Mountain West Conference notebook – Sept. 5
BLOWOUT ESPECIALLY PAINFUL
Northern Arizona's starting quarterback, running back and center went down with injuries in the first quarter Thursday at Arizona State.
Then the night got really bad.
By the time the football game ended, the Lumberjacks were on the very wrong side of a 63-6 season-opening loss.
But those three injured players are expected to play when NAU meets UNLV at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.
A definitive decision on their status might not be announced until later this week.
"You don't want any of your starters to get hurt, but it did give us an opportunity to look at some of our backups," NAU coach Jerome Souers said.
Quarterback Cary Grossart left with an injured knee.
Grossart was replaced by Chase Cartwright, who completed 9 of 21 passes for 127 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions.
The Lumberjacks will need Grossart against UNLV, and they have almost no chance without running back Zach Bauman. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the past two seasons, and owns 13 100-yard games.
Bauman suffered a head injury against the Sun Devils.
"He seemed fine five minutes later," Souers said. "But our protocol is pretty tight. We're not going to put a kid back out there in that situation."
The Lumberjacks are deep at the running back position. California transfer Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries against Arizona State.
As for the loss to the Sun Devils, Souers said he didn't quite know what to expect from an Arizona State team with a new coaching staff.
"The first game exposed some deficiencies to us," Souers said. "Arizona State demonstrated a lot of speed and execution that was further ahead than we were able to handle. So the game got out of control that way from us.
"All the fundamentals of the game clearly were deficient and areas we've got to get better at."
TALK OF THE LEAGUE
Football coaches are conservative by nature, so San Diego State's Rocky Long sticks out like a socialist at a tea party meeting. And he refuses to change after making some questionable decisions in Saturday's 21-12 loss to Washington.
Going by a chart, Long twice opted for two-point conversions - both failed - after touchdowns, and he went for it on fourth down at the Huskies' 8-yard line rather than try a field goal in the fourth quarter.
On Tuesday, Long said the chart is here to stay and pointed out one touchdown occurred after converting two fourth downs.
"Decisions made in the past were all on gut feeling," he said. "I think we will be in a lot of close games. Using the chart gives us the advantage, even if it's a slight advantage, to score more points."
AROUND THE MWC
No conference teams are ranked in The Associated Press' Top 25, ending a 70-week streak that began Nov. 18, 2007. Boise State was No. 24, but dropped out after losing 17-13 to Michigan State. The Broncos are 25th in the coaches' poll. ... New Mexico, which won one game each of the past three seasons, beat Southern 66-21 in coach Bob Davie's debut. The Lobos committed one 5-yard penalty, and didn't have any turnovers or punts. "Certainly, our first game went as well as we could've expected it to," Davie said. ... Colorado State rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Colorado 22-17 in coach Jim McElwain's first game. "When we were down 14-3, I didn't see any panic in our guys," he said.
UNLV INJURY REPORT
DL Alvin Amilcar Out Undisclosed
TE Nick Gstrein Out Leg
DL Sonny Sanitoa Out Leg
DL David Green Out Undisclosed
RB/WR Eric Johnson Doubtful Leg
WR Marcus Sullivan Probable Leg
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.
