This week in Mid-Manifest Destiny: Boise State just can’t please a haughty media base, Navy builds a streak on Notre Dame, and TCU allows a touchdown (no, that’s news).
Mid-Manifest Destiny: Voters Never Promised Boise State A Rose Garden
A weekly examination of the lesser luminaries of Division I-A. On this week’s agenda: When Boise State winning by more than four touchdowns just doesn’t cut it anymore.
• 29-point wins ain't what they used to be. If you followed along with our Boise State-Louisiana Tech reindeer games Tuedsay night, you already know the Bulldogs gave the Broncos some trouble, but that Kellen Moore, Doug Martin & co. put them away with a relatively balanced offensive attack, several crucial red-zone stops, and a little luck. Now, of course, the boo-birds are out in force, and SB Nation's OBNUG tries to keep things in perspective:
The Broncos are in a no-win situation when it comes to earning points with a national audience. If they blow out a WAC team it is because WAC teams are terrible. If they don’t blow out a WAC team it is because Boise State is overrated and doesn’t deserve to play in a national championship game. I get that. It’s not right, but I can understand why people view it that way.
We've already seen Kellen Moore pass, catch, and punt -- could he maybe start throwing to himself? Whatever turns heads.
• KATIE BAR THE DOOR, SOMEBODY SCORED ON TCU. It was Air Force, who in a 38-7 loss to the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs scored the first touchdown against a nasty TCU defense since the end of September. While letting Ed Wesley run for 209 yards and Andy Dalton pass for 185 more, but still. Good hustle. Relatively. The last hurdle in what's been a nasty season gauntlet for the Falcons comes this Saturday night with a visit from No. 8 Utah.
• Run silent, run deep. Elsewhere in the top 10(!), Utah demolished Colorado State, 59-10, with a 321-yard performance from QB Jordan Wynn. This equals their previous high-water mark for 2010 margins of victory, against San Jose State in Week 4. Utah still hasn't really beaten anybody, despite looking sharp (we're not counting Pittsburgh and you can't make us); the next three weeks of Air Force, TCU and Notre Dame will be crucial to their eventual bowl placement.
• Two is a streak. IT SO IS. Navy's taken two in a row from Notre Dame, and three of the last four, and this tickles us to no end. You can read all about this week's melee (and Ricky Dobbs' 100% completion rating! on two whole passes! Navy threw a touchdown pass!) right here.
• This week in Mike Locksley Still Has A Job Theatre: New Mexico's leading rusher, Desmond Dennis, has been dismissed from the team for academic lollygagging. The punchline's a little buried in this one, so allow us to highlight:
In six games this year, Dennis rushed for 155 yards on 42 carries with no touchdowns.
Locksley expounds: "For me it's disappointing to lose a kid that needs this program more than the program needs him." Gotcha.
• Time once again to play everybody's favorite game, "What The Hell Do We Do With UTEP?"
Put our hopes and dreams for the giant bat of C-USA back in the box until next year, we suppose. The Miners followed up their faceplant against UAB with a less-decisive but no less silly loss to Tulane. (If you think, by the way, that this ensures they'll upset Arkansas in mid-November ... well, you're absolutely right, Pilgrim.)
Profiles in ownage.
• Ohio, who laid out in-state rival Miami (OH), 34-13. We remind you that Ohio has a quarterback named Boo Jackson, and as such are to be revered.
• Houston, who finally got their ground game wound up, in the absence of their first- and second-string quarterbacks, in time to beat their own in-state rival SMU.
• Temple, who with the return of Bernard Pierce's life meter did something very dreadful to Buffalo.
Not ready for primetime.
• UAB. The 2-5 Blazers very nearly put one over on a ranked Mississippi State team. They were neck and neck with the Bulldogs for most of the game, and pulled ahead briefly in the fourth quarter, but were brought low by two MSU field goals in the last eight minutes of the game.
• San Diego State? Our erstwhile maybe-surprise mid team of 2010? What gives with the only beating New Mexico by 10, brahs?
• Eastern Michigan, who (God help the Commonwealth) trailed UVA only 14-17 at halftime, only to succumb to a 48-21 final score.
Scoreboard.
In the thick of conference play, few teams are venturing out of their preserves this week. Mid-majors went 1-2 against BCS conference teams this week, moving them to 17-78 for the 2010 season.
Walking Dead Watch. DOWN GOES LOUISIANA! DOWN GOES LOUISIANA! Western Kentucky snaps the nation's longest losing streak, and does it in bizarrely high-octane fashion, with a 54-21 torpedoing of the Ragin' Cajuns. Your two remaining winless teams in 2010 are the luckless, loveless Akron and New Mexico.
Violently Subjective Mid-Major Top 10
1. TCU (8-0)
2. Boise State (7-0)
3. Utah (7-0)
4. Hawaii (6-2)
5. Nevada (6-1)
6. East Carolina (5-2)
7. Navy (5-2)
8. Southern Miss (5-2)
9. Fresno State (5-2)
10. San Diego State (5-2)
Also receiving imaginary votes: UCF, Air Force, Northern Illinois, Temple, Troy.
Stay Tuned.
Some excellent choices on tap for Week 9, including Tulsa-Notre Dame, East Carolina-UCF, Navy-Duke, Utah-Air Force, and TCU-UNLV.
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