WAC Teams Will Need Help to Dethrone BYU

Four Western Athletic Conference football teams are in position to win the championship without help. This is probably not startling, since it is only the halfway point in the 1986 season.

What is unusual is that Brigham Young University, for the last 10 years the champion, is not among those teams. Nor is Air Force, the perennial runner-up of late.

Indeed, San Diego State, Wyoming, Hawaii and Colorado State would each win the championship by going unbeaten and untied down the stretch. Since they all have to play each other, only one can do it.

Everyone else needs help.

For the moment, the only certainty is that three of nine WAC teams are eliminated from the race--New Mexico, 1-3; Texas El Paso, 0-3; and Utah, 0-3.

San Diego State and Wyoming, both 2-0, are the only undefeated teams.

Hawaii (2-1) and Colorado State (1-1), who both lost to the Air Force Academy, are still in control of their destiny because of a quirk in scheduling. Air Force (4-1) only plays seven WAC games and all other contenders, Hawaii and Colorado State among them, play eight.

Thus, Air Force could win its final two conference games and still not win the championship unless everybody else loses two games.

Then there’s Brigham Young (1-1), forever the champion. The Cougars must win their remaining WAC games and hope somebody beats or ties Colorado State. BYU lost at home to Colorado State, 24-20, two weeks ago.

“The interesting thing is that in the last 10 years, we have only been undefeated (in the WAC) three years,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “It’s not unusual for us to be in this position. There’s no question that whoever wins it will have one loss. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that a couple or three teams could have two losses and be co-champions.”

No team has ever won the conference championship with more than one loss.

“If ever there was a year when somebody might win it with two losses, this would be the year,” Hawaii Coach Dick Tomey said. “It just looks like there are a lot of teams with the capability of knocking each other off. This is just like the Pac-10, where five or six teams can beat each other.”

A look at the WAC race:

SDSU (2-0)--The Aztecs have won on the road against Utah and New Mexico. Four of their final five games are at home after they play at UTEP Saturday.

“I’ll look at the WAC race a lot clearer after we play El Paso,” Coach Denny Stolz said. “We have to win at El Paso before we can take advantage of our schedule.”

Wyoming (2-0)--The Cowboys pulled off a major upset by winning at Air Force, 23-17, holding the Falcons without a first down in the second half.

“To be honest, we didn’t expect to be in the race,” Coach Dennis Erickson said. “Our goal was to be competitive, and hopefully be in the race.”

Air Force (4-1)--The Falcons had an unusual schedule, playing conference teams competition in their first five games. They beat Hawaii and Colorado State at home and UTEP and Utah on the road, losing at home to Wyoming.

Air Force’s next conference game is Oct. 25 at SDSU. The Falcons don’t play another WAC game until Dec. 6 at home against BYU.

Hawaii (2-1)--The Rainbows have three of their last five games on the road.

“We’ve only lost one road game the last two years, and that was against Air Force. We have confidence we can win on the road,” said Tomey.

Colorado State (1-1)--The Rams gave everybody else hope by winning at BYU. They also lost at Air Force.

“We felt it was very important to split on the road against Air Force and BYU to have a chance to play for the championship,” Coach Leon Fuller said. “Beating BYU put us in good shape. We’re in position to determine our destiny if we keep winning.”

BYU (1-1)--The Cougars struggled at home to beat New Mexico, 31-30.

“I’ve read where we’re not as good this year, have too many games on the road and the league is better,” Edwards said. “To me, it’s no different than before. We just have to go out and win. Whether we have the ability to do it, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The Others: New Mexico (1-3), UTEP (0-3) and Utah (0-3)--New Mexico lost by one point to BYU and by four points to SDSU. UTEP lost by two points to Air Force on a last-second field goal, and it missed a last-minute field goal that would have beaten New Mexico. Utah, which was picked to finish second by WAC coaches and media, blew a 21-point halftime lead against Air Force.

Aztec Notes

The Aztecs are still uncertain whether quarterback Todd Santos will start Saturday night at UTEP. Santos suffered a broken right wrist 18 days ago against New Mexico. “I don’t know for sure what his progress will be,” Coach Denny Stolz said. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready to play. It’ll be interesting to see what he is able to do in practice this week.” If Santos does not start, he will be replaced again by Jim Plum. . . . Offensive tackle Greg Williamson, who missed the last three games with a sprained knee, will start against UTEP, Stolz said. . . . Stolz thinks the Aztecs may have an advantage against Air Force next week. “Air Force will have a very hard and physical game against Notre Dame this week,” Stolz said.