The Western Athletic Conference has had its share of big games over the years. BYU-Arizona State in 1977, BYU-Air Force in 1985 and BYU-San Diego State in 1991 were all late-season games with title implications.
None, though, compare with Saturday's matchup between Colorado State and Utah at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins at 1:30 p.m.Both teams are unbeaten and both ranked among the nation's top 20 teams. According to Associate WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd, it's biggest game in WAC
history. "It's the first time we've ever had two undefeated teams playing each other this late in the season," said Hurd. He said it's also the first time since the Arizona State-New Mexico game of 1970 that two teams have been unbeaten in league games this late in the year.
The Utah-Colorado State game will be televised on ABC-TV Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as the "B" game (ABC ranks its games A through F) with Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil doing the commentating. The Rams played on ABC in its final game last year against Wyoming, while Utah hasn't been on ABC since 1991 when it played San Diego State at home.
"This is obviously a big game," said Ute coach Ron McBride. "Both teams are in good position that whoever wins has a good possibility of going to the Holiday Bowl if they keep on winning."
"The team who wins is going to be undefeated with only three or four weekends left in the season," said Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick.
Both Utah and Colorado State feature strong defenses and balanced offenses that can move the ball. Utah, which is in the national top 10 in several offensive and defensive categories, has the edge statistic-wise, but the Rams have two more impressive victories, wins over then-No. 6-ranked Arizona and BYU, which has worked its way back into the top-25.
McBride and Lubick agree that turnovers could play the key factor in the
outcome. "We've got to keep errors to a minimum," said McBride. "We can't have any turnovers and have to create some ourselves."
"The team that forces the most turnovers will probably win the ball game," said Lubick. "It's going to be difficult because Utah is a very good team. The only advantage we might have is that the game is at home."