Week 9: Lots of offense and a few upsets set up exciting home stretch

An exciting week of football led to a bit of a shake up at the summit of the college football.  With undefeateds Missouri and Michigan State going down in flames (upsets, yes, but seemed like the writing was on the wall as all three of us here picked them to lose), the top of the BCS standings saw a mix up.  Oregon switched places with Auburn to claim the #1 spot.  TCU jumped Boise State (for beating a 1-6 UNLV?) to claim the #3 spot, and Utah rose up the two spots vacated by MSU and Mizzou, plus jumped an idle Alabama to claim the #5 spot.

This sets up what is definitely the biggest game in Mountain West history when #3 TCU visits #5 Utah this Saturday.  College GameDay will be making their first appearance in Salt Lake since their inaugural visit in 2004, and the winner should claim a BCS bowl spot (provided they take care of the rest of their business).

Boise State also stands to claim a BCS bowl spot if they take care of their business, which business is a little tougher than the other two teams (we'll cover this in a separate post... see today's BURNING QUESTION) as they have Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno State remaining, who are a combined 19-5.

The Missouri and Michigan State losses open up a fun end of the season.  We have a scenario where Oregon, Boise, and the TCU/Utah winner could be the only undefeateds left.  Auburn still plays Alabama, and the winner would play in the SEC title game.  Could a non-AQ sneak into the title game?  Will an undefeated non-AQ get left out of a BCS bowl?  Better yet, will a 1-loss SEC team get left out of a BCS bowl? That would certainly get a new demographic on the playoff bandwagon.

While we anticipate an exciting end to the season, week 9 around the West saw some big numbers in a fun week of football:

-- In Laramie, San Diego State forgot the run game and went to work through the air in their 48-38 win over Wyoming.  QB Ryan Lindley through for 365 yards and 3 TDs on only 16 completions.  Receivers Demarco Sampson and Vincent Brown had most of the haul.  Sampson had 7 catches for 175 yards and 2 TDs, and Brown had 5 catches for 144 yards.

-- Colorado State stacked up 328 rushing yards in their 38-14 win over the hapless Lobos of New Mexico. They were stopped 2 yards shy of having two 100-yard rushers.  Leonard Mason had 124 yards and 3 TDs on 15 carries, and Chris Nwoke joined in with 98 yards on 19 carries.

-- Air Force QB Tim Jefferson had an impressive day through the air in Air Force's 28-23 loss to Utah.  Jefferson was 8-13 for 201 yards and a TD.

-- TCU distributed the wealth all over the field in their 48-6 rout of UNLV.  While the attack was balanced--the Frogs amassed 273 rushing yards and 257 passing--and while QB Andy Dalton finished 16-23 for 252 yards and 2 TDs, no other TCU player put up "big" numbers.  Only one receiver (Kerley) had more than 75 receiving yards, and zero ball carriers had 75 or more rushing yards.

-- Utah State (490) and Nevada (596) combined for 1086 total yards as Nevada sent Utah State back home to Logan with a 56-42 loss.  USU QB Diondre Borel had a fantastic day through the air, going 24-38 for 399 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs.  Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick passed for 190 yards and 2 TDs, ran for 102 yards and 1 TD more, and the Wolfpack totaled 387 rushing yards on the day.

-- Hawaii continued to throw up big numbers as they smashed Idaho 45-10 on the islands.  QB Bryant Moniz  threw for 326 yards and 3 TDs.  WR Greg Salas continued his domination, pulling down 11 catches for 168 yards.

(all pictures from each school's respective official athletic website)