Zag's Frags

BroncoCountry.com is proud to bring you Zag's Frags.. musings and WAC football predictions from the irrepressible, irreverent and sometimes irrational Zagco. From Honolulu to Ruston, Moscow to Las Cruces and beyond, Zagco tells you exactly what you need to know about what is happening this week in the WAC.

ZAG’S FRAGS:  2007 WEEK 2

Copyright Zagco

A WEEKLY LOOK AT WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL

What a week!  For Zagco, his mind has been filled with images of college football and Idaho Senator Larry Craig wearing fishnet stockings and stiletto heels.  As the Larry Craig/bathroom sex sting dragnet story developed all week, filling in the gap between college football Saturdays, Zagco couldn’t help but remember the story that his friend Rizzo, the nicely dressed black mamba, told him a while back about this time he was going to the bathroom in the new Denver airport and suddenly saw this foot cross over into his stall, brushing up against Rizzo’s shiny, silky skin.  Then, a hand appeared under the divider, as if waving to him or acting out a sock puppet routine.  Rizzo, of course, panicked.  He quickly exited his stall, making lots of noise and expressing astonished anger (he was flummoxed).  To top it off, the man that was in the next stall came out and had the temerity to accuse Rizzo of actually being the solicitor!

Well, needless to say, the events of this week brought back this whole repressed trauma for Rizzo, causing him to seek counseling for something that he thought he had put in his past.  Chaka-kan, the water buffalo, has been helping him a lot, giving him lots of moral support.  However, Zagco personally believes that a part of Rizzo—the innocent, carefree part—may never come back from all this, and we will all have to get used to a more cynical, cautious, and suspicious Rizzo, thanks to Idaho Senator Larry Craig.  The bastard!

Anyhoo, last week went pretty good pick-wise, although Zagco missed on the Utah State-UNLV game, which was a crapshoot anyway!  Even Zagco’s skills with his Tarot cards and 20-sided die were not enough to foretell that one!  Now, having had his discomfort confirmed, let’s all remember that Utah State simply sucks.

On to Week 2!

Reno Wofpack v. Northwestern Wildcats
Where:  Evanston , Illinois
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. MT (BTN)  

Chris Ault’s boys showed up last week in Lincoln with a pistol and found themselves starring down the barrels of a Big Red Tommy Gun.  Reno looked overmatched, and Chris Ault’s famous “Pistol” offense looked simply hapless.  Frankly, Zagco has never been impressed with the scheme.

Reno gained 185 total yards last week, and they gave up 625 yards.  They failed to score an offensive touchdown in the 52-10 loss.  New quarterback Nick Graziano was 8-24 for 109 yards and an interception.  The rushing game was anemic.  Plain and simple, Reno got their butts kicked in every single facet of the game last week.  Of course, none of this would have been different if Ezra Butler had played. 

Frankly, Zagco thinks it may be time for Reno to drop football, convert to a private, Catholic school, and join the WCC where people will appreciate their basketball focus.

Last year, Reno beat Northwestern at home—a nice win, but a win versus a weak Big 11 team.  This year, the Pack travels to Illinois in a rematch.  Last week, Northwestern beat Northeastern (Zagco is not making this up) by a score of 27-0.  The Wildcats put up 470 yards of offense, including having a running back (Tyrell Sutton) gain 108 yards on 24 carries and having their quarterback (C.J. Bacher) go 23-29 for 243 yards and a touchdown.

Zagco simply does not believe in Reno .  He thinks last week’s loss is a recipe for a snowball of disaster.  Northwestern may be a crappy Big 11 team, but they are at home, have some motivation to avenge last year’s loss in Reno, and will be facing a team that will be questioning its own abilities.

Northwestern will defeat Reno .

Utah State Aggies v. Wyoming Cowboys
Where:  Laramie , Wyoming
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 12:00 p.m. MT (The mtn.)

Crap!  This is a no-brainer.  Last week, the Wyoming Cowboys beat the Virginia Cavaliers in Laramie by a score of 23-3.  The ‘pokes put up 417 yards in offense, and they limited Virginia to (GET THIS!) 110 total yards.  Unreal.  Quarterback Karsten Sween went 25-34 for 253 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 pick.  Devin Moore ran for 125 yards on 18 carries.  The Cowboys really spread out the receptions to a deep receiving corp.  Crap, even their punter played lights out, averaging nearly 50 yards on 3 punts!

