From Deseret News archives:

We're learning so much about college football

Published: Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 12:00 a.m. MDT
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Another week of college football is in the books and we're learning so much as the season heads into October . . .

So much for the Mountain West Conference's superiority over the Western Athletic Conference. In two head-to-head games among middle-of-the pack foes from the two leagues Saturday night, the WAC came out on top with Idaho beating Colorado State 31-29 and Nevada crushing UNLV 63-28. BYU did beat Utah State as expected Friday night and San Diego State beat New Mexico State 34-17 Saturday night, but the latter isn't a big deal because everyone beats New Mexico State. Oh wait, I forgot. Everyone except the MWC's New Mexico, which lost to the Aggies last week . . .

So much for Mike Sanford staying on another year at UNLV. After the devastating defeat, he's now 0-for-5 against his in-state rival and 13-39 overall in four-plus seasons. The Rebels' defense gave up 773 yards of total offense against the Wolf Pack, who had three players rush for more than 170 yards. And remember Nevada was just 0-3 coming into the game. Imagine what will happen when BYU goes to Vegas this week. Maybe the Cougars will get 1,000 yards on Saturday . . .

So much for the National Championship hopes of Oklahoma. Before their Saturday night loss to Miami, I heard some national commentators talking about the Sooners having a chance for a national title despite their opening loss to BYU.

Miami's 21-20 victory ended that talk . . .

So much for the BCS hopes of the Houston Cougars. Did you see where they got smacked by Mike Price's UTEP team 58-41? The Miners were just 1-3 going into the game and had lost to Texas 64-7 the week before, but piled up 584 yards on the Cougars, who had 664 yards and 42 first downs of their own and still lost . . .

So much for Weber State's winning the FCS (Division I-AA) Championship this year. Sure the Wildcats can still make the playoffs, but they're not going far if they keep throwing games like they did Saturday against Montana State. That came on top of the throwaway loss at Colorado State last month . . .

So much for the genius of Andy Ludwig as Cal's offensive coordinator. Even though he was part of Utah's 13-0 season, Ludwig was never popular during his five-year stay in Salt Lake. Many feel he got out of town to get away from the constant sniping by Ute fans. He looked to be on top of the world when Cal was ranked No. 6 in the nation three weeks into the season, while averaging 49 points a game. However, the Bears have scored 3 points in each of the last two weeks in losses to Oregon and USC. Who knows if fireludwig.com sites have sprung up yet in Berkeley . . .

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