Every Friday through the end of the seasons we will be breaking down all of the local football games of the week and highlighting a few of the other games of note for the weekend. We won't be predicting the outcomes here, we will leave that for all of you in the comment section.
College Football:
Air Force Falcons @ Wyoming Cowboys - Laramie, WY - 12:00 The Mtn.
Air Force -13.5
Air Force has a road game much closer to home as they head north to take on the Wyoming Cowboys this week. The Falcons played a pretty fantastic game in Norman last week, falling by three points to the Sooners in a game where they piled up over 300 yards rushing against the mighty Sooner defense. Air Force will try to continue to trend of ball control, triple option offense that is being executed to perfection and is wearing down opponent defenses without mercy.
Here's what Oklahoma blog, Crimson and Cream Machine had to say about the Air Force defense:
458 total yards allowed, 351 rushing yards allowed on 63 attempts for an average of 5.6 per, 11-18 3rd down conversions, I could go on but you probably watched that game so why subject you to any more punishment. Look we all knew that Air Force was going to be a tough match up. We knew that they would come in here and have some success running the ball, but those stats above aren't "some success" they are domination. OU had a massive size advantage along the line of scrimmage and yet they were thoroughly man-handled for nearly the entire game
It's hard to tell what kind of Wyoming team Air Force will be facing this weekend as they have squeaked by a poor Southern Utah team in the season opener and then gotten beat up by two top ten teams in Texas and Boise State. This is still a team that can put up some points, but I don't see it happening this weekend against an Air Force defense that is holding opponents well under their offensive averages thus far this year.
Idaho Vandals @ Colorado State Rams - Ft. Collins, CO - 2:00 No TV
Colorado State +7
Yes, you read that right. Unfortunately this game will not be televised at all. If you're a Ram fan you better head on up to Ft. Collins or break out the ole radio. Colorado State's losing streak now sits at 12 games. Yikes. I guess the good news is that only four of those games have come at home...
The Rams running game has been absolutely horrendous so far this season, running for 39 yards through three games. That's 39 total yards, not per game average:
This past off season looked as if things would start to turn around, because the Rams received their best recruit in a very long time by landing four star quarterback Pete Thomas. He enrolled early to enter a wide open quarterback race -- which he eventually won -- then the running back situation looked promising with UCLA transfer Raymond Carter joining Leonard Mason who led the Rams in rushing last year. So far, the rushing game has been a complete disaster with Carter leading the team with 39 yards on the season. That is not a typo, Carter is averaging a paltry 1.9 yards per carry while the team is actually doing worse by averaging 1.7 yards per carry.
It doesn't look good, but you can't be a college football fan if you don't have hope, and Mountain West Connection says that special teams could make a difference in this weeks game. Will they? Probably not, this Idaho team has played Nebraska closer than anyone else this season, for what that's worth.
Special teams might be the Rams chance at their first win. The Vandals on average are giving up 21 or more yards on kickoff and punt returns. With speedy Tony Drake as the return man the Rams might end up with some short fields and possibly a return TD to take some pressure off the offense and defensive units. Momo Thomas is listed as the punt returner after Drake made a freshman mistake but if the game is close it might be worth sending Drake out there to see if he can break a big one.
Colorado Buffaloes - Off
Other Games Of Note:
#1 Alabama @ #10 Arkansas - Fayetteville, AR - 1:30 CBS
#12 South Carolina @ #17 Auburn - Auburn, AL - 5:45 ESPN
#24 Oregon State @ #3 Boise State - Boise, ID - 6:00 ABC
#22 West Virginia @ #15 LSU - Baton Rogue, LA - 7:00 ESPN2
California @ #14 Arizona - Tuscon, AZ - 8:00 FCS
NFL:
Indianapolis Colts @ Denver Broncos - Denver, CO - 2:15 CBS
Broncos +5.5
The Broncos have suffered through this week with heavy hurts after wide receiver Kenny McKinley was found dead on Tuesday night. Yes, the Broncos have been through this before, but only three players still remain from the team that lost two teammates in the span of just a few short months.
In come the Indianapolis Colts, riding high after a thorough dismantling of the New York Giants last Sunday night in Indy. The Colts got shredded by the Houston Texans in week one, introducing fantasy football players everywhere to running back Arian Foster. But the Colts came back strong against the Giants, completely shutting down the Eli Manning lead attack and moving the ball virtually at will.
Denver played very well against the Seahawks in their home opener, but for the Broncos to have a chance of beating Peyton's Colts, they have to be able to run the ball well:
The Broncos are going to need to run the ball if they are going to beat the Colts on Sunday. Controlling the clock agaisnt Peyton Manning is absolutely critical, and even dominating the time of possession battle isn't a 100 percent success rate. There are multiple different things working in their favor in that regard, so they should be able to get something generated. Perhaps Knowshon Moreno is in line for his first career 100 yard game this weekend. If that's the case, it's likely the Broncos did pretty well for themselves against the Colts.
Other Games Of Note:
Dallas Cowboys @ Houston Texans - Houston, TX - 11:00 NFL Sunday Ticket
Tennessee Titans @ New York Giants - East Rutherford, NJ - 11:00 CBS
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears - Chicago, IL - 6:30 ESPN (Monday Night)