Couple of wouldas, couldas haunt some MWC teams

While the Mountain West Conference has registered a couple of big wins so far this season over Bowl Championship Series automatic qualifying conferences — BYU's upset of Oklahoma and Colorado State's win over Colorado — there have been squandered opportunities as well.

Air Force had a chance to knock off Minnesota of the Big Ten at the Gophers' brand-new stadium, but a fumble by Falcon quarterback Tim Jefferson was returned 53 yards for a touchdown. That turned out to be the game-winning score in a 20-13 Minnesota victory.

In Las Vegas, UNLV was leading the Pac-10's Oregon State, 21-20, before the Beavers drilled a 33-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining. On that game-winning drive, OSU benefited from a pass interference penalty on third-and-26 from its own 15-yard line. That infraction gave the Beavers a first down and they marched into field-goal range in a 23-21 victory.

"We expected to win that game and we were in position to win that game," said Rebel coach Mike Sanford.

In Laramie, No. 2 Texas of the Big 12 struggled in the first half against Wyoming. The Cowboys owned a shocking 10-6 advantage with 1:32 left before halftime. But Longhorn quarterback Colt McCoy then led his team on a touchdown drive that lifted Texas to a 13-10 edge at intermission. From there, the Longhorns outscored the 'Pokes, 28-zip, in the second half for a 41-10 triumph.

Meanwhile, TCU took care of business in its season-opener, pounding the ACC's Virginia at Charlottesville, Va., 30-14.

This week, the MWC has more opportunities to bolster its national stature as BYU hosts Florida State, Utah visits Oregon and Wyoming travels to Colorado.

LOBOS' WOES: First-year New Mexico coach Mike Locksley has watched his 0-2 team fall to Texas A&M and Tulsa by a combined score of 85-16.

This week, the Lobos host Air Force in the conference-opener for both teams. Locksley is staying optimistic.

"Players typically are resilient and they realize we've still got a lot of football left to play," he said. "All of our goals are still ahead of us. We're still able to attain all the goals we've set for ourselves going into the year. But somehow we've got to start by getting win one."

MWC IN THE POLLS: BYU's No. 7 ranking in The Associated Press poll and No. 9 ranking in the coaches poll mark the earliest entrance into the top 10 by a MWC team in league history.

The MWC has three teams ranked in the top 20 with BYU, TCU and Utah. Only the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference boast more ranked teams — four apiece.

UNDER 20 CLUB: TCU has held nine straight opponents, and 14 of its last 15, to less than 20 points. That streak is the longest in the country. California, Iowa, South Florida and Tennessee are all tied for second with five straight games of limiting opponents to less than 20 points.

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