Zagco saw nothing to like much about Utah State ’s loss to UNLV, although it is worth noting that Leon Jackson had a modest but safe outing, going 13-19 for 137 yards and no picks.  If Utah State has any hope of winning any games this year, Leon Jackson will have to limit his mistakes.  It appears that he may be on the right track in that regard.

Wyoming , as Boise State knows, plays some stingy, frustrating defense.  Utah State has no chance in this game.

Wyoming will defeat Utah State .

Fresno State Bulldogs v. Texas A&M Aggies
Where:  College Station , Texas
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. MT (FSN)

In a workmanlike performance, Fresno dispatched I-AA Sacramento State last week by a score of 24-3.  This is a much closer margin that many expected.  Zagco is troubled by the Bulldogs’ modest offensive output.

Fresno put up 475 yards.  Tom Brandstater went 16-27 for 199 yards and a touchdown.  They spread around the running game, with Ryan Mathews (11-77) and Lonyae Miller (14-57) getting the bulk of the action.  Defensively, Fresno was stellar, limiting the Hornets to 102 total yards.

Texas A&M fell behind Montana State 7-0 last week, but the Aggies then reeled off 38 points.  The Bobcats actually outgained A&M 403-390, with the vast bulk of A&M’s yards coming on the ground, including a 9-121 performance by quarterback Stephen McGee, who also scored two touchdowns on the ground.

Zagco suspects that Montana State snuck up a bit on the Big 12 Aggies.  It is also likely that A&M did not open the playbook for the I-AA Bobcats.  This week, Zagco expects that the Texans will be better prepared for Fresno and more willing to display their full repertoire.

In the old days, Zagco might have picked Fresno to win this game.  However, Fresno has lost so much luster, and last week’s pretty inept offensive output against the Hornets did nothing to restore their former glory.  Fresno needs a win like this in the worst way. 

Not this week.

Texas A&M will defeat Fresno State .

California Polytechnic State University , San Luis Obispo Mustangs v. The University of Moral Victories
Where:  Moscow , Idaho
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. MT

The Annual Idaho Vandal Senator Larry Craig

Appreciation Game

In light of Senator Larry Craig’s guilty plea stemming from the airport bathroom sex sting dragnet in Minneapolis , Zagco would like to take this opportunity to announce that the first game of the year played by the Idaho Vandals at home shall heretofore be known as “The Annual Senator Larry Craig Appreciation Game.”

This whole tawdry episode should not detract from the fact that Senator Larry Craig was reared an Idaho Vandal, learning everything he knows from the University of Idaho !  He is a testament to the Vandal slogan “Open Spaces, Open Minds.”  As the picture below illustrates, Larry Craig (standing in front of a painting that shows an elephant’s trunk or something….) is not only an Idaho Vandal alumni who cut his political teeth as the Vandal Student Body President, but he’s also a BIG fan of the University of Idaho !

Speaking of elephants, what can you say about last week’s game against USC?  Zagco got so bored watching this vanilla game that he actually started thinking about the epic Fleetwood Mac song “Tusk,” wherein the USC marching band was used in the video and for some of the background music.  Of course, anytime Zagco thinks about Fleetwood Mac, he gets to thinking about the time Rizzo and Chaka-kan crashed that party at Warren Beattie’s house in the Hollywood Hills.  By the end of the night, Rizzo was making out with Stevie Nicks on the sofa, while Chaka-kan was chatting up England Dan and John Ford Coley (who were both drunk as skunks from polishing off a rack of Michelob) out on the deck.  Chaka-kan actually convinced them to hire Rizzo and him as their new agents.  They were blown away by his idea of cutting a big comeback album centered on a re-make (or, “re-visualization”) of the Queensryche classic “Jet City Woman.” 

The next morning, they all took off on the tour bus, and Rizzo and Chaka-kan ended up spending the rest of the summer riding around with the famous Seventies Singer-Songwriters, hitting all the late summer county fairs in the Midwest .  Their relationship was further cemented when Rizzo stuck up for England Dan and John Ford Coley when their arch-rivals, Seals and Crofts, challenged them to a fistfight one night at a bar where all the carnies and performers had gone to enjoy some après-work cocktails.  Meanwhile, Lindsay Buckingham still blames Rizzo for being the wedge that ultimately drove him and Stevie Nicks apart.  As we speak, England Dan and John Ford Coley and Rizzo and Chaka-kan are going to hit a couple more fairs and then head to a little recording study somewhere in SoCal to cut the new album.  Word is that Queensryche is fully supportive of the Jet City Woman re-make.

