Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

College Pigskin Preview

Did you see the 2009 Mountain West Conference preseason media poll? TCU is picked to win the conference (a reasonable choice), BYU second, Utah third, and so on down the list — Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico — so far, so good…AND THEN, San Diego State and Wyoming.

WHAT? How, exactly, did Wyoming beat out San Diego for last place? Yes, the two teams were tied at the bottom in 2008, but SDSU easily won the tie-breaker with a 2-10 overall season record, and for good measure, played its worst season in 25 years. And do not gloss over Aztec pedigree — San Diego has not won a bowl game in 40 years.

On the phone is Austin Ward, 26, Cowboys beat reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s largest newspaper and the only one distributed statewide. Ward is a walking trifecta: raised, educated, and working in Wyoming. I’m ranting about the MAC media poll — “They had Wyoming coming in last. How could that be? We’ve been holding onto that position as a birthright.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ward says, “I don’t necessarily agree with [Wyoming’s ranking], but it’s a reflection of coaching changes and offensive struggles [in Wyoming] for the last couple of years. That’s been the traditional way for media around the league: they look at coaching changes and give other teams a little more credit for continuity.”

I call that and raise. “San Diego has had three head football coaches in the last three and a half years.” (No need to mention 17 head coaches in 40 years of Division I play, which works out to one new guy every 2.35 years.) “As for recruiting, it’s tough to recruit being in Southern California, next to the beach and all that. How’s recruiting up there?”

Ward laughs, “I wouldn’t say they’re stealing a lot of players from TCU, but Dave Christensen [new head coach] had a more successful month and a half of recruiting than Joe Glenn [previous head coach, six-year tenure, 30-41 record] had in his entire career. The team hadn’t been higher than seventh under Joe Glenn. He didn’t spend a lot of time on recruiting. This is a group that’s much more committed to recruiting and doing it year ’round, which is a big change. They feel like they’ve had a lot of success so far.”

I ask, “How old is Christensen?”

“Not quite 50, but he’s been in the business for awhile. He was the offensive coordinator at Missouri.”

“Yeah, when I read that I thought, ‘Sixteen years as assistant coach at Missouri. Either he’s not good enough to get offered a job early on, or he’s over the hill and Wyoming couldn’t find anyone better.’”

“That whole staff at Missouri was very loyal,” Ward says. “There was one point around 2004, before Christensen changed the spread, when Missouri wanted to run [head coach] Pinkel and his group out of town. But, they’ve had so much success over the last couple years [12-2 and 10-4 seasons with two bowl wins], Dave had his pick of jobs, at least between Washington, New Mexico, and Wyoming. He’s got a good fit right now, and sometimes you have to wait for that chance.”

“How do you see their year? What’s their toughest game?”

“Obviously, Texas is an unwinnable game [Texas plays at Laramie September 12th].”

“What’s the spread, 30?”

“I think I saw one line around 35,” Ward says. “The end result is going to be up to Texas. Inside the league, look at any of the top three. TCU and BYU are both in Laramie. Christensen can get a little better crack at them depending how the quarterback play develops. Then, they’re going to Utah — that’s a place they’ve never had any success or luck. Utah will probably be back in form by then, after sorting out their quarterback situation, so that seems like the toughest conference game.”

“What’s your prediction?”

“I’m more optimistic than most around here. I always use the comparison with Colorado State. I don’t see why 6 and 6 would be out of the question for them…if they can win at Florida Atlantic and go 2 and 2 outside the league, then they have a realistic shot at going 4 and 4 in conference play. That would be a huge boost for them.

“You look at last year with Steve Fairchild. I think he exceeded expectations at Colorado State by a good measure. All you’ve got to do is get up to 6 and 6 and then win your bowl game. You look pretty good. That can happen in one year. You never know how everyone is going to respond to a new coaching staff and if things click right away.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach

Did you see the 2009 Mountain West Conference preseason media poll? TCU is picked to win the conference (a reasonable choice), BYU second, Utah third, and so on down the list — Air Force, UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico — so far, so good…AND THEN, San Diego State and Wyoming.

WHAT? How, exactly, did Wyoming beat out San Diego for last place? Yes, the two teams were tied at the bottom in 2008, but SDSU easily won the tie-breaker with a 2-10 overall season record, and for good measure, played its worst season in 25 years. And do not gloss over Aztec pedigree — San Diego has not won a bowl game in 40 years.

On the phone is Austin Ward, 26, Cowboys beat reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s largest newspaper and the only one distributed statewide. Ward is a walking trifecta: raised, educated, and working in Wyoming. I’m ranting about the MAC media poll — “They had Wyoming coming in last. How could that be? We’ve been holding onto that position as a birthright.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ward says, “I don’t necessarily agree with [Wyoming’s ranking], but it’s a reflection of coaching changes and offensive struggles [in Wyoming] for the last couple of years. That’s been the traditional way for media around the league: they look at coaching changes and give other teams a little more credit for continuity.”

I call that and raise. “San Diego has had three head football coaches in the last three and a half years.” (No need to mention 17 head coaches in 40 years of Division I play, which works out to one new guy every 2.35 years.) “As for recruiting, it’s tough to recruit being in Southern California, next to the beach and all that. How’s recruiting up there?”

Ward laughs, “I wouldn’t say they’re stealing a lot of players from TCU, but Dave Christensen [new head coach] had a more successful month and a half of recruiting than Joe Glenn [previous head coach, six-year tenure, 30-41 record] had in his entire career. The team hadn’t been higher than seventh under Joe Glenn. He didn’t spend a lot of time on recruiting. This is a group that’s much more committed to recruiting and doing it year ’round, which is a big change. They feel like they’ve had a lot of success so far.”

I ask, “How old is Christensen?”

“Not quite 50, but he’s been in the business for awhile. He was the offensive coordinator at Missouri.”

“Yeah, when I read that I thought, ‘Sixteen years as assistant coach at Missouri. Either he’s not good enough to get offered a job early on, or he’s over the hill and Wyoming couldn’t find anyone better.’”

“That whole staff at Missouri was very loyal,” Ward says. “There was one point around 2004, before Christensen changed the spread, when Missouri wanted to run [head coach] Pinkel and his group out of town. But, they’ve had so much success over the last couple years [12-2 and 10-4 seasons with two bowl wins], Dave had his pick of jobs, at least between Washington, New Mexico, and Wyoming. He’s got a good fit right now, and sometimes you have to wait for that chance.”

“How do you see their year? What’s their toughest game?”

“Obviously, Texas is an unwinnable game [Texas plays at Laramie September 12th].”

“What’s the spread, 30?”

“I think I saw one line around 35,” Ward says. “The end result is going to be up to Texas. Inside the league, look at any of the top three. TCU and BYU are both in Laramie. Christensen can get a little better crack at them depending how the quarterback play develops. Then, they’re going to Utah — that’s a place they’ve never had any success or luck. Utah will probably be back in form by then, after sorting out their quarterback situation, so that seems like the toughest conference game.”

“What’s your prediction?”

“I’m more optimistic than most around here. I always use the comparison with Colorado State. I don’t see why 6 and 6 would be out of the question for them…if they can win at Florida Atlantic and go 2 and 2 outside the league, then they have a realistic shot at going 4 and 4 in conference play. That would be a huge boost for them.

“You look at last year with Steve Fairchild. I think he exceeded expectations at Colorado State by a good measure. All you’ve got to do is get up to 6 and 6 and then win your bowl game. You look pretty good. That can happen in one year. You never know how everyone is going to respond to a new coaching staff and if things click right away.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.