Big West:
Following the
Packby Albert Lin,
CNN/SI
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 1998
Projected Order
of
Finish
|
1.
Nevada
2.
Utah
State
3.Boise
State
4.
New Mexico
State
5. North
Texas
6.
Idaho
|
|
|
|
|
|
Offensive Player of the
Year
|
|
Erik
Stidham, QB, Jr.,
Nevada
| | Steps right into the Wolf Pack's high-powered offense.
Juco transfer will become Nevada's fifth Big West Offensive
Player of the Year in six
seasons.
| |
|
Defensive Player of the
Year
|
|
Tony
D'Amato, LB, Sr., Utah
State
| | Made 124 tackles and five sacks last season. Prototypical
insider
'backer.
| |
|
Newcomer of the
Year
|
|
Erik
Stidham, QB, Jr.,
Nevada
| | Threw for 4,215 yards and 34 TDs in two years at Chaffey
College. Another good omen: Wolf Pack's starting receivers,
tailback and tight end all
return.
| |
|
Coach on the Hot
Seat
|
|
Jeff
Tisdel, Nevada (5-6 in
'97)
| | After enduring the school's second losing record in 22
seasons (though the Wolf Pack still tied for the Big West
title), Tisdel must break in a new QB while trying to get
back over
.500.
| |
|
Conference
Game-Breaker
|
|
Trevor
Insley, WR, Jr.,
Nevada
| | Grabbed 59 catches for 1,151 yards and six TDs, averaging
nearly 20 yards per
reception.
| |
|
Most Underrated
Player
|
|
Chris
Lemon, RB, Jr.,
Nevada
| | Gets lost in the Wolf Pack's aerial attack, but it's hard
to ignore 1,055 rushing yards and a conference-high 19
TDs.
| |
|
Best
Name
|
|
Aristotle
Thompson, SS, So., Boise
State
| | Runner-up:
Dempsey
Dees, CB, So., Boise
State
| |
|
Toughest
Schedule
|
|
North
Texas might as well be in the Big 13, since it plays four Big 12
schools (Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Kansas); also
travels to Arizona
State.
| |
|
Creampuff
Schedule
|
|
Boise State
has a trio of games—all at home—scheduled against
schools that we didn't know still played football (Cal
State-Northridge, Portland State, Weber
State).
| |
|
Red-Letter
Game
|
| Nevada at Utah
State, Nov.
7
| | Should decide conference title, though with each team
playing only five league games, a one-game swing here or
there could change things
dramatically.
| |
|
Drop This Name to Make Yourself Sound Smarter at the Water
Cooler
|
|
Demario
Brown, RB, Jr., Utah
State
| | Despite missing three games with a knee injury, rushed for
971 yards and 10 touchdowns on only 184
carries.
| |
|
Going
Bowling
|
|
Whoever wins the conference title automatically goes to the
Humanitarian Bowl, whatever that
is.
| |
|
Top Three
Storylines
|
|
Air
apparent?
| |
Junior college transfer Erik Stidham tries to fill Nevada's
void at QB and turn around a losing (5-6)
team.
|
| Strength in
numbers
| |
Boise State returns 10 starters on both sides of the ball;
can new coach Dirk Koetter get the Broncos over the
hump?
|
| He's the
Manns
| |
Will New Mexico State's 1,000-yard rusher,
Denvis Manns, and nine other returning offensive starters help
the Aggies to a conference win after going 0-5 last season?
| |
|
