Category: NCAAF

2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #23, Air Force LB Demonte Meeks

The Air Force linebacker is the second Falcons defender to land in our countdown of Mountain West football’s best performers.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #23, Air Force LB Demonte Meeks

The Air Force linebacker is the second Falcons defender to land in our countdown of Mountain West football’s best performers.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

A key returning piece for a team in transition.

The Air Force Falcons might be losing a lot of star power on both sides of the ball in 2020, but the defense can at least boast returning the next entrant on our annual list of the conference’s top athletes.

Linebacker Demonte Meeks was exactly the kind of impact player the stingy front seven needed, leading the team with 98 tackles and nine tackles for loss while finishing second with four sacks. As a result, he ended the year as one of three Air Force defenders to crack the all-conference squad, earning a spot on the second team, and helped kick off this summer’s watch list season by being named one of two Mountain West athletes on the Lott IMPACT Trophy list.

If you still don’t believe Meeks is among the conference’s top performers going into 2020, though, his biggest supporters aren’t shy about speaking in his favor:

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #24, Boise State CB Jalen Walker

The Boise State cornerback makes it back-to-back Broncos on this year’s list of the conference’s best athletes.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #24, Boise State CB Jalen Walker

The Boise State cornerback makes it back-to-back Broncos on this year’s list of the conference’s best athletes.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

Yet another lockdown corner on the blue.

Boise State cornerback Jalen Walker is the second member of the Broncos’ defensive backfield to land on our countdown of Mountain West football’s best athletes.

2019 was Walker’s first full year as a starter and he thrived almost immediately, leading the team in tackles during their comeback victory over Florida State and eventually finishing the fall with 53 tackles, three tackles for loss, nine passes defended, and a pick-six.

For his efforts, Walker earned a spot on the all-conference second team. Given that Pro Football Focus also graded him out as the fourth-best player at any position in the Mountain West, however, his ceiling in 2020 could be much higher.

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UNLV’s Game vs. Iowa State Is In Question

The Big 12 is going to a nine-game slate plus one non-league game and that means cutting a few games and that could include UNLV’s contest.

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UNLV’s Game vs. Iowa State Is In Question

Big 12 is going with a nine-game conference slate and one non-league game.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

UNLV could be down a third game

The Big 12 made the announcement that they are going away from a 12-game schedule but will now go to nine league games plus one other non-conference game.

 

UNLV is the only Mountain West school that has a game vs. the Big 12 this year and that opponent is Iowa State. There is no word on if that game will be played or not as it is still early.

The Cyclones have already made some scheduling changes this year and added Ball State to replace a game. With Ball State being in nearby Indiana it might make more sense to keep that game on the schedule than to play the Rebels.

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Those decisions probably will be made within a week or two as these non-conference games need to be played before any Big 12 games which are to begin in either the second or third week.

If UNLV does lose the Iowa State game, they would be down to just nine games after the Arizona State and Cal games have been cleared off the schedule.

The Rebels were recently in talks with TCU for a Week 0 game and there is no word if that is still in the works as the Horned Frogs only non-league game.

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Someone submitted Ole Miss’ Egg Bowl penalty as an option for Mississippi’s new state flag

We have a winner.

Back in late June, the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the state flag, which had featured the confederate battle emblem for 126 years. And in the month since that historic vote, the state has opened up the design process of a new state flag to the people of Mississippi.

On Monday, more than 2,000 design submissions were released by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The rules stipulated that submissions could not include confederate imagery, and the words “In God We Trust” must be part of the design. Other than that, it was basically fair game.

And I think we can stop the search now because we’ve found a surefire winner.

You may remember the wild ending to the 2019 Egg Bowl (the Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry game) where Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore mimicked a peeing dog to celebrate a late touchdown to bring Ole Miss within a point of tying. Moore was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty, forcing a longer extra-point try, which was missed. Ole Miss lost, 21-20.

Well, someone wanted that image to be the new state flag of Mississippi. The designer ever added some rainbow text straight out of first-generation Microsoft Word.

