Saturday was the WAC's big test against top flight competition from other leagues. The results weren't pretty for WAC fans.
Fresno State, which posted a come-from-behind 25-24 win over California, made sure the day wasn't a complete washout for the conference. The other five non-league games ended in defeat for the WAC teams. Utah and BYU lost to Pac-10 foes Stanford and UCLA in games that were respectably close, but San Diego State, Colorado State and UTEP were blown out by Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona State respectively.WAC teams - which went 7-3 against the Pac-10 last season - are now 2-4 against the Pac-10 and just 3-8 against Division I-A competition outside of the league.
"Oklahoma is a great football team and we have a ways to go to be at that level," said San Diego State coach Ted Tollner.
The same can likely be said for the entire WAC this season. After a banner year in 1994, the WAC has returned to being near the bottom of the Division 1-A food chain. Only the Big West and the Mid American conferences are weaker.
QB ROULETTE: Few WAC teams returned experienced quarterbacks this season, which is a major reason the league is in a rebuilding mode. Gone are long-time starters like Stoney Case, John Walsh, Mike McCoy and Anthoney Hill.
Two weeks into the season there are still quarterback controversies at nearly half the league's schools.
Fresno State has gone from Richie Donati as the starter to Jim Arellanes and back to Donati already. Colorado State has been alternating juniors Daren Wilkinson and Moses Moreno, while Utah starter Brandon Jones was benched mid-game against Stanford for Mike Fouts.
Injuries have forced Air Force to use Beau Morgan and Tommy Brown in both games, while Hawaii has played both Glenn Freitas and John Hao and New Mexico backup QB Donald Sellers saw most of the action in the Lobos' only game due to a separated shoulder to starter Scott Peterson.
SDSU's Billy Blanton and BYU's Steve Sarkisian appear to be the QB's with the firmest grips on their team's reins.
CLEAN LIVING: Air Force has not only whipped WAC rivals BYU and Wyoming by the combined score of 72-22, but they've been winning while playing by the rules - or at least not getting caught breaking them.
For just the third time in WAC history and the first time in 12 years, the Falcons went the entire game against Wyoming without any penalties. In the season opener, Air Force had only three penalties for 25 yards. Two games into the season the Falcons are averaging just 12.5 yards per game in penalties.
Utah and BYU, despite being a combined 0-4 on the year, haven't had too many problems with officials either. The Utes are the league's second least penalized team this season averaging 50 yards in penalties per game, while the Cougars are right behind, averaging 50.5 yards in penalties.
NEW WAC UPDATE: The six teams that will join the league next season when the WAC expands to 16 teams have a 5-5 record so far this year. Rice (1-0), Texas Christian (1-0), Southern Methodist (1-1) and Tulsa (1-1) will be grouped with BYU, Utah, New Mexico and UTEP in one of the WAC's two divisions next season. TCU and Tulsa both scored victories over Big 8 foes last week. The Horned Frogs downed Iowa State 27-10, while the Golden Hurricane edged Oklahoma State 24-23.
The other two WAC newcomers are UNLV (1-1) and San Jose State (0-2).
PREDICTIONS: After just two league games during the first two weeks, the WAC season gets into full swing this weekend with four conference games.
Air Force can take a giant step toward the WAC title with a home victory over the defending titlist Colorado State. While the Rams are still playing musical quarterbacks with the so far uninspiring tandem of Moreno and Wilkinson, the Falcons have a potent combo at QB in Morgan and Brown . . . Falcons 32, Rams 16.
Utah and BYU with both end their two-game losing streaks. The Utes will open the WAC campaign with a 27-21 win over New Mexico, while the Cougars will finally get the scoring offense going in a 31-29 win over San Diego State.
Hawaii will be suffering both jet lag and culture shock in Laramie, so the Cowboys will win, 24-17.
UTEP (0-2) had to schedule a Division II team, Valdosta State, to ensure a win this season. It will be something like 42-14. Fresno State will improve to 3-0 with a lopsided 38-14 win over ex Utah State coach Chuck Shelton's Pacific team.