Zag's Frags.. Week 4

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 4

Copyright Zagco

 A WEEKLY LOOK AT WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL

Zagco’s had a decent year so far.  He’s 23-3 on the year, a winning percentage of 88.462%, which is a lot better than the WAC’s record against BCS teams this year—0-12 for a winning percentage of 00.000%.

The WAC has really stunk it up this year, which is weird because it seems like everyone was so high on the WAC this summer, predicting all kinds of things about having two Top 20 teams, another BCS bowl, and being the best non-BCS conference in the country.  At present, the Sagarin ratings (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc07.htm) show the WAC well behind the MWC and about even with the mighty CUSA and MAC, with the Sun Belt not far behind.  Boise State and Hawaii are the only two WAC teams in the top 80 of the Sagarin ratings.  The MWC has 6 teams in the top 80.  If Boise State ’s wildest dreams come true and the MWC extends an invitation to join, the disparity between the MWC and WAC will grow exponentially. 

Zagco’s about had it with these WAC referees and their nutty calls against Boise State for celebrating touchdowns.  Last year, we had that southern-accented, Colonel Sanders look-a-like ref who flagged Jerard Rabb for dancing and threw him out of the game.  It was surreal, and it made Zagco think of the Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose going off:

Even if this was not a law, which it is, I'm afraid I would have a lot of difficulty endorsing an enterprise which is as fraught with genuine peril as I believe this one to be. Besides the liquor and the drugs which always seem to accompany such an event the thing that distresses me even more, Ren, is the spiritual corruption that can be involved. These dances and this kind of music can be destructive, and, uh, Ren, I'm afraid you're going to find most of the people in our community are gonna agree with me on this.

Heck, let’s cut right to the chase:  The referees in the WAC simply HATE dancing and leaping.  The WAC refs are high and mighty, like Saul's daughter Michal, who “looked out of a window and saw King David leaping and dancing in the Lord's presence, so she despised him.”  2 Samuel 6:16.  They hate happiness.  They hate celebrations.  They hate smiling people.  The WAC referees want us all to frown and be sad wittle puppy dogs.

Anyhoo, after Mr. Rabb got tossed out, the WAC ended up issuing an apology because the call was incorrect—a gross misapplication of the NCAA rules.

Now, just last week, Jeremy Childs got flagged after scoring a touchdown when he very briefly and rather casually slapped a couple extended hands from fans in the end zone.  This issue has been discussed all week long on the Blue Turf board, including in depth analysis of the NCAA rule on celebrations by Top Boise Lawyers, and it is simply beyond peradventure that the call was incorrect—another gross violation of NCAA rules by the WAC refs.

No more!  The WAC needs to end this crap!  Let the kids celebrate!  Let the kids dance!  The WAC referees really need to get a grip.

Zagco’s friend Rizzo, the nicely dressed black mamba, wrote another letter to Zagco this week and provided some interesting observations on the Boise State-Wyoming game:

Dear Zagco:

How are you?  I’m fine.  Chaka-kan is also fine, and I finally got him to quit drinking. 

When we got back to Santa Monica last week, we jogged down to Venice to work out with the guys at Gold’s Gym.  The first thing Chaka-kan does is grab 4 big plates, takes them outside, and does a farmer’s walk all the way back to the Santa Monica Pier, doing shrugs as he walked (it was freakin’ unreal!).  When he got there, he just dropped the plates and came back, claiming that it hurt too much to carry them all the way back. 

Needless to say, the gym manager was furious and got Chaka-kan in a Full Nelson.  Some other great big dude was right up in Chaka-kan’s mug—his eyes were all bugged out like he was hopped up on something, and I could tell he was about ready to knee Chaka-kan right in the nads.  At that point, I broke the whole thing up by threatening to start biting everything that moves.  Some other dude started throwing protein powder on me from behind a squat rack.  Then, sensing that I needed to make everyone feel like they won something, I forced Chaka-kan to apologize and to agree to start attending “AA” meetings.  This seemed to calm everyone down quite a bit, and it made me feel good because it was something that needed to happen.

Chaka-kan and I watched the Bronco-Cowboy game.  We were impressed.  Boise State ’s defense looked elite for most of the game, until letting up a bit at the end.  The offense looked a bit better, but it’s still rather uninspiring.  It’s clear that the teams you guys are playing are stacking up the line and really trying to force you to throw the ball, and I frankly do not think you’ve yet really proven that you can throw the ball downfield.  Yes, there are signs that you can, but I do not sense that other teams respect your passing game.  Taylor Tharp needs to connect on some more medium range throws over the middle—hitting someone in stride and having them outrun a corner would be the best thing.  At this point, your opponents think you have a young receiving group that is not a real threat, and a quarterback that does not present a serious running threat like Z and plays very conservatively.

I thought Kyle Wilson looked awesome, by the way.  His coverage is often so tight that he actually appears to become part of the receiver, like a shadow.  It seems like only yesterday when Boise State ’s corners were routinely 5 yards away from their receivers!

One question:  When we were watching the game, it almost sounded like Boise State was maybe piping in some additional noise through the P.A. system.  We could hear something that just did not sound right.  We recorded the game and listened over and over again to the sound on Sunday—it was hard to make out what it was, but something was bugging us.  So, we decided to play the recording backwards, and what we heard was nothing short of stunning:  In a voice that was unmistakably that of Ruth Buzzi, we kept hearing “Paul McCartney is dead” over and over and over again!!!!

Anyhoo, take care!  The Rice-a-Roni thing seems to be settled at this point, so we might be coming up your way next week if we can talk Bruce Willis into giving us a ride.  Call me.

Your friend,

Rizzo

P.S.  Chaka-kan came up with a really interesting new lift at Gold’s—it’s called “Squrls,” where you combine squats and curls in one move.  It requires you to change your squat grip to an underhand group for a front squat, and then when you are at 45 degrees, you do like 6 curls before standing back up again.  It will BLOW out your body.  I haven’t had gas in 5 days!

Northern Illinois Huskies v. Idaho Vandals
Where:  The Pea and Lentil Capital of the World
When:  Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. MT

Northern Illinois is 0-3, having lost games to Iowa on the road in Chicago (3-16), Southern Illinois at home (31-34), and Eastern Michigan at home (19-21).  The Huskies gain 336 yards per game on offense (199 passing, 137 rushing), and they give up 367 yards per game.  Overall, the Mid-American Conference Huskies are pretty bland and mediocre.

Meanwhile, in Moscow —a town that proudly bills itself “The Pea and Lentil Capital of the World—the Vandals lost yet another game last week to add another page to its sad, sorry history.  The Idaho Vandals’ all-time Division I football record now stands at 284 wins and 433 losses, for a winning percentage of 39.61%.  (Note, however, that several of Idaho ’s wins as a Division I football team came against high schools, so those numbers are somewhat misleading.)

Idaho gains 304 yards per game (151 rushing, 153 passing).  The Vandal defense gives up 404 yards per game (174 rushing, 230 passing).  Freshman Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle, who ran something like a single-wing offense in Nebraska high school 6-man football, has completed only 44% of his passes, has thrown 4 interceptions, and is the lowest rated quarterback in the WAC.  A bright spot for the Vandals is freshman running back Deonte Jackson, who has proven to be the best running back in the WAC so far this year with 142 yards per game, including a 99 yards effort against Southern Cal .  He’s also averaging 5.3 yards per run, a testament to the resurgent offensive line in Moscow .

Let’s face it:  Both of these teams stink.  Zagco leans towards Idaho winning this game for three reasons:  (1) the Huskies are a directional school; (2) Idaho ’s playing at home; and (3) Idaho will ride its running game to victory. 