Sure, it might be easy to dismiss that submission as a joke, but it’s an objective improvement over the flag that represented the state of Mississippi for 126 years. I wouldn’t rule it out.

You can check out all the submissions here.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #25, Boise State CB Avery Williams

Boise State’s cornerback and punt return specialist joins rare company in appearing yet again on our list of Mountain West football’s best.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #25, Boise State CB Avery Williams

The Broncos cornerback and punt return specialist joins rare company in appearing yet again on our list of Mountain West football’s best.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

One of the conference’s most versatile contributors.

Boise State cornerback and punt returner dynamo Avery Williams has become a very familiar face on our annual countdown of the conference’s best players over the past few years. His appearance on this year’s list enables him to join a select few who have made our list three times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpMNrN4J3ZYI

And why not? The reigning special teams player of the year has pulled double duty on the blue for the last two years, collecting 39 tackles in 2019 to go along with 1.5 tackles for loss and four passes defended as a cornerback. As you might have guessed, though, he made most of his impact in the area of the game for which he was recognized by the conference media, blocking two kicks and finishing the year as one of two FBS players to have multiple punt return touchdowns.

Now a senior member of one of the conference’s most loaded secondaries, Williams remains as important as ever for a Broncos team preparing for yet another title defense.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #26, Fresno State LB Justin Rice

The Fresno State linebacker is the first Bulldog named to our annual list of the conference’s best athletes.

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2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #26, Fresno State LB Justin Rice

The Fresno State linebacker is the first Bulldog named to our annual list of the conference’s best athletes.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

An all-around playmaker.

The media’s pick for preseason defensive player of the year is the next entry on our countdown of the Mountain West Conference’s best football players in 2020.

If Fresno State linebacker Justin Rice’s emergence in a field of talented defenders came as a surprise, you might have looked past what he actually accomplished even while the team had an uneven 2019. He finished third in the conference with 112 total tackles and, more importantly, proved he could be a disruptive playmaker by tallying three sacks, eight tackles for loss, eight passes defended, two interceptions and four forced fumbles. In other words, offenses needed to be careful with the ball if Rice was in the vicinity.

With a full season under his belt, Rice will anchor a retooled Bulldogs defense that hopes to rebound from last year’s decline. If he’s anywhere near as dynamic as he was last fall, that’ll be a good start.

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Colorado State Football: Players To Watch In 2020

Who should Rams’ fans pay attention to this season? Here are six players to keep an eye on when the 2020 season kicks off.

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Colorado State Football: Players To Watch In 2020

The Rams bring a load of talent to the field. We look at some players to keep an eye on.

Contact/Follow @J0shFr3d & @MWCwire

Who do Rams fans need to keep an eye on?

The 2020 season is in some doubts. At best it looks to be a conference only schedule. At worst the entire season will be postponed or cancelled. Let’s hope for the best and take a look at some talent to keep an eye on for this Colorado State squad.

The obvious candidates are Warren Jackson, Dante Wright, and Trey McBride. But we’re going to go a different route and list those role players who could have a bigger than expected impact on this Rams squad this season.

Offense

1. Jaylen Thomas, RB

Coming into the 2019 season, Thomas wasn’t expected to see the field much. However he immediately made a good impression on the coaches to earn playing time. He was behind Marvin Kinsey and Marcus McElroy and only earning a few touches. When Kinsey was dismissed from the team Thomas saw his touches increase from an average of four per game to 9.6 per game.

Thomas looks to build on his decent stat line from his freshman year. He finished the 2019 season with 68 attempts for 222 yards and three scores. He also added 14 catches for 113 yards, becoming the Rams primary receiving threat out of the backfield when Marvin Kinsey left. If Thomas can stake his claim on the RB2 position on the depth chart, the Rams could have an electric backfield combo this season.

