Rams at Falcons: Showdown comes early this season

The leaves have yet to turn and the calendar still says it's summertime. But the most important game in the WAC Mountain Division race could be Thursday night when Air Force (2-0, 1-0) hosts Colorado State (2-1, 0-0) on ESPN.

The Falcons, who have outscored their first two opponents (Wake Forest and UNLV) by a combined score of 94-10, and the Rams, the consensus preseason pick to win the WAC, look to clearly be the two top teams in the Mountain Division this year, although both Rice (1-1, 1-0) and Wyoming (1-0, 0-0) could make things interesting.

With the WAC bowl picture still in chaos, there's a chance the loser of Thursday night's game could be on the outside looking in when bowl bids are handed out in December. Depending on how successful WAC commissioner Karl Benson is with bowl representatives in the upcoming weeks, the WAC could have as many as four or as few as two bowl spots this year.

Adding to the drama is the fact Air Force blanked the Rams 24-0 last year in Ft. Collins.

Naturally, both Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry and Colorado State's Sonny Lubick are doing their best to downplay the contest as a possible bowl elimination game.

"It's so early in the season," DeBerry said during Monday's WAC media conference call. "We're not trying to make it a make-it-or-break-it game for the season. We're just trying to take them one game at a time."

"I don't even look at it that way," Lubick said. "A lot of things will happen during the next eight or nine weeks. Even the national picture could change eight or nine more times during that period."

Still, the winner of Thursday night's game will have the inside track to the WAC Mountain title.

"I'm not smart enough to think that far ahead," DeBerry said. "I think anybody in the conference can beat anybody.

"Look at what happened Saturday with Michigan State and Notre Dame and North Carolina State and Florida State. There's so much parity in college football today that I think any team can beat anybody on any given day."

Yo, Fisher. Did you forget that UNLV is still in the WAC?

Stat-ic

UNLV ranks last in the 16-team WAC in rushing offense (14.5 yards per game) and rushing defense (276.5 yards allowed per game) in this week's WAC stats.

The good news? The Rebels rank third in the conference in passing offense (226.0 yards per game) and Hayward leads the conference in quarterback efficiency with a rating of 214.7. Crook is 15th with a 100.2 rating, but ranks ninth in the conference in total offense with a 144.5 yards per game average.

Wide receiver Len Ware is tied for second in the WAC in receiving with an average of 7.0 catches per game.

UNLV doesn't have a running back listed among the conference's top 25 rushers.

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