This week's gridiron clash is the 2009 season finale as the Aggies invade the Smurf Turf in Boise, ID. We got the lowdown on the Broncos from Kevan at One Bronco Nation Under God, the laugh-out-loud funny but always informative Boise State football website.

The Broncos are 12-0 and hoping for a BCS bowl game for the second time in four years. If Boise State beats the Aggies, do they deserve a BCS game?
Call me old-fashioned, but I think any undefeated team deserves a shot at a BCS bowl game, especially a team that got looked over the previous year by the BCS committee. Going undefeated is a tall task in today's college football. I would even vouch for the inclusion of an undefeated Sun Belt team in a BCS game. Well, any team except for Louisiana-Lafayette because I'm not entirely convinced they are a real school.

Boise State has done everything asked of it to qualify for the BCS. The Broncos are playing by the rules, they are winning, and they are saying all the right things. If Boise State doesn't get in this year, it would be the equivalent of Fast and Furious not getting an Oscar nod. Actually, bad example. How about that Where The Wild Things Are movie? People liked that one, right?  Continue Reading This Post >>

After starting out 0-3 and whispers about the high powered Pistol offense being impotent, the Wolf Pack have responded in a huge way winning seven in a row and are lighting up the scoreboard averaging a staggering 50 points per game during the win streak. What's been the difference between the first three weeks and the last seven weeks for the offense?
There are three factors to the change in the offense. 1, they're not playing the caliber of teams they played in the first three games; 2, they're much better at limiting mistakes (at one point minus-12 in turnover ratio, now minus-2 and cutting penalties in half); and, 3, they're just come together better with the existing pieces to the pistol and the new additions. Kaepernick is running the offense very effectively.

Lost in all that scoring is the Nevada defense which has allowed just 42 points in the last three games. How much of that has been a byproduct of the three opponents (Hawai'i, San Jose State and Fresno State) and how much of that is Nevada's defense just being plain good?
The run defense is good. The pass defense isn't good yet, but it's getting better. Of their top four corners, three have very limited experience and they've simply grown as the season has gone on. They've also simplified their defense which allows safety Jonathon Amaya to be a little more free-wheeling, and he's making impact plays.  Continue Reading This Post >>

After starting out 2-0, the Warriors went through a six game losing streak and suffered a tough tough setback losing senior QB Greg Alexander. The offense didn't score much but in last week's game against USU it looks like the Warriors have found their groove again on offense. What was the difference?
I think it was a combination of Bryant Moniz hitting his stride in his fifth start and the running game just going crazy. The offense hasn't looked that good since Washington State. Teams must now have more respect for the UH run game, which should help Moniz's development. He's been looking better with each game.

The defense seems to have played well the last couple of week holding a very high powered Nevada team to 31 points and then holding Utah State's rushing attack to just 102 yards net. What's been the key for the turnaround?
The defense has always had talent, but has been decimated by injuries this season. It's also a fairly young defense. I think just playing together throughout the course of the season has allowed them to gel. There's also been some new defensive packages introduced recently that seems to have had a good impact.  Continue Reading This Post >>

This week's gridiron clash features the Aggies' first ever trip to Columbus, Ohio. We got the scoop on the Ohio State Buckeyes from Columbus Dispatch Ohio State beat writer Ken Gordon.

The Buckeyes and Aggies meet for the very first time on the gridiron this Saturday. What's the current state of the Buckeye squad?
This has been something of a transition year for the Buckeyes, particularly offensively, as they lost most of their skill-position players and entered their first full year with QB Terrelle Pryor at the helm. They have definitely suffered some growing pains, including a shocking upset at Purdue two weeks ago. They rebounded with a solid win last week, and defensively, they've been very solid all year, but overall, this is far from a juggernaut.  Continue Reading This Post >>

This week's gridiron clash features the Battle of the Aggies as Utah State invades Las Cruces to take on our New Mexico State Aggies. We got the lowdown on the northern Aggies from Utah State student blogger Scott Ficklin of the brand new Utah State blog True Blue A.

Utah State comes into this game 1-3 but all three losses have been on the road and all three losses have been to high level opponents. What would you say the expectations are for Utah State heading into conference play?
Utah State has been at the bottom of the college football world for more than a decade. The Aggies only have 6 wins in the past 3 seasons, 4 of which were over fellow bottom dwellers Idaho and New Mexico State. However, this season seems to carry expectations that do not correlate to the previous results. Aggie fans seem to expect a winning record in WAC play this year. The WAC boasts 5 of the nations top 20 offenses, and Utah State finally has an offense that can keep up, if not outshine, conference opponents. Most fans and critics have written off the Boise State game as a loss, but see the rest of the conference games winnable. Personally, I would be happy with a 4-4 conference mark and this would exceed expectations even, but I could see the Aggies having a chance to win 5, 6, or even 7 games in WAC play this year.  Continue Reading This Post >>

The 100th renewal of the Battle of I-25 gives us the opportunity to talk to Isaac Avilucea of The Daily Lobo, UNM's student daily newspaper. We asked Isaac to answer this week's Know The Foe Q&A to give Aggie fans an idea of what they can expect to see from our hated rivals to the north when the Aggies travel to Albuquerque on Saturday.