Anyhoo, once again, the Vandals lost a college football game, taking their all-time record in Division I college football to a laughable 283 wins and 432 losses, for a winning percentage of 39.58%.  Yikes!

Freshman Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle was 16-34 in the game, a completion percentage of 47.06%.  The Vandals had 155 passing yards and 98 rushing yards in the game.  Meanwhile, the Boys from Troy looked sluggish, mediocre and disinterested.  Perhaps Pete Carroll’s penchant for opening up their practices so that all the old, bloated Hollywood stars and ex-jocks can come and hang out like the gasbags they are and distract the Trojans from the main point of having practices is finally catching up to the Trojans.  Zagco thinks Pete Carroll has grown a soft belly as he has become more and more Hollywood-fied.  Alas, many Vandals find the outcome to be a shining moral victory, which is common with Vandals.  They have lost so many times, so often, and have been on the short end of so many blowouts, they actually feel GOOD about losing to USC by a score of 38-10.

Now they come home to their crappy little town and their crappy little campus and their crappy little indoor arena to play a I-AA team from the Great West Conference.  Last week, before the season started, the Mustangs were ranked #14 in I-AA football, but they dropped a heartbreaker on the road to unranked Texas State , 38-35.  They now travel up to Moscow to add another game to a series they lead 2-1.

Zagco was impressed with the running of Vandal freshman running back Deonte Jackson, who went 22-99, with a long run of 22 yards.  Nice job.  Otherwise, the Vandals looked as crappy as Zagco expected.

Idaho will defeat Cal Poly.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors v. La Tech Bulldogs
Where: Ruston , LA
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. MT (ERT, ALT)

Last week in Oahu, against an obviously and laughably overmatched I-AA team (Northern Colorado), Hawaii threw the ball 59 times and ran it 10 times.  Colt Brennan threw 6 touchdowns in the first half.

Some people might expect Hawaii to try to run more against a I-AA team.  After all, Hawaii will need to have a running game this year, and they are working in several new players at the running back position.

Well, that’s not Hawaii .   Hawaii is not interested in “being nice” or in “working on things.”  Hawaii is interested in only two things:  Total power and complete destruction.  We are not dealing with a normal team here, people.  We are dealing with the Dark Side of the Force manifesting itself in the minds and actions of Hawaii ’s coaches and players.

Hawaii basically did to I-AA Northern Colorado what Boise State did to I-AA Weber State —the game was utterly over in the first half.  The lack of a running game is the only concern.

Meanwhile, La Tech did an okay job beating I-AA Central Arkansas 28-7.  Oddly, however, they were seriously outgained 386-261.  Zac Champion was only 12-23 for 71 yards.  Running back Patrick Jackson was a bright spot, rushing for 120 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.  Overall, the southern Bulldogs ran the ball 36 times.  Clearly, Vince Dooley’s son wants La Tech to be a running team.

Zagco would not be surprised to see La Tech give Hawaii a good game.  We all know that La Tech usually has very good athletes.  If they get their heads on straight, they are always capable of throwing a scare into the best WAC teams.

Hawaii will defeat La Tech.

San Jose Can You See Spartans v. Kansas State Wildcats
Where:  Manhattan , Kansas
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. MT

Well, San Jose Can You See got their butts kicked much worse than Zagco predicted.  Arizona State just killed them, 45-3.  The Sun Devils outgained them 520-115.  Spartan quarterback Adam Tafralis (one of the WAC’s top rated quarterbacks last year) went just 5-13 for 39 yards, and Coach Tomey—a totally decent guy—replaced him in the game.  Yonus Davis carried the ball once.

Zagco is really concerned with San Jose .  He thinks that the wholesale loss of last year’s receiving group may be more important than he initially thought.  It certainly appears that Mr. Tafralis struggled with his new receivers.  The schedule (4 straight home games to open the season, with 3 games against BCS opponents) is just killer and probably demoralizing.

The Kansas State Wildcats lost a close road game to #18 Auburn , 23-13.  They actually outgained the Tigers 316-291.  Quarterback Josh Freeman went krazy, going 32-57 for 268 yards.  Their rushing game was nonexistent.

Kansas State will defeat San Jose Can You See.

New Mexico State Aggies v. New Mexico Lobos
Where:  Albuquerque , New Mexico
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. MT

This is one of the two most intriguing WAC matchups of the week:  A heated, in-state arch-rivalry game involving one of the WAC teams that Zagco, for one, thinks could be MUCH better than many experts predict.

