Cougars, Utes aim to maintain MWC momentum

The Cougars and Utes can bring the Mountain West Conference tremendous glory if they can pull off wins today against BCS foes Florida State and Oregon.

The league has never had this kind of momentum and attention heading into Week 3 of the college football season. Will both hold up the cause of all nonautomatic BCS qualifiers?

First up, the No. 16 Utes must deal with Autzen Stadium, a morgue for many a non-conference visitors over the years.

Today, Terrance Cain must grow up in a hurry and Utah will have to find more offensive choices than simple tosses to David Reed and power runs by Matt Asiata to keep the Ducks' defense off balance.

The Cougars, meanwhile, host Florida State in a matchup of speed versus discipline. For the No. 7-ranked Cougars, this is a huge opportunity to solidify a Top-10 ranking and even move up with a win over the Seminoles.

If BYU defeats Florida State today, the Cougars still would need some other highly ranked teams to fall to move up in the rankings. They'd need Washington to beat No. 3 Southern Cal, No. 2 Texas to lose to Texas Tech, or Tennessee to pull off an unlikely upset of No. 1 Florida. It is unlikely that No. 5 Penn State will lose to Temple, which they've beaten up on for 68 straight years, or that No. 4 Alabama will stumble against North Texas. I can't see No. 5 Mississippi falling to Southeast Louisiana.

Today's Cougar-Seminole matchup will be decided by turnovers.

Along the way are these other key factors: If Florida State can run on BYU's defense, the Cougars might have to cheat toward the line with a safety or linebacker, and that could open up big pass plays for Christian Ponder and his speedy receivers. If BYU's defense falters or is shaky, this will be a shootout. I doubt Florida State's defense can slow down BYU's passing game, which is capable of destroying undisciplined man coverage.

Florida State has the best O-line in the ACC and clearly the best pass blockers the Cougars have seen this season. It is a line that's given up one sack in 42 pass attempts. If BYU sacks Ponder or pressures him as they did Sam Bradford or Tulane's Joe Kemp, it will be huge for coordinator Jaime Hill. In BYU's pass attack, the Seminole secondary will face something way beyond what they saw with Miami and Jacksonville State.

Back to the Utes: At Oregon, we'll find out fast if Utah's two corners are capable of handling a talented assault from a decent QB and very athletic receivers. If they don't hold up, the Utes will be hard-pressed to win a shootout or low-scoring game in that venue.

This week's predictions: