Zag's Frags.. Week 8

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 8

Copyright Zagco

A WEEKLY LOOK AT WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL

 Zagco’s 40-6 on the year.

Dear Zagco:

            How are you?  I’m fine.  I’ve been working on the Squrls a lot lately, and I feel like my core strength has just gone through the roof, although my back has been bothering me a lot.

            Denise has been texting me lately, because I won’t answer her calls.  I’ve had it with her, though.  Until she gets over Charlie, I’m not going to give her the time of day.  She really needs to get her groove back.  So much talent, wasted….

Chaka-kan and I have finally worked through some issues with England Dan and John Ford Coley.  The new album is shaping up.  So far, the selection of songs includes:

1.      Queensryche’s “ Jet City Woman.”

2.      Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman.”

3.      Sheryl Crowe’s “Steven McQueen.”

4.      Jim Croce’s “I Got A Name.”

5.      Nickleback’s “Rock Star.”

6.      Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.”

We’re compromising on some Seventies songs, but we’ve about got them sold on doing Bobby Brown’s “Roni.”  They love songs about girls.  Plus, I have a feeling that “new jack swing” is ready for a big comeback.

What happened with Boise State ’s defense?  They sucked.  Wow.  Chaka-kan and I watched the game in a little seaside tavern north of Frisco with some of the Rice-a-Roni people, and we actually started playing a drinking game centered on who could accurately guess who was carrying the ball for Nevada .  We’d also do shots whenever Nevada ’s quarterback kept it, which got sort of ridiculous after awhile.  Anyway, if it’s any consolation, you might remember when the Miami Dolphins ruined the Chicago Bears’ perfect season and shredded the greatest defense in pro football history.  It can happen.  Keep your chin up.

Your friend,

RIZZO

Zagco did not see last week’s game between Boise State and Nevada coming, although there were signs:  He mentioned Nevada gaining 702 yards in offense against Fresno, which seemed perplexing, and Zagco admits he did not watch  Nevada’s new signal caller, who Zagco will forever call “Crazy Legs,” come in to that Fresno game.  Nevada —formerly “ Reno ” in Zagco’s vernacular—has earned Zagco’s respect offensively, which is something he hasn’t had for them in probably about 10 or 15 years.  It’s easy to forget that Boise State won the game, and plenty of Broncos played lights out football (Taylor Tharp, Jeremy Childs, Ian Johnson, former Meridian Warrior Kyle Brotzman), but Zagco tips his hat to Nevada, Crazy Legs, and that Nevada fan who ran back and forth, shirtless, waving the Wolf Pack flag—anytime someone makes our defense look that bad, they have every moral right in waive their flag!  Zagco just wishes it could have been on the other side of the field, right in front of Boise State ’s defensive players.

The Boise State-Nevada donnybrook closed out a weekend of WAC games that started with the krazy Hawaii-San Jose State affair, where San Jose completely collapsed late in the game, similar to what they did the week before against Idaho , except they lost this time.  Sadly, for Hawaii , instead of being remembered for coming back and winning a tough road game, that old gasbag June Jones blasted San Jose for having a crappy field.  He even said that Hawaii would have scored “another 60 points” if the field conditions had been better.  June Jones is a freak.  Zagco is a big Hawaii fan (who doesn’t love watching guys like Davone Bess play the game?!), but June Jones makes it very, very tough to feel the love.

Meanwhile, La Tech pulled out another methodical win, this time against the Gaggies of New Mexico State.  Zagco caught the last part of that game, and all he can say is that the final two drives, especially the last one, by La Tech were executed as well as any offensive drives he’s seen this year.  That was some very good football.  Up in Moscow , Idaho was overmatched by Fresno , although some sloppiness allowed them to put a couple more touchdowns on the board than they earned.  Fresno looked solid—better than last year. 

Nevada Wolf Pack v. Utah State Aggies
Where:  Logan , Utah
When:  Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. MT (KAME, KJZZ)

Nevada ’s defense stinks.  Zagco is not going to elaborate on it.  They just stink.

Utah State is almost as bad defensively.  The Aggies give up the second most points per game in the WAC (36.3), they have the worst pass defense (277.8 ypg), and they give up 165.7 rushing ypg.  Overall, they are second worst in the WAC (just ahead of Nevada ), giving up 443.5 ypg.