In order to rise up a level, the Aggies are going to have to win this game.  A loss would set them back emotionally.  This team has proven that it can be a formidable opponent with its crazy offense, and Zagco suspects that its biggest enemy is its culture of losing and falling apart after dropping a big game.  That must end now.  The Aggies can make a major statement with a win on the road against their hated arch-rivals.

Last week, the Aggies of New Mexico State (how many freaking “Aggies” do we have this week!) defeated Southeastern Louisiana 35-14, outgaining them 442-268.  They put up almost 300 yards passing, and quarterback Chase Holbrook went 23-33 for 280 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.  The rushing game was spread around, but they gained an average of almost 6 yards per carry on 27 carries.

The Lobos lost a road game to UTEP, 10-6.  However, they outgained the Miners 383-195.  They failed to take advantages of opportunities to score in the red zone.  If you scan the stats from the game, there’s a lot to like about the Lobos and what they did, except for the final score.

This is tough call.  Zagco will go with the Lobos for two reasons:  (1) it’s a home game, coming off a disappointing loss that they should be ready to prove was a fluke; and (2) New Mexico State is turnover prone, and the Lobos will make them pay.

New Mexico will defeat New Mexico State .

Boise State Broncos v. The University of Really Expensive Boats Docked Near the Stadium
Where:  Seattle , Washington
When:  Saturday, September 8, 2007, at 1:30 p.m. MT (FSN)

As Boise State and Washington fans jawbone each other with their delusions of grandeur coming from their wins over craptastic teams ( Weber State and Syracuse ), Zagco can only wonder if all the hype is true.  Can freshman really be THIS good?  Is Jake Locker the savior of the Husky program?  Are Boise State’s freshman going to be good enough to handle a Pac-10 team and all that comes with it—the big crowd, the klieg lights, the media, and the boats?

As the Bronco Nation prepares to travel north for this game, Zagco can’t help but remember one of his favorite songs from the Seattle-based rock band Heart, a song that Zagco has had more than one or two lovely ladies suggest might well have been written directly about him:

Cold late night so long ago
When I was not so strong you know
A pretty man came to me
Never seen eyes so blue
I could not run away
It seemed we’d seen each other in a dream
It seemed like he knew me
He looked right through me
Come on home, girl he said with a smile
You don’t have to love me yet
Let’s get high awhile
But try to understand
Try to understand
Try, try, try to understand
I’m a magic man.

Anyhoo, Zagco was impressed with Washington ’s dismantling of Syracuse .  It was a road game—a road game far, far away from the Emerald City .  Even though the Orangemen suck, it’s still a nice win!  Still, Zagco agrees with the skeptics that Washington did not see much defensively from Syracuse to test the young arm of Jake Locker.  Additionally, Louis Rankin looked nice running the ball.  It was a solid performance for the young, purple-clad Huskies.

We all saw the Broncos.  The first team looked awesome.  Ian Johnson looked very good, and he seemed to shake out the cobwebs on that long touchdown run.  Boithee Thstate’s Taylor Tharp looked confident, in control, and even thpectacular at times!  No real worries there.  Zagco’s favorite youngster, scat back Jeremy “Peanut” Avery, was just en fuego with his juking and jiving and running and whatnot.  MEMO TO HIS TACKLERS:  Have fun with that, and tape your ankles!

Zagco had some concerns after the Weber game:   

1. The backup offensive line didn’t look real in sync.

2. Our third stringers could use some work.

3. We had some very dumb drops by receivers, including drops from what looked like good passes thrown by Bush Hamden and Nick Lomax.

At the end of the day, however, it’s hard to predict this game from the results of last week’s games—the opponents were not good, and both the Huskies and Broncos performed very well.  Zagco respects Washington —they are a Pac-10 team with a rich football tradition and players who had nice pedigrees coming out of high school.  They are capable of being a very good team in a hurry.  This is not last year. 

Zagco is going to give a slight edge to Boise State for four reasons:  (1) the starting offensive line is just awesome, and we have the backs to exploit the lanes; (2) Taylor Tharp appears to understand his role and position as well as any quarterback we’ve had; (3) our defensive backs are going to be MUCH better than what Jake Locker saw in upstate New York; and (4) our defense is going to throw some crazy looks and pressure at the young Husky signal caller.  Zagco looks for big games coming from O and Kyle “Fright Night” Wilson. 

Boise State will defeat Washington .

All content ©2007 BroncoCountry.com/Scout.com.