WAC

Sporting News, The, Nov 16, 1998 by Neal Farmer, Andy Boogaard

MOUNTAIN DIVISION

BIG GAME: Air Force plays at Wyoming in a game that likely will determine the champion in the Mountain Division. Wyoming slapped Colorado State last week and is undefeated in league play. Air Force has a one-point loss to TCU.

LOOKING AHEAD: UNLV had last week off to prepare for Rice's triple-option attack, although with a young QB, Chad Richardson, the Owls have been running mostly double-options.... QB Blane Morgan is putting the air back into Air Force. Look for the Falcons to air it out at Wyoming.... Tulsa has had several injuries, including two at quarterback, two at fullback and two at receiver. "Nobody has had as many injuries as Tulsa this year," says SMU coach Mike Cavan.

CAMPUS STROLL: Air Force's 35-7 win over Army--coupled with a previous win over Navy--gave the Falcons their 12th Commander-in-Chief Trophy, signifying the best academy team each year.... Tulsa's three points against SMU were the fewest it had scored since '93. SMU has allowed 16 points in its last three games.... SMU RB Rodnick Phillips had his second two-touchdown game of the season.... SMU ran DB Jacoby Rhinehart for a 47-yard TD on a reverse. It was his second TD of the season on offense, the first coming on a reception three games ago.... TCU's 14-12 loss to Rice was its fifth game this year decided by fewer than five points. Rice broke a six-game road conference losing streak.

PACIFIC DIVISION

BIG GAME: Texas-El Paso hosts Brigham Young a year after the Miners stunned the ranked Cougars 14-3 at the same site. It snapped a 10-game losing streak to BYU and was only UTEP's second victory over the Cougars in 26 games. BYU (7-3, 5-1) enters the game tied for first in the Pacific Division with San Diego State (5-4, 5-1).

LOOKING AHEAD: BYU can advance to the WAC championship game December 5 in Las Vegas by sweeping UTEP and Utah on the road. The Cougars hold the tie-breaker edge on San Diego State because of their 13-0 win over the Aztecs two weeks ago.... San Diego State, because of its suspect offense, will be challenged this week at San Jose State. The Aztecs then return home to play UTEP to close the regular season. Their chances of making the championship game are good, given BYU's game at Utah, which has defeated the Cougars four of the last five years.

CAMPUS STROLL: The $66.4-million renovation project that expanded seating at Qualcomm Stadium to 71,400 obviously had nothing to do with San Diego State football. The facility that also houses the Padres and Chargers looked embarrassingly barn for an ABC regional audience as a season-low 22,497 attended the Aztecs' 10-0 win over Fresno State. San Diego State entered the game ranked eighth among 16 WAC teams in average home attendance at 27,602.... The Aztecs' shutout was their first in 14 years. They haven't allowed an offensive touchdown in 11 straight quarters. The last time they went two games without giving up an offensive touchdown was 1986 when they won their only WAC title.