The Lobos come into this game having been blown out in their first three games. What is the mood around the Lobo locker room and is it any different this year in preparation for the Rio Grande Rivalry game than it has been in seasons past?

Is there the feeling that this a must-win game for the Lobos three games into the season?
If you eat at the trough of public-relations quotes — no. In my opinion, the Lobos face, if not the worst, certainly one of the most beatable teams on their schedule in the Aggies. After that, the Lobos are at Texas Tech and Wyoming, before returning to face UNLV.
Considering that they’ve lost by an average of 31 points — and haven’t been semi-competitive — you’d think they’d need a sports psychologist on call around the clock. But they’ve been relatively upbeat. That’s all Mike Locksley. If there’s one thing he’s not, it’s the King of Blues.  Continue Reading This Post >>

The 87th renewal of the Battle of I-10 gives us the opportunity to talk to one of the hardest working journalists around, Bret Bloomquist, the UTEP beat writer for The El Paso Times. Nobody outside the UTEP coaching staff knows the Miners better than Bret Bloomquist so we had him answer this week's Know The Foe Q&A to give Aggie fans an idea of what they can expect to see from our hated rivals to the south when they invade Aggie Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The Miners come into Saturday's game off of back-to-back losses to start the season but one of those games, Buffalo, probably should have resulted in a 'W'. What's the mood around the football team this week as they prepare for the Battle of I-10.
They were 0-3 last year and bounced back from it. They are frustrated but also glad they are playing an arch-rival that will be easy to get up for.

Since Aggies have won the last two meetings, in your opinion does that place any added pressure for this game beyond the normal rivalry and would this be a "must-win" game if UTEP were to have started 2-0 or 1-1?
UTEP really, really feels it has to get to a bowl and will need every win they can to get to 6-6 or 7-5. This is certainly one they have to win regardless of any rivalry or bowl implications. They probably can't get to six if they lose this and they know that.  Continue Reading This Post >>

The 2009 Aggie football season brings the return of our Know The Foe feature. The season opener against WAC foe Idaho gives us the opportunity to talk to Travis Mason-Bushman, editor of the outstanding Idaho Vandal blog Vandal Nation. Vandal Nation is published in association with the Idaho Argonaut, the Idaho student newspaper and is the definitive source for Idaho sports online.

How do Idaho fans feel about opening the season with a WAC game?
Mixed feelings - but honestly, I think it's better than opening with a body-bag game. It's gonna give us a chance to build confidence, and it forces the team to get in the winning mindset right away. It's a "fair fight" so to speak - both teams are in the rebuilding process, and both teams now have a winnable game to open the season. It's really going to set the tone for the year. If the Vandals can get the win, then we look like a team moving in the right direction, maybe back toward a modicum of respectability. If we screw the pooch, it's gonna be a long two months 'til hoops season.  Continue Reading This Post >>

The Aggie football team travels to Fresno State on Saturday and nobody knows the Bulldogs better than their own fans so we enlisted the help of Todd Kaufmann, the founder of The Red Wave to help you get a better feel for the Fresno State Bulldogs. And yes, we stole the name for this segment from our buddy Jack Nixon.

Injuries have played a big part in this season for the Bulldogs, who have been the biggest losses for the Bulldogs personnel wise?
Let's start with Cole Popovich, losing a great leader like him I think was a big blow to the Bulldog offensive line and especially to lose him so early in the season hurt as well.
 
The next name I'd bring up is senior defensive tackle Jon Monga.  Having him inactive for the past 6 games has really shown how important he is to this defense, especially after giving up 472 yards rushing to Nevada last Friday night.  That's embarassing to give up those kind of numbers, especially if you're a team who was ranked in the Top 25 for the first, what, 3-4 weeks of the season?  Since his injury, the Bulldogs have only had one game (Hawaii - 172) where they gave up less than 200 yards rushing.  Getting Monga back for this game, being as it could be the game that decides whether or not Fresno State plays in a bowl game this season, is at the exact right time.  Continue Reading This Post >>

The Aggie football team hosts Hawai'i on Saturday and nobody knows the Warriors better than their own fans so we enlisted the help of Tombo Ahi, the founder of Warriors Will Throw to help you get a better feel for the men from Manoa. And yes, we stole the name for this segment from our buddy Jack Nixon.

This has been a decidedly different year than last year for the Warrior football team, how patient have the fans been with this team and is there any sort of "grace" period because the team made it to a BCS bowl last season?
I think the hugeness of last year has made the inconsistency of this season a little more hard to take.  I and many others expected a fairly smooth transition despite the loss of Colt Brennan, June Jones, Davone Bess, etc.  UH was keeping the same offensive scheme, and a lot of the defensive and special teams personnel were coming back.  So it's understandable that some of the fans are freaking out.  On the other hand, a lot of fans have been pretty patient and are hoping the team has found its legs.  Continue Reading This Post >>