this season including a sweep of rivals UNM and UTEP which is something they haven't done since the 2002 season

We're not entirely sure who is expecting them to make a bowl game other than Hal Mumme, Hal Mumme's immediate family, the webmasters at holbrook4heisman.com, and crazy people.

Hyperbole courtesy of Bleed Crimson.

 

San Jose State

We always pictured Spartan head coach Dick Tomey as a sensible person, but even he can't help but get caught up in the kiddie-pool-wave of excitement surrounding his program.

Coach Dick Tomey, entering his fourth season at SJSU, said. "This should be our best team."

Not sure if that's saying a whole lot.

Blind hope courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News.


 

Louisiana Tech

The Bulldogs are throwing a Fan Fest on August 10th to celebrate success that hasn't happened yet. We did the same thing when we threw a premature Prom Date Fest in high school.

Tech fans will have an opportunity to meet and greet this year’s players, coaches and administrators during the two-hour event while obtaining autographs and pictures. Numerous activities will be available for youngsters, such as games, face painting and more.

We imagine that the more includes arm wrestling with Derek Dooley, a Taylor Bennett dunk tank, and a petting zoo.

Blatant hype courtesy of the News-Star.

 

Utah State

This week, Utah State quarterback Jase McCormick quit the team, leaving senior Sean Setzer as the leader in the Aggies' quarterback derby. Perhaps Setzer's joy over this news has adversely affected his decision-making.

"I think we can be really good this season," senior quarterback Sean Setzer said. "We have a lot of weapons; we have to play with more discipline so we can win the close games. But I definitely think we've made a big improvement over last season."

Adding, "How could we not?"

Fish story courtesy of the Salt Lake Tribune

San Jose State preview: fight the mediocrity!

Previewing the WAC seems like a good job for an intern. Unfortunately, we do not have an intern. Ugh. Today: San Jose State

 San Jose State

 Team motto: "Attack the lower tier of the WAC"

Two years ago, the San Jose State Spartans were 9-4 and winners of the New Mexico Bowl. Last year, the Spartans were 5-7 and winners over UC Davis. In the immortal words of Mike LaFontaine, "Wha' Happened?"

The 2007 Spartans had a lot working against them. They opened with a difficult schedule that saw them start out 0-3. They lost starting running back Yonus Davis for the season to injury. They forgot to recruit impact players. Taking Hawaii to overtime was a good sign, but scoring a combined seven points against Fresno State and Boise State wasn't. When all was said and done, the Spartans were stuck in WAC mediocrity, not good enough to scare anyone but not bad enough to be confused with Idaho. Enjoying the Dick Tomey era yet, Spartan fans?

Five Questions

Is Kyle Reed the next Steve DeBerg or Jeff Garcia?
Forget DeBerg and Garcia. The Spartans would be ecstatic if Reed was the next Adam Tafralis. A transfer from Cal, Reed is battling for Tafralis' old QB spot with Myles Eden and Jordan LaScela. He may have the upper hand simply because he did, at one point, have Pac-10 talent. That should be good enough to fill Tafralis' "Don't blame me, I complete 62 percent of my passes" shoes.

What were you thinking when you chose Jeff Schweiger as your preseason WAC defensive player of the year?
Thinking outside of the box is good, provided that the box is full of Hawaii players. Schweiger seemed like a good pick because we see him and the SJSU defense being a key to the Spartans' "success" this year. Schweiger, a transfer from USC, and Coye Francies, a CB transfer from Oregon State, will take on the responsibility of the departed Dwight Lowery and Matt Castelo. A better question might be why Pac-10 players want to transfer to San Jose State.

Will I have to wake up at 9:00 a.m. to watch the SJSU-Boise State game?
Fortunately, no. The Spartans love to start their Saturday games smack dab in the middle of Dragonball Z, but they won't have the luxury of catching the Broncos mid-Pop Tart this year. The two teams face off on a Friday night ESPN2 telecast. Guess we'll have to tape the Bill Engvall Show.

Tell me a joke.
What do the San Jose State offensive line and George O'Leary's resume have in common? Both are unreliable and full of holes.

Is Yonus Davis the first person in the history of football to miss an entire season due to a sprained ankle?
Yes, probably. Davis suffered the injury on the Spartans' first offensive play last season, and he was barely heard from again. His final numbers: 3 carries, 1 yard, 500 rolls of Ace bandage. Davis was awarded a sixth year of eligibility, giving him one more chance to run over WAC defenses and call dibs on the rehab hot tub. Tommy Boy quote!

Tommy: You know, a lot of people go to college for six years.
Richard: I know. They're called doctors.