Offensively, Nevada has put up 1,341 yards of offense in the last two weeks.  Zagco is not joking.  They’ve had 607 yards on the ground, and 734 yards in the air, a nicely balanced offense, although the word “balance” hardly seems appropriate for a team with overall numbers like this.  For those who have not watched them play with this new, freshman quarterback, Colin “Crazy Legs” Kaepernick, all Zagco can say is this Nevada team is not your dad’s Nevada team.  Crazy Legs is a magic man with the way he hides the ball on those bootlegs and even handoffs.  The dude, who wears pants that barely go down to his thighs, is a wizard with the football, reminding Zagco of OU signal caller Jamelle Hollieway running Barry Switzer’s wishbone offense.

Nevada ’s lost two games in two weeks.  They deserve to be awarded at least one win for their effort, though.  Seriously.  The WAC should just award them a win.  Who would argue?

Crazy Legs has run the ball for 237 yards the last two weeks.  He did not have a great completion percentage against Boise State (11-26), but he was able to throw for a lot of yards due to the threat he poses as a runner.  Nevada running back Luke Lippincott has put up 228 yards rushing over the last two games, and he presents a real physical challenge.  After last week’s game, the only possible weakness in Nevada ’s offense is Crazy Legs’ passing savvy, but that’s a minor point.

Utah State might score some points, but they are going to get buried by an offense and a team that is thirsty to return a win for their fans.

Nevada will defeat Utah State .

San Jose Can You See Spartans v. Fresno State Bulldogs
Where:  Fresno , California
When:  Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. MT (BSN, ESPN Gameplan)

San Jose State , without an effective Yonus Davis, simply has no rushing game.  None.  Even in the barnburner last week against Hawaii , they only put up 42 rushing yards, which was even worse than Hawaii ’s craptastic running game.  Passing-wise, Adam Tafralis is a solid quarterback, but San Jose plays a rather conservative, cautious game, consistent with the nature of their head coach.  In an overtime game where they scored 35 points, San Jose still only had a total of 344 yards in offense.  In addition to the experienced Tafralis, San Jose ’s go-to guy on offense has been junior wide receiver Kevin Jurovich, who has 638 yards receiving on the year, 5 touchdowns, and averages 14.5 yards per catch.  He’s been a major contributor the last three weeks.

Fresno ’s main weakness is rushing defense, although Nevada did light them up through the air.  Expect San Jose to attack them through the air—they just cannot run.  Last year, San Jose got off the Schneid and snapped a 12-game losing streak to their old archrivals, but the game was in San Jose and the Bay Area Spartans were a different, better team.  Fresno is about middle-of-the-pack statistically in everything in the WAC—they don’t stand out in any single way.  Pat Hill has just incrementally improved everything about them.  Offensively, they rely on a fleet of contributors, handing the ball to both Lonyae Miller (82-360-4.4-5TDs) and Ryan Matthews (76-452-5.9-7TDs).  No Fresno receivers are in the top 10 in the WAC.  Bulldog signal caller Tom Brandstetter has only thrown for 6 touchdowns, and he is in the lower tier of efficiency in the WAC—not bad, but not real good.  Watching them play, Zagco just thinks they are solid team with some physical players.

Fresno will defeat San Jose Can You See.

Idaho Vandals v. New Mexico State Gaggies
Where:  Las Cruces , New Mexico
When:  Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. MT (ALT, ESPN Gameplan)

Overall, Idaho is the bottom half of both total offense and defense in the WAC, below even New Mexico State .  They are not getting any pressure on quarterbacks, with only 7 total sacks on the year.  Along with Hawaii , they are the most penalized team in the WAC, which is typical for the Vandals.

The bright spot for the Vandals is their running game, including run blocking by the offensive line.  Last week, they rushed for 279 yards against Fresno , and freshman star Deonte Jackson—a man who actually seems to care about the game—played lights out, gaining 111 yards on 11 carries.  Zagco remains perplexed about his lack of touches.  Zagco thinks Idaho needs to use him a lot more.  Idaho ’s passing game is simply awful.