2. Cameron Butler, TE

The man you can’t sleep on according to Warren Jackson. Coming into the 2019 season, both Butler and Trey McBride were placed on the Mackey Award watch list. Butler had just come off an impressive two year run as an underclassman and was expected to take on an expanded role. He put in work in the offseason to become a better blocker and unfortunately that work caught up to him. Butler got bit by the injury bug and he missed the Rams final five games of 2019.

If Butler can get over that bout with the injury bug the Rams can potentially claim to have one of the better tight end duos in the nation. All of the attention will be on McBride, but Butler can sneak in there and make defenses remember that the Rams aren’t a one man show at the tight end position.

3. Elijah Johnson, OL

Not a player you would expect to be on this list. Johnson was hurt for most of his career at Boston College, playing in just three games since his freshman season in 2016. But he, along with Cam Reddy and Adam Korutz, brings a knowledge of head coach Steve Addazio’s systems.

Nothing can replace actual playing experience, which the three transfers don’t have a lot of, but the knowledge they do bring can help bring the line up to speed faster and help them gel quicker as a unit. Chemistry has been the one thing this unit has seemed to struggle with for the past couple of years. Johnson could be a key piece to bring that chemistry back.

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Hawaii To Push Back Start Of Fall Camp

Due to a COVID-19 positive test, Hawaii football is delaying fall camp.

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Hawaii To Push Back Start Of Fall Camp

Warriors camp delayed.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

COVID-19 positive test delay’s camp.

Hawaii was to begin fall camp on Monday in preparation for the upcoming season which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 26 vs. Robert Morris, but now due to a player testing positive camp will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The player is not known due to the university is following all privacy and confidentiality laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

All 116 of the player were tested in late July and just the one tested positive and have mild symptoms while recovering.

Testing will still be completed on a weekly basis per the NCAA and this is to make sure to keep everyone safe on the football field. Hopefully, this is just a blip in the radar for this team and they can keep players and coaches safe.

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PODCAST: 2020 Fresno State Football Preview

Have a listen to our latest preview podcast which features Fresno State.

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PODCAST: 2020 Fresno State Football Preview

Bulldogs have a new coach, will it lead to success?

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

2020 could be the year of the Bulldog?

Jeremy and Matt are back to preview the 2020 Fresno State football season. The Bulldogs have a new head coach in Kalen DeBoer but he is no stranger to Fresno State fans as he was the offensive coordinator during the 2018-19 seasons which saw Fresno State go to a pair of Mountain West title games.

The offense will have a new quarterback which should be better than last year in the race to replace Jorge Renya and it should be an upgrade for whoever gets the job. The running back group is deep with Ronnie Rivers and the return of Jordan Mimms from injury. The wide receiver group is deep but an emerging star is still up in the air.

The defense was not up to standards in 2019 and with returning talent like linebacker Justin Rice who is one of the best defenders in the league, and the defense should take a step forward and no longer be near the bottom of the Mountain West but rather improve to at least average, if not better.

You can find the Mountain West Wire podcast below or subscribe to the show via Anchor, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, Spotify, iTunes, and more. Listen in, subscribe and rate it and let us know what you think!

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Here is our list of complete sponsors.

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Trevor Lawrence offered his support for the Pac-12 players’ boycott effort

Could other conferences follow?

As the power conferences continued to push forward with hopes of holding a college football season amid a global pandemic, players from the Pac-12 Conference went public with a threat to boycott the season if certain demands were not met.

In an article entry with The Players’ Tribune, “Players of the Pac-12” urged the conference to take specific action in the interest of player safety, social and racial justice and protecting player scholarships.

That core message seemed to have the backing of college football’s biggest star as well.

Commenting on a tweet from Washington cornerback Elijah Molden, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence endorsed the Pac-12 players’ push for fair treatment.

In Molden’s original tweet, he noted that there were components of the Pac-12 players’ demands that he didn’t necessarily agree with (though he didn’t go into specifics). But the primary point of college athletes using their voices to challenge an exploitive system was something Molden supported.

And it sounded like Lawrence was in agreement there.

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