Mountain West Conference Football Press Release Week No. 1

UNLV and Utah kick off 2007 football season on Thurs., Aug. 30.

Aug. 27, 2007

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KICKOFF 2007

The 2007 college football season kicks off for the Mountain West Conference on Thursday, Aug. 30 as UNLV visits Utah State (Las Vegas One, 5 p.m. PT) and Utah travels to Oregon State (FSN-NW, 7 p.m. PT).

On Saturday, Sept. 1, six MWC teams will be in action. Colorado State squares off against Colorado in Denver, Colo. (FSN, 10 a.m. MT), while Wyoming hosts Virginia (VERSUS, 12 p.m. MT) and Troy Calhoun makes his head coaching debut for Air Force when the Falcons entertain South Carolina State (The Mtn., 12 p.m. MT). Elsewhere, BYU hosts Arizona (VERSUS, 3:30 p.m. MT), No. 22 TCU welcomes Baylor (CSTV, 5 p.m. CT) and New Mexico plays at UTEP (CSTV, 8 p.m. CT).

A LOOK AT THE 2007 SCHEDULE

The 2007 Mountain West Conference football schedule is comprised of 72 games, including 36 conference match-ups. The non-conference slate features 16 contests against teams that earned bowl berths in 2006, including BCS Bowl participants Louisville, Notre Dame and Boise State. Additional non-conference opponents who earned bowl bids this past season are Arizona State, California, Cincinnati, Hawai`i, Houston, Navy, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon State, Texas, Tulsa, UCLA and Wisconsin. Eight of the non-conference opponents were ranked in last season's final polls. BYU and TCU also finished the 2006 season ranked 15th and 21st, respectively, in the USA Today Coaches poll.

ACC: Virginia
Big 12: Baylor, Colorado, Texas
Big East: Cincinnati, Louisville, Syracuse
Big Ten: Wisconsin
C-USA: UTEP (2), SMU, Tulsa
MAC: Ohio
Pac-10: Arizona (2), Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA (2), Washington State
WAC: Boise State, Hawai`i, New Mexico State, Nevada-Reno, Utah State (2)
Independent: Army, Navy, Notre Dame
Football Championship Subdivision: Eastern Washington, Portland State, Sacramento State, South Carolina State, Georgia Southern

Colorado State Head Coach Sonny Lubick carries the torch in terms of longevity in the Mountain West Conference. Lubick enters his 15th season at the helm of the Rams. Rocky Long of New Mexico is second on the list as he enters his 10th season as head coach of his alma mater. TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson enters his eighth year, while Wyoming's Joe Glenn begins his fifth campaign in Laramie. Bronco Mendenhall of BYU, Mike Sanford of UNLV and Utah's Kyle Whittingham are each starting their third seasons at their respective institutions. Chuck Long enters his second year at San Diego State and Troy Calhoun begins his first season at the Air Force Academy.

The Mountain West welcomes one new head coach in 2007 as Troy Calhoun takes over for the legendary Fisher DeBerry as head coach. DeBerry retired after 23 years at the helm of the Falcons, and Calhoun, a 1989 Academy graduate, takes over as the sixth head coach in school history. He is the first graduate to lead the program. Calhoun was the starting quarterback in 1986 and was a four-year letterwinner. Calhoun returns to the Academy after serving as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach last season. Prior to the NFL, Calhoun was an offensive coordinator for six seasons at the collegiate level.

ONE OF 17

Troy Calhoun is one of 17 coaches in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision to be the head coach at his alma mater. He is the first coach in Academy history and joins Rocky Long of New Mexico as the only other coach in the Mountain West Conference to hold that distinction. A complete list follows below:

Troy Calhoun, Air Force
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Brady Hoke, Ball State
Dave Wannstedt, Pitt
Mark Snyder, Marshall
Jeff Bower, Southern Miss
Ralph Friedgen, Maryland
Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
Randy Shannon, Miami
Tom Amstutz, Toledo
Chris Ault, Nevada
Karl Dorrell, UCLA
Rocky Long, New Mexico
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
Charlie Weis, Notre Dame

BYU ENTERS 2007 WITH NATION'S SECOND-LONGEST WIN STREAK

BYU enters the 2007 season with the nation's second-longest active win streak at 10. Boise State heads the list with 13 straight wins. TCU ranks fourth on the list with eight consecutive wins, one behind Wisconsin with nine.

TCU PICKED TO WIN 2007 MWC TITLE

TCU was selected to win the 2007 Mountain West Conference football title in a poll of MWC media members. The Horned Frogs posted a second-place finish in the MWC in 2006, compiling a 6-2 mark against league opponents en route to an 11-2 overall record and a Top 25 ranking in the final USA Today Coaches, Associated Press and Harris polls. TCU returns six starters on offense, including second-team all-MWC selections Aaron Brown (TB) and Matty Lindner (OL). TCU also has nine starters back from a defense that ranked among the top three nationally in scoring, rushing and total defense a year ago. The Horned Frogs are led by 2006 first-team all- MWC honorees Tommy Blake (DL), Chase Ortiz (DL) and Jason Phillips (LB). TCU, which enters the 2007 season with the nation's fourth-longest win streak at eight games, received 18 first-place votes and a total of 202 points.

2007 Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll

2007 MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

Aaron Brown (TCU) was named Preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year, Tommy Blake (TCU) was selected Preseason MWC Defensive Player of the Year, Louie Sakoda (Utah) was chosen Preseason MWC Special Teams Player of the Year and Ricky Brewer (Colorado State) was tabbed Preseason MWC Freshman of the Year.

TCU led all schools with seven student-athletes selected to the preseason all-Conference team. BYU and Utah each had four players selected, followed by New Mexico and Wyoming with three apiece. Colorado State and UNLV each had two players chosen, while Air Force had one. The 2007 preseason team features 16 players that were all-Conference selections in 2006, including eight first-team honorees.

2007 Preseason All-Mountain West Team

Offense

Defense

Specialists

Offensive Player of the Year: Aaron Brown, Jr., RB, TCU Defensive Player of the Year: Tommy Blake, Sr., DL, TCU Special Teams Player of the Year: Louie Sakoda, Jr., PK, Utah Freshman of the Year: Ricky Brewer, Fr., LB, Colorado State * member of the 2006 All-Mountain West Conference first-team. ** member of the 2006 All-Mountain West Conference second-team.

A LOOK BACK AT THE PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

Since the MWC began play in 1999, only three teams chosen by the league media to win the conference crown have actually done so. Below is a look at how the preseason poll favorite has fared in regular-season play.