New Mexico State played without quarterback Chase Hollbrook against last week, although substitute J.J. McDermott was not half bad, going 29-40 for 319 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions.  The Gaggies have no running game, however.  Superstar Chris Williams—the guy who took the hit from Marty Tadman the week before and still held on to the ball—caught 11 passes for 170 yards against La Tech.  He’s a player.

Sadly, however, Idaho’s new coaches have morphed into their old ones, doing stupid things like burning their opponents media guides and scouting reports in strange ceremonies (burning the scouting reports cracks Zagco up), proclaiming that a “new year starts” every week, and just generally running around and slapping their players like they are cheerleaders on speed or something.  Bush league, chest-thumping, phony, rah-rah crap.

Zagco believes the Gaggies will return to the win column this week.  They are back home after two long road trips.  They’ve had a chance to heal up a bit after suffering some injuries, and even if McDermott plays, his performance (especially no interceptions) gives Zagco confidence that he can lead that crazy offense.  Idaho ’s best hope is to get turnovers—Hollbrook was an interception machine, with 11 picks in essentially 5 games.

New Mexico State will defeat Idaho .

Boise State Broncos v. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Where:  Ruston , Louisiana
When:  Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. MT (KTVB, ESPN Gameplan)

About the only thing more automatic than scoring a touchdown against Boise State ’s defense in the red zone is the chance that your wife will get to the mailbox first on the days when your Maxim magazine arrives.  Seriously, the once-vaunted Bronco defense is the worst in the WAC in the red zone, giving up scores 11-11 times (8 touchdowns) in the red zone.

To make matters even worse, this Jekyll and Hyde outfit completely collapsed last week in a fit of complete cluelessness, as Nevada reached deep into its complex playbook and ran off-tackle run after off-tackle run, switching up now and then with the rarely seen ole’ bootleg run around end.  Bronco defensive linemen were often sitting in the laps of our linebackers, who were usually more concerned about the possibility that Nevada ’s center might be running the ball than worrying about those pesky Wolf Pack running backs and Crazy Legs.  Zagco has never seen such an awful performance by a Boise State defense.  Nevada ’s offensive linemen looked physically superior in all ways, and our players apparently forgot everything they have been taught about holding positions.

Frankly, Zagco is concerned.  Nevada implemented a double tight end package and went back to the well sooooooooo many times in the game with same plays over and over and over again that it just seems like we might be dealing with a  very serious issue with our scheme, with our discipline, and with our strength up front.  We might not see another running quarterback like Crazy Legs, but Zagco will not be surprised if we see teams implement double tight ends, pound the ball, slow the game down, and hope for turnovers.  At worst, our opponents have seen a way to exploit us, and they will if we don’t see some substantial changes made.

Zagco is not comfortable about this game.  Not at all.  La Tech has never been an easy game for Boise State on the road.  Plus, Coach Dooley has them playing in a disciplined way, and after watching Boise State give up the farm, they have GOT to have a LOT of confidence.

La Tech has 2 of the top 10 rushers in the WAC.  Patrick Jackson has rushed 103 times for 431 yards, scoring 3 touchdowns.  Daniel Porter has rushed 41 times for 263 yards, scoring 2 touchdowns.  Patrick Jackson also has 164 yards receiving and 322 return yards, making him the third most prolific all-purpose guy in the WAC.  Quarterback Zac Champion is the second lowest rated quarterback in the WAC, but he’s not asked to do much, and he has only thrown 2 interceptions on the year.  Do not underestimate him—he looked GREAT on those last two drives last week.  Defensively, La Tech has 2 players (Tony Moss and Weldon Brown) with 4 interceptions apiece through 6 games, tied for best in the WAC.  Defensively, defensive back Antonio Baker leads the team with 65 tackles.  Although La Tech’s is overall the second worst in the WAC, do not forget what they did to Hawaii —they can score and they can execute.  Defensively, they are third best overall in the WAC.

Zagco is just disgusted—DISTGUSTED—with how poorly Boise State played on defense last week.  He’s alarmed.  He’s worried.  He’s not confident.  He’s about THHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHISSSSSSSSSSSS close to picking La Tech, but he won’t.

Boise State will eek out a win over La Tech, thanks to the Bronco offense.

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