Dominic Fazzzini 10/17
Dominic Fazzini
Saturday's plays 20 Dime -- IDAHO (minus points vs. Hawaii)
10 Dime -- Wyoming (plus points vs. AIR FORCE)
IDAHO
Hawaii is clearly not the same team since QB Greg Alexander went down. Not that the Warriors were anything special with him.
With Alexander in the lineup, Hawaii was averaging over 30 points per game, but in the more than five quarters since he went down, the Warriors have scored just 17 points, and were hammered at home last week in a 42-17 loss to Fresno State.
Hawaii is allowing 28.6 points per game, and is awful on the road, having already lost at UNLV and Louisiana Tech, although it did beat lowly Washington State.
Idaho is 5-1 straight up and has covered the spread in all six games.
The Vandals are averaging nearly 29 points per game, and junior QB Nathan Enderle is completing nearly 63 percent of his passes for 1,509 yards and eight touchdowns. And Idaho averages 155.3 yards on the ground, while the Warriors allow more than 200 yards rushing per game.
Idaho has lost five straight games to Hawaii, going 0-5 ATS, but this is a great opportunity for the Vandals to begin to turn that around, especially with Alexander on the sideline for the Warriors. Take Idaho to win big today.
WYOMING
Since inserting freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels into the lineup, the Cowboys are a totally different team.
Wyoming is 3-0 with Carta-Samuels as its starter, has covered in each game and is averaging more than 32 points per game. He has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 983 yards and six touchdowns with just one interception.
Carta-Samuels has the Cowboys thinking about a bowl bid, at 4-2, but they will face a tough test today against Air Force, which is coming off a tough 20-17 home loss to No. 10 TCU.
With a game at No. 24 Utah next week, the Falcons could take Wyoming lightly today, being sandwiched between two nationally ranked teams.
Air Force QB Tim Jefferson, last year's Mountain West Freshman of the Year, has a sprained right ankle and didn't play in two of the Falcons' last three games, including last week.
Sophomore Connor Dietz has not turned the ball over in limited play, but he was just 6 of 17 for 42 yards against TCU. He did rush for 71 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, but I don't expect the Falcons' offense to pile up big points with him running the offense.
Air Force is allowing just 13.8 points per game, which is tops in the Mountain West, but I think the Cowboys should be able to score enough to keep this game close. Take Wyoming to cover the points.
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