Mountain West Standings

----------Conf--All
TCU (4) 5-0 9-0
Utah (16) 5-0 8-1
BYU (22) 4-1 7-2
Air Force 4-2 6-4
SDSU 2-3 4-5
Wyoming 2-3 4-5
UNLV 2-4 4-6
New Mexico 0-5 0-9
CSU 0-6 3-7

BYU stomps Wyoming

Talk about a hot start. BYU scored on their first possession and their second. Actually the Cougars were able to score on their first eight possessions as they embarrassed the Wyoming cowboys on their home turf at War Memorial Stadium 52-0 Saturday.

Cowboys fans were certain their would do better than last years 44-0 defeat last year in Provo but somehow they took a step backwards and have been shutout 96-0 by BYU the past two years.

Max Hall was a boy wonder for the BYU passing attack while throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns. As a reward Coach Bronco Mendenhall gave him most of the second half off. BYU improved to 7-2 (4-2 MWC) on the season and redeemed themselves after losing to TCU last week.

The Cougars racked up 543 total yards compared to 223 for the Cowboys. McKay Jacobson returned for the first time in a month and had three catches for 100 yards including a 79 yard touchdown pass from Hall. J.J Di Luigi pulled in five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Wyoming 4-5 (2-3 MWC) never got on track during the game and only had one drive that threatened to put some points on the board. With time expiring in the first half Austyn Carta-Samuels over threw a open reciever in the endzone and the Cowboys ended the half down 31-0.

The Cowboys who are usually great with ball control turned the ball over three times with backup QB's Robert Benjamin and Karsteen Sween each throwing a pick. Benjamin also added a fumble in the third quarter.

Next week BYU travels to winless New Mexico while Wyoming heads to San Diego in battle between two teams that are hoping to earn bowl eligibility.

Weather Forecast for Laramie

Should be a really amazing day for football in Wyoming during November. Forget your parka at home - it will be warm and Sunny!

Temprature should be around 57 degrees at kickoff and things may heat up to 60 later in the day.

I doubt the temprature will be the same for the last home game on 11/21 against TCU.

Mountain West Action

Preview of what is happening around the Mountain West this weekend.

Army at Air Force
1:30pm MST

ESPN College Game Day is coming to Colorado Springs for a Veterans Day themed Military game. The Falcons need just one more win to become bowl eligibile but the Black Knights aren't the pushovers they used to be. Except a rough and tough game with Air Force pulling it out at the end.

#6 TCU at San Diego State
2:00 pm MST

The Aztecs have been playing some of their best football this season during the last couple weeks. Unfortunately they are hosting the Horned Frogs and even their best won't be good enough to stop the TCU juggernaut this year.

New Mexico at #17 Utah
4:00pm MST

After a couple of close games the past two weeks the Utes can finally let loose and blowout a team in style. Coach Whittingham hasn't announced who will start at QB for Utah yet but they could probably use their punter at QB this week and still trounce the punchless Lobos.

Colorado State at UNLV
8:00pm MST

One of these two teams will earn their fourth victory and and still keep their slim bowl berth hopes alive. While the loser will be able to start planning their offseason a little earlier. The Rams have lost five in a row and really need a victory to help out the fans in the sheep country.

Preview: BYU at Wyoming

#25 BYU at Wyoming
12pm MST
TV: The Mtn


Series history: BYU leads 42-30-3

Last year: BYU shutouts Wyoming 44-0 in Provo. Ugly performance by the Cowboys as they gave little challenge to the Cougars.

Point Spread: BYU by 13

There is no love lost between these two teams and don't expect anything to change soon. The Cowboys fans certainly don't make the Cougars feel very welcome when they come to Laramie. That hasn't stopped the Cougars from dominating this series lately. The Cowboys haven't beaten the Cougars since a 13-10 home victory on October 18, 2003.

Wyoming: For the second game in a row the Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) blew a victory with a weak second half performance. Wyoming led Utah 10-3 at halftime but gave up 19 unanswered points and took the loss. The offense which was cruising during the beginning of October has only scored 10 points in the last eight quarters. The Cowboy defense has been doing a good job of containing their opponents but is now longer getting any turnovers like earlier in the season.

QB Austyn Carta-Samuels has been effective for the Pokes but no one has else stepped this season and shown they can be a be a big time play maker and take some of the load off. WR David Leonard is having a great season with 52 receptions but is averaging only 8.7 yards per catch.

BYU: With the bye week the Cougars (6-2, 3-1) are rested and hopefully can forget the 38-7 loss to TCU off their minds. Thanks to the some losses by other teams the Cougars moved back in to the rankings and now sit at #25.

Senior QB Max Hall has led the offense for three seasons has completed 170 passes for 2231 yards so far this season. His favorite target has been Dennis Pitta with 38 catches for 533 yards. The Cougars also will have WR McKay Robinson back on their roster this weekend as he returns from a hamstring injury. Robinson is the only real deep threat on the team and can really open up the field for the Cougars.

Harvey Unga brings a power running game is the leading rusher in the Mountain West and is averaging just a tick under 100 yards per game. Unga has found the endzone 10 times already this season.

Why Wyoming will win: The Cowboys are 3-1 at home with their only coming against #2 Texas. The weather will good and the Cowboys will be playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in nearly a month. Max Hall has thrown 11 interceptions so far this and by taking advantage of those mistakes the Cowboys can really throw a wrench into the Cougars season.

Why BYU will win: The high powered Cougar offense will just be too much the young Cowboy team. The Cougars are rested and want to blow out Wyoming just like TCU did to them two weeks ago.

Prediction: Upset special here the Cowboys pull a few surprises and earn a victory in front of the home crowd: 28-24.

The Mtn Preview: BYU at Wyoming

James Bates shows off his Tennessee roots and gives us way too much information on High School. He also discusses the BYU-Wyoming game a little. At least he isn't wearing the orange creamsicle blazer he had on last week.

Devin Moore back with the Seahawks

According to an ESPN article the Seahawks have resigned Devin Moore to their practice squad following their release of RB Edgerrin James on Monday.

James is a good guy but never fit in with the Hawks this season. He has decided he needs to spend more time with his children.

We're glad that Devin Moore is back in the NFL but he probably won't be signed from the practice squad unless they Seahawks really wise up and dump Julius Jones.

Seahawks RB Depth Chart

Julius Jones

Justin Forsett

Louis Ranking

PS: Devin Moore

This Week

Cowboy Altitude is back.

I was out of town this weekend and then got sick the last couple days. Feeling much better so there is stuff to do.

So we'll use what is left of this week to get you caught up with things in Cowboy land.

Thursday: Preview of Wyoming vs BYU

Friday: Mountain West Weekend Preview

Saturday: BYU game recap

Next Week: Wyoming Mens Hoops Preview

Mountain West Mondays

No upsets this weekend in the Mountain West but still some entertaining games.

Air Force at CSU

The Falcons are now just one win away from becoming bowl eligible with a 34-16 victory over the Rams. Tim Jefferson threw for 111 yards and 2 TD's in a rare outburst for the Falcon air game. The Rams have now lost six in a row and the longest losing streak since the 13 game streak in 2006-07 seasons.

UNLV at TCU

Nothing can stop the Horned Frogs this season and the Rebels certainly didn't try to stop them. TCU won 41-0 and is now 8-0..

New Mexico at San Diego State

The Lobos nearly broke their winless streak but the Aztecs had another idea. Ryan Lindley threw 3 TD's in a 23-20 victory. SDSU is now two wins away from bowl eligibility.

Cowboys shutout in the second half

The Wyoming offense ground to a halt in the second half and the Utes scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to win 22-10 on Saturday. Freshman Jordan Wynn started the second half and provided the spark the Utah offense needed to come from behind to win.

Utah RB Eddie Wide was impressive on the ground with 125 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. The Utes had two field goals in the third quarter to bring the score to 10-9. Wynn's 22 yard TD pass to Jereme Brooks was the first of his career and gave the Utes their first lead of the game in fourth quarter. Wide scored his TD with 92 seconds remaining in the game after Wyoming turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory.

The Cowboys offensive line was stellar in the first half and gave Carta-Samuels plenty of time to throw the ball.
During the second half A-CS never looked comfortable as the Utah defense stepped up their pressure and sacked him a number of times. Several times he had to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked in the second hafl.

The Cowboys did have one shot to win the game as they were down by 1 and were driving with four minutes left. Robert Benjamin who was recently converted to WR had a pass go through his fingers which was then intercepted by Utah.

Wyoming drops to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Mountain West. Next weekend the Cowboys return home to face off against the BYU Cougars.

(note: I wanted to post this update after the game last night but I developed a terrible headache and had to go to bed early)