Over/Unders
+/- 76 Times Kevin Jurovich is wide open and nobody sees him
+/- 4 How many games it takes for us to regret picking Jeff Schweiger as WAC defensive player of the year
+/- 10 SJSU third-down conversion percentage

Recognizing what went wrong last year should help the Spartans creep back toward moderate respectability. An easier schedule should help (Hey there, San Diego State!). The return of Yonus Davis won't hurt (not the last time you'll see "hurt" and "Yonus" in the same sentence this season). And the addition of impact transfers on offense and defense should make a difference.

Still, unless the Spartans have plans to upset one of the top teams in the WAC, they will continue to tow the line just above awful, just below talented, and all over ordinary.

Perfect situation:
Stanford and Nebraska forfeit their non-conference games, Kevin Jurovich grows six inches and learns to throw go routes to himself, Jeff Schweiger becomes an All-American, and San Jose State goes to a bowl other than the New Mexico Bowl.

Reality:
The San Jose offense struggles with a new quarterback and porous offensive line, the defense guts out wins over San Diego State and Hawaii, the Spartans get to 6-3 before losing their final three games, and Dick Tomey's lobbying for a New Mexico Bowl berth falls on deaf ears.

Final record: 
6-6 overall, 4-4 conference

Far out predictions for preseason WAC awards

Today: Preseason WAC players of the year
Tomorrow: Preseason conference standings
Thursday: a nap

The official preseason players of the year in the WAC will be revealed in the next couple days, and they are sure to reek of predictability and groupthink. Ian Johnson, anyone?

Our picks are a little different. We know from experience that a college football season rarely plays out as planned, which is why we've done our best to think outside of the box with preseason prognosticating. Does Chadd Cripe know any better than we do about what will happen this season? Of course not.Will his ballot reflect a stuffy assuredness of safe answers and false modesty? We hope not.

To be sure, we know the right answers to the preseason players of the year questions; they are obviously outlined in every preview magazine on the shelves. However, we stand by our decisions for players of the year, and we're more than happy to eat crow when things start falling apart in Week Three.

So without further ado, here are the picks:

OBNUG's preseason WAC defensive player of the year

Jeff Schweiger, San Jose State DE

Who? What? Are San Jose State linemen even eligible? These same questions ran through our heads, too, but we put peer pressure and good sense aside and went with Schweiger anyway.

Perhaps a little background would help: Schweiger is a 6'5", 255-pound transfer from USC. He owned SJSU's spring practice, and he was so good that 2007 all-WAC DE Jarron Gilbert has moved inside to tackle. Obviously, Pac-10 competition is a step above WAC play, so we're expecting Schweiger to really be an animal this fall. San Jose State is supposed to be one of several strong WAC defensive teams, and Schweiger will be the reason.

Don't let us down, Jeff Schweiger. Although, from a San Jose State Spartan, we may be asking the impossible.

What the media will say: Solomon Elimimian or Adam Leonard, Hawaii LBs

Other candidates we considered: Ryan Winterswyk, Derrell Acrey, Jake Hutton, David Veikune, Moses Harris, Elimimian, Leonard, Marty Tadman

OBNUG's preseason WAC offensive player of the year

Nick Graziano, Nevada QB

The Nevada Wolfpack have tangible hype going into the season, which could be dashed in an instant by a 4-for-26 Colin Kaepernick quarterbacking performance.

The funny thing is that you probably didn't even flinch at the absurdity of those numbers. Kaepernick completing one-sixth of his passes is a very real possibility, and thusly Kaepernick finding the bench is just as plausible. When it happens, we could see former starter Graziano stepping in and saving the Pack's season.

He'll have a wonderful running back behind him in Luke Lippincott. The offensive line will be solid. He'll have every chance to put up big numbers, and he could bring stability to an offense that will become fairly predictable once Kaepernick starts breaking the pocket immediately on passing plays. You may be thinking, "Then why not pick Lippincott for player of the year?" Because we're idiots. But only time will tell.

FYI: We were thisclose to picking Idaho RB Deonte Jackson, but we couldn't bring ourselves to openly support anything that has to do with the Vandals or anyone who shares a backfield with Nathan Enderle.

What the media will say: Ian Johnson, Boise State RB

Other candidates we considered: Jackson, Malcolm Lane, Ian Johnson, Titus Young, Ryan Mathews, Taylor Bennett, Lippincott, Ryan Dinwiddie

What do you guys think? Who would get your vote? Do you agree with our picks? Are we idiots? Actually, don't answer that last one.

