Mountain West Championship Game: Breaking Down The Position Battles
What team has the edge in Saturday’s title game?
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A look at each of the position battles.
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Saturday’s Mountain West title game will feature a game where there will be seven players who made the all-Mountain West first-team, with six coming from Boise State. On the second team, the two schools combined for 11 selections.
The Broncos have the edge overall and they also have the defensive player of the year in linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, while the Bulldogs have the coach of the year with Jeff Tedford performing one of the rate worst-to-first turnarounds.
Scoreboard matters as Fresno State showed by winning the matchup last week over Boise State, so even though the Bulldogs have fewer all-conference players they have a good team overall.
Three of our staff members went through each position group and mentioned who had the edge, and we allowed for a push if one wanted to. Those participating are our Fresno State and Boise State writers in Matt Kenerly and Raja Prabhala, plus the guy in charge of this place: Jeremy Mauss.
| Position | Jeremy Mauss | Raja Prabhala | Matt Kenerly |
| Coaching | Fresno State | Fresno State | Push |
| Quarterback | Boise State | Boise State | Boise State |
| Running Backs | Boise State | Boise State | Boise State |
| Wide Receiver/TE’s | Fresno State | Fresno State | Fresno State |
| Offensive Line | Boise State | Boise State | Fresno State |
| Defensive Line | Boise State | Fresno State | Boise State |
| Linebackers | Push | Boise State | Fresno State |
| Defensive Backs | Fresno State | Fresno State | Push |
| Special Teams | Boise State | Fresno State | Fresno State |
A few positions were clear like quarterback — even though that should be considered close — running back and wide receivers all going to Boise State.
Those were the only three unanimous positions among the nine. The wide out position should be considered closer since Boise State’s Cedrick Wilson is the best wide out on the field, but the depth for the Bulldogs is what gives them the edge.
When there was not a clear cut choice it was Fresno State who had three areas go in its favor with Boise State having two.
The offense clearly favors Boise State and some of the defense as well which is why Fresno State is over a touchdown underdog against the Broncos on Saturday.
Games aren’t played on paper so we will see this weekend which position unit outshines the other and helps its team to a conference title.
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