Coaches say MWC race is a 6-way battle

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, July 27, 1999 | 10:26 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Is the new Mountain West Conference too good for its own good when it comes to football?

That was a hot topic of conversation among head coaches at Monday's inaugural MWC Media Day here.

Although BYU was the unanimous choice in both the coaches' and the media poll to win the MWC title, the eight head coaches were in agreement that any one of six teams -- the Cougars, Air Force, Colorado State, Utah, San Diego State and Wyoming -- could win the championship this year.

"I think we are a contender," San Diego State's Ted Tollner said. "But I don't know how to separate the top six teams in this conference. All of them are legitimate contenders. I think this is a conference that could have a champion with a 5-2 record."

"Two losses can definitely win a championship in this conference," seconded Colorado State's Sonny Lubick. "I think there will be a lot of parity in this league."

"I think it will be a league that parallels the ACC in basketball," Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said. "I think that on any given Saturday that anybody is capable of whipping anybody."

Which could be a problem for a new conference trying to make a name for itself nationally. What happens if the league winds up with a bunch of 7-4 and 8-3 teams at the top battling just to make it into the Top 25? Can the league receive any legitimate national attention unless one of its teams makes a run at a national title, or at least the top 10?

The key, according to Mountain West coaches, will be winning some of their marquee non-conference matchups with teams such as Tennessee (Wyoming), Colorado (Colorado State), Washington (BYU, Air Force), USC (San Diego State) and Washington State (Utah).

"The best thing this league can do is win some of these (non-conference) games we're playing," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for this league to have three or four teams ranked in the top 20 at one time. But we've got to go out and win some of these big games."

"If we wind up with three teams at 5-2 (for first place) and they all end up overall at 7-4, then some people may view it as a mediocre conference," Tollner said. "But a lot still depends on what we do out of the conference. If we lose those games, then we run the risk of the mediocrity thing."

* STRIKE UP THE BAND: Utah running back Mike Anderson, who was named the Mountain West Conference's preseason Offensive Player of the Year on Monday, didn't play high school football.

Instead, the 6-0, 232-pound senior from Fairfield Central High School in Winnsboro, S.C., played drums in the band.

Anderson, who has been compared by Utah coach Ron McBride to former Ute and current Atlanta Falcons star Jamal Anderson, tried out for his high school team as a freshman but quit when the coach wanted to make him an offensive lineman.

So Anderson decided to join the school band. He marched and played at halftime, pep rallies, parades and once even played at a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.

"I did it because it was really fun," Anderson said. "I really got involved. We did hip stuff, Christmas music, the usual band music."

Anderson joined the Marines after high school. He handled radio operations for an artillery and eventually saw overseas duty in Somalia and Kenya.

During his third years in the Marines, he began playing flag football for his unit. He eventually moved on to the unit's full-contact squad where a junior college assistant from Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.) JC urged him to later play. He went on to become the 1997 California Junior College Player of the Year with a school-record 1,686 yards.

Anderson, who turns 26 in September, led the WAC in rushing and was 20th in the nation with a 106.6 yards per game average. He has been timed at 4.62 in the 40, benches 300 pounds and has a 35.8-inch vertical leap.

Not bad for a former high school drummer.

* RUNNING ON EMPTY?: Although BYU was picked to win the first MWC title, the Cougars must replace both of their top running backs from 1998.

Speedster Ronney Jenkins, who rushed for 1,307 yards and scored 13 touchdowns last season, has transferred to Northern Arizona University after getting suspended from school for code violations.

Meanwhile, talented backup Junior Mahe (481 yards, 6 TDs), who some felt had the potential to be as good as Jenkins, was kicked out of school after spring practice for violations of the school's strict code of conduct.

Edwards is hopeful that Mahe will return to BYU after attending a junior college this season.

Redshirt sophomore Jaron Dabney, who sat out last season with his own code violation problems, and a couple of highly-touted true freshman, Luke Staley of Tulatin, Ore., and Naufahi Tafi of West Valley City, Utah, will be counted on to pick up the slack for the losses of Jenkins and Mahe.