Idaho will defeat Northern Illinois

San Jose Can You See Spartans v. Utah State Aggies
Where:  Logan , Utah
When:  Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. MT

Both of these teams are 0-3.  The Bay Area Spartans have been a MASSIVE disappointment this year for four reasons:  (1) Yonus Davis’ injury; (2) the loss of last year’s receiving crew; (3) the ridiculous schedule, a schedule that would make La Tech’s Athletic Director proud; and (4) Adam Tafralis’ various ailments, including being played at the wide receiver position by a flummoxed Dick Tomey—a totally decent guy.

The bad news for San Jose gets worse:  Reports are that Yonus Davis re-injured his ankle in practice this week and will probably not play in Logan .

Utah State is slightly better than San Jose in virtually every important statistical category, although both are cellar dwellers in the WAC.  The one thing that has impressed Zagco this year about Utah State is how quarterback Leon Jackson has limited his mistakes—he is playing a safe, conservative game that should begin paying off, assuming he stays within the Aggie “offense.”

Zagco believes San Jose is toast this year.  As Dandy Don used to sing:  “Turn out the lights, the party’s over….”

Utah State will defeat San Jose Can You See.

New Mexico State Aggies v. Auburn Tigers
Where:  Auburn , Alabama
When:  Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. MT

New Mexico State finally got off the schneid last week, defeating their arch-rival, the Miners of UTEP.  The Aggies stand at 2-1 on the year.

Meanwhile, the Tigers of Auburn are a disappointing 1-2, having beaten Kansas State and lost to Southern Florida and Mississippi State .  New Mexico State is led by quarterback Chase Holbrook, who is just behind Hawaii ’s Colt Brennan in passing efficiency in the WAC at 159.7.  He’s thrown for almost 1,200 yards in 3 games, and he’s tossed 11 touchdowns.  His only weaknesses are women and interceptions (6 on the year).  Chase Holbrook, who ran something like a T-formation offense in high school, is the straw that stirs the drink in Las Cruces .

Auburn ’s weakness is offense, including turnovers.  The Tigers look plain crappy on offense.  However, they have a pretty good defense, including the 22^nd highest rated passing in the country.

In past years, when the WAC would occasionally knock off a big, bad BCS team and Zagco was smoking a lot of crack, he would be tempted to predict an Aggie victory.  Not this time.  This is a home game for Auburn , and they are hurting for a victory.  They have the defense to cause the Aggies problems, and as sloppy as the Aggies have been with the ball this year, it could get ugly for them.  The Aggies have a mediocre defense that relies heavily on creating chaos via blitzes.  Auburn will make them pay.  The Aggies have done an okay job creating a running game by committee, but the offense still completely revolves around Chase Holbrook.

Auburn will defeat New Mexico State .

Charleston Southern Buccaneers v. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Where:  Honolulu , Oahu , Hawaii
When:  Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 10:00 p.m. MT

Once again, Hawaii plays a I-AA team this year.  Moreover, they play a I-AA team with a direction in its name.  Charleston Southern, the sister school to Charleston Northern and Charleston Western State Tech A&M, is going to be wondering what happened come Sunday morning when they’re staring down at the fruited plains with their headaches, bruises, and stingers from 40,000 feet high.   The Buccaneers belong to the I-AA “Big South” conference, and they are probably just THRILLED to be traveling halfway around the world for the sole purpose of getting their asses kicked by a football team that has been keeping itself motivated by taking a stand for the Haka dance.  Like Ren McCormick in Footloose defending the right of Utah ’s Mormon kids to boogie, June Jones and his college football Rainbow Warriors are fighting for the right of the Maoris of New Zealand to engage in their traditional pre-battle dance.  It’s about time someone did this!

About the only thing of note in this game is whether Colt Brennan will play or play much.  He injured his ankle last week before the game, and reports are that he has been nursing it this week.  June Jones, as much as he likes to pile on big numbers (sorta like Dan Hawkins before he went completely nuts), is probably not krazy enough to risk Mr. Brennan’s health in this game.  Either way, it’s not going to matter.  Personally, Zagco would like to see Hawaii work more on its running game this week.  They are going to need it at some point this year.

Hawaii is going to win in a laugher

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