Two A Days: The WAC

With the college football season only a week away, Danger Zone Sports is ready! Every day until kickoff, there will be two college football posts up on the blog. So get excited for the most wonderful time of the year!

We'll kick off Two A Days with out first conference preview as we take on the WAC.

With the departure of Hawaii, Nevada, and Fresno State the depleted WAC stands as the weakest conference in Division I. All is not lost however; Louisiana Tech is fielding one of their strongest teams in years and should breeze through their conference schedule and also will challenge their non-conference foes.

1.   Louisiana Tech—The Bulldogs are undoubtedly the class of the conference and are in excellent position to improve on last season’s respectable 8-5 mark. Led by a tenacious defense that ranked 1^st in the WAC in both total defense and run defense, the Bulldogs are able to shut down any conference foe’s offense and probably will. On the offensive side of the ball, senior Colby Cameron (1,667 yards and 13 touchdowns) looks to pick up where he left off after a torrential 2011 season.  In addition to dominating the conference, Tech should also expect to pick up non-conference wins against Houston, Rice, UNLV and could possibly steal a win from Illinois in Champaign. Final Prediction: (9-3, 6-0 Sun Belt, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl)

2. San Jose State—After a mediocre 2011, the Spartans are looking to have a breakout season. Led by a passing attack that ranked in the Top 25 nationally; returning from the passing attack are three receivers including first team All-WAC Noel Grigsby (89 catches, 866 yards). Also returning is first team All-WAC tight end Ryan Otten. The returners should ease the pain of replacing last year’s starter, a job that will most likely fall to junior David Fales who emerged from the spring as the starter. On defense the Spartans return only four starters and the kicking game is also filled with question marks. There is no question that any game the Spartans are in will feature a ton of offense from both teams. Final Prediction (7-5, 5-1, no bowl)

3.  Utah State-Last year’s conference leader in scoring and rushing offense, the Aggies are hoping to use their high powered ground attack to achieve 2012 success. Returning 5 starters on offense, including three members of the offensive line, they will continue to pound the ball. Taking the bulk of the carries will be senior Kerwynn Williams who rushed for 542 yards on only 81 carries last season. On the defensive side of the ball the Aggies have 6 starters returning from the top ranked unit in the WAC, highlighted by three upperclassmen in the secondary. To make any real noise in the WAC however, the Aggies must improve on their turnover margin which ranked 106^th nationally in 2011. Final Prediction (6-6, 4-2, no bowl)

4. New Mexico State—Despite a passing attack that ranked 26^th in the nation last season, the Aggies only managed to win 4 games. 2012 does look better however, with the return of sophomore Andrew Manley, who started at the beginning of 2011 before being sidelined with a knee injury. The defense also looks stronger with a linebacking corps that returns three upperclassmen and adds a top junior college transfer in linebacker Trashaun Nixon. If the Aggies can improve on the defensive side of the ball, a .500 record is not out of the question. Final Prediction (5-7, 3-3, no bowl)

5. Idaho—The Vandals finished 2011 at a disappointing 2-10 mark, including two overtime losses. This year’s team does not look much stronger and will benefit from playing Division I newcomers Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. Outside of the return of receiver Mike Scott (55 catches, 691 yards, 2 touchdowns), the offense is welcoming essentially a new batch of starters at the skill positions. The defense is dealing with a similar problem, and will have to replace 6 of their front 7. The defense wasn’t that strong to begin with, ranking in the bottom 10 in both passing and total defense. It looks to be a long year for the Vandals. Final Prediction (3-9, 2-4, no bowl)

6. Texas State—Division I newcomer Texas State is faced with an immense challenge with the move up to the tougher FBS after a year in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA). If the Bobcats are to have any success in their new conference they must continue to utilize their run game that averaged 195.3 yards per game in 2011. Shouldering the load will be sophomore tailback Terrence Franks (146 carries, 863 yards, 9 touchdowns) who had an impressive freshman campaign and will be counted on to lead the Bobcats against improved defenses. Final Prediction (2-10, 1-5, no bowl)

7. Texas-San Antonio—The Roadrunners (nice name) are another FBS newcomer who will only spend one season in the WAC before heading to Conference USA in 2013. Despite returning 18 starters (9 on both offense and defense), 2012 will be rough. Quarterback Eric Soza (2,148 yards, 14 touchdowns) will lead the offense against a schedule that features 8 FBS opponents and 5 lower level opponents. Final Prediction: (5-7, 0-6, no bowl) 

Offensive Player of the Year: Colby Cameron, QB, Louisiana Tech

Defensive Player of the Year:  McKade Brady, FS, Utah State