Wednesday: Links with progress

Story of the day

One more thing to dominate in the WAC [Idaho Press-Tribune]

The NCAA released its annual report on academic progress, and the Broncos managed to take home the WAC championship in that, too.

Boise State’s Academic Performance Report grades, issued by the NCAA, was tops in the WAC and means the Broncos are not in danger of losing scholarships because of academic shortcomings.

Boise State scored a 953, well above the baseline of 925. The next best WAC school was Fresno State. Can you say foreshadowing?!

As you'll read below, not every WAC school fared so well. The similarities to the regular season are quite striking.

Other links:

Idaho faces NCAA sanctions [Fight, Fight, BSU]
Vandals cut eight scholarships, mediocre high school Palouse athletes weep.

San Jose State may be ineligible for postseason [ESPN.com]
If the Spartans don't improve their academic score, they might not be allowed in the 2009 postseason. If they don't improve their offensive production, it won't really matter.

Yahoo's Boise State spring report [Yahoo Sports]
Their conclusion: the Broncos need to find a starting quarterback.

Preseason top 25 with no Fresno State [SI.com]
Thankfully, Stewart Mandel is not on the bandwagon. Also, Boise State gets a brief mention.

Boise State changes USU game time [Idaho Press-Tribune]
The Mountain West didn't do so well in the draft, either [Scott Slant]
WAC chooses to rewards its BCS teams less [Idaho Press-Tribune]

WAC spring football...catch the fever (or don't)

With nearly every WAC team in action, we thought it would be fun to take a look around to see what our conference rivals are up to. Enjoy.


Hawaii
The Warriors begin their WAC championship defense the only way they know how: getting up at the crack of dawn.

Most practices run from 7-9 a.m. and are open to the public.

Getting up early? Hah! Nothing a 64 oz. Coke can't fix!

Warriors Open Spring Practice [Hawaii athletics]


Utah State
The Aggies are halfway through their spring practices, and head coach Brent Guy is predictably optimistic.

"The main thing was that it was much more physical than in years past because of our numbers; we have a lot more guys to get in there and we were able to get quite a few live snaps in," said Guy.

Utah State Football 2008: Quantity Over Quality.

Guy pleased with...practice [Utah State athletics]


New Mexico State
NMSU will become the final WAC team to open spring practice, when they kick things off later today. The last shall be first? We doubt it.

Aggie football gears up for first spring practice [NMSU athletics]


Idaho
In addition to oily team-building, the Vandals have lots of work to on the football field during spring practice.

"That’s the one thing we really need to work on," Enderle said, "finishing our drives and getting in the end zone.”

"Also, pretty much every other aspect of football," he continued.

Akey likes what he sees [Idaho athletics]


Fresno State
When Kansas State pulled out of the Bulldogs' 2008 schedule, Fresno replaced the Wildcats with Big East power Rutgers. The Fresno-Rutgers season opener will take place on Labor Day, and the Scarlet Knights will return in 2012 to take on the Bulldogs in Fresno.

Gene Bleymaier is hard at work replacing Idaho State with ITT Tech.

Football schedule gets a facelift [Fresno State athletics]


LaTech
Something is going on at Louisiana Tech's spring practice, but we're not sure what exactly that is.

Following Saturday's first scrimmage of spring workouts, the Bulldogs focus was on improving and building a brand of Louisiana Tech football Monday. Head coach Derek Dooley told his players when each of them earns respect from the opponent the team will have an identity as a strong football program.

What?

Bulldogs build brand of football [LaTech athletics]

Grading the classes: San Jose State

This week, OBNUG will be grading the recruiting classes for each WAC team. Our research may be spotty, but as you can see from the final result, there is no questioning our loyalty.


San Jose State

The Spartans incoming class features only 17 new players, due to the fact that seven scholarships were revoked due to low test scores (and by "low test scores," we mean "nearly losing to Idaho"). Head coach Dick Tomey's connection to the vacant Hawaii job this offseason did not cost the team any players, probably because those players didn't have scholarship offers elsewhere.

The best recruit might be Ina Liaina whose name may or may not be spelled correctly here. As a linebacker/running back hybrid, Liaina has a good shot of making the team at both positions, considering this is San Jose State and all. Seriously, though, he'll be a linebacker.

"It's a good group," Tomey said. "Where we needed help right away we're going to get help, and where we needed young guys to come in and learn, we got that."

Translation: "I have nothing particularly interesting to say about these guys, and I'm not even sure I've seen them all before."

You have to love playing in the WAC.

Scout.com rank: 116
Rivals.com rank: 115
OBNUG grade: F

San Jose State weathered recruiting storm [San Jose Mercury News]