Air Force and Colorado State fans on the Front Range and points beyond won’t get a reprieve Thursday from a football telecast limited to The Mtn.
Before the Colorado-Colorado State game, the telecast was added to the Versus lineup.
Last weekend, the San Diego State- Brigham Young game was offered nationally on a pay-per-view basis because of the Cougars’ widespread following.
Logic would dictate that Air Force, with its scattered fan base, would command the same arrangement.
Some hoped the AFA-CSU game at Falcon Stadium would at least be moved to CSTV, with a somewhat wider distribution than The Mtn., or Versus, which is available in basic cable and satellite packages.
But noooo.
Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said when the rivalry was first scheduled for a Thursday night, CSTV planned to televise the game. Then in the summer when Versus entered the agreement with the league and selected nine games for the season, this game wasn’t picked. The Mtn. grabbed it ahead of CSTV.
AFA coach Fisher DeBerry was reminiscing on the MWC coaches’ conference call about the Falcons’ Thursday ESPN matchups of the past with the Rams and how he once was told it was the second most-requested game by ESPN.
Somebody forgot to clue in the MWC’s ballyhooed TV partners.
“It’s not the maximum coverage maybe we anticipated,” DeBerry said.
BYU star in passing lane
For the first time in a month, BYU quarterback John Beck can’t win the MWC offensive player of the week award. The Cougars have a bye this weekend. Beck has won three of the past four awards and sat out the other week with an ankle sprain.
With 267 yards passing against winless San Diego State, Beck boosted his career total to 8,689 yards – 848 short of overtaking Jim McMahon for the No. 2 spot on BYU’s career list of legendary passing leaders.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall had been reluctant to consider Beck in equal company to the list that includes Ty Detmer, McMahon, Steve Young and Marc Wilson – McMahon and Young won Super Bowls – because the others led the Cougars to conference championships. But with this clearly the best BYU team since 2001, Mendenhall said Tuesday that if Beck continues his success, “he will certainly take his place with the others.”
Stable leadership
For the first time since former New Mexico athletic director Rudy Davalos announced his retirement more than a year ago, every MWC school has an AD with no planned changes.
Wyoming’s hiring Monday of Tom Burman gives the league its third new AD since the spring. Cowboys coach Joe Glenn said Tuesday, “I’m lucky to have a guy who loves Wyoming so much.”
Said Thompson, “It’s a tremendous hire for Wyoming.”
Another switch at QB
First-time Wyoming starting quarterback Karsten Sween made such an impression at New Mexico with a 14-10 win Saturday, Lobos coach Rocky Long decided to switch QBs. Donovan Porterie, a redshirt freshman, replaces Chris Nelson, who was elevated when senior Kole McKamey was lost for the season.
