MWC Winners and Losers: Week 2

By Ryan Greene

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 | 11:45 p.m.

Each week during the 2009 football season, we'll take a look at the winners and losers from the weekend in the Mountain West Conference.

Winner: BYU ... again

This had all the makings of a potential slop-fest for the Cougars. It was a relatively lackluster non-conference trip to New Orleans, of all places, sandwiched between a huge upset of then-No. 3 Oklahoma in their opener and their 2009 home debut against Florida State.

But BYU handled Tulane with incredible ease, racking up 527 yards of offense, allowing only 162 and forcing four turnovers. Oh, yeah, the final was a mere 54-3.

Games like this tell you which so-called 'contenders' really are, well, legitimate BCS threats. The fact that the Cougars suffered from no hangover and obviously weren't looking ahed speaks volumes.

Loser: New Mexico ... again

A 44-10 loss to Tulsa was more proof that first-year coach Mike Locksley may have a tougher road ahead than anyone else in the MWC in 2009.

The Lobos now have just 326 yards of total offense in two games and have yet to score an offensive touchdown. Making matters worse, at 0-2, their losses have come by a combined score of 85-16.

Winner: SDSU quarterback Ryan Lindley

My preseason pick as the best player you've never heard of in the Mountain West, the Aztecs' sophomore QB played mistake-free football and got SDSU coach Brady Hoke his first win with the program.

Yes, the Aztecs beat Southern Utah. I'm well aware of that.

But in constructing a 35-9 lead — and ultimately winning, 35-19 — Lindley went 20-of-30 for 287 yards and two touchdowns, then ran for another.

Mark my words: SDSU will beat someone nobody expects them to this year. I'm sure of it.

Loser: Colorado State ... almost

The fact is, the Rams are 2-0. But there's plenty of reason to believe that storm clouds could be in their near future.

They had a tough time shutting the door a week ago against Colorado, but still prevailed in Boulder for the first time in 23 years.

That win lost some shine after Colorado was blasted in Toledo on Friday night, and the Rams then went out a day later and almost lost to FCS foe Weber State ... at home.

If it weren't for a Weber State fumble at the CSU 11-yard line late in the fourth quarter, the upset more than likely would have come to fruition.

Steve Fairchild's club hosts UNR this weekend, then travels to face BYU. Lets talk in two weeks before passing too much judgement on 'em.

Winner: UNLV cornerback Deante' Purvis

The Rebels' cornerback couldn't help but feel awful after UNLV's 23-21 last-second loss to Oregon State, getting called for pass interference on a third-and-26 pass attempt with all of the momentum already on his team's side.

The drive stayed alive, the Beavers kicked the game-winning field goal a few snaps later and the Rebels were flat-out dejected.

But give some credit to the UNLV sophomore, who collected himself after awhile in the locker room and faced the media like a man, talking about the play that everyone had on their minds.

"I just made a bad play, wasn't thinking right right there, I didn't get my head around," he said. "I don't want to criticize the referees. It was just a bad play."

He didn't blame the refs and said all the right things. There's a lot to be said for how he carried himself in the wake of swallowing such a tough pill.

Loser: Wyoming faithful

What a tease.

The Cowboys, operating a spread offense under first-year coach Dave Christensen with limited weaponry, somehow hung with the No. 2 Texas Longhorns for an entire half, trailing just 13-10 at the break.

Then Texas remembered it was playing a football game, apparently. The result was a 41-10 blowout.

Oh well. Most non-conference foes haven't even hung with the Horns for an entire half in recent years.