WAC Football Preview : Teams Try to Keep It on Up-and-Up : Name Players Are Lacking, but Conference Expects to Continue Rising Nationally

The Western Athletic Conference has used big-time players with big-time awards to stake its claim that it belongs among the better major-college football conferences.

The recent list is impressive.

Start with such National Football League first-round draft choices as Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Todd Shell, Trevor Matich, Kelly Stouffer, Sean Knight and Jason Buck.

Add in Air Force’s Chad Hennings, last year’s Outland Trophy winner and a likely first-round pick if not for his military-service obligation; Brigham Young’s Steve Young, the 1983 Heisman Trophy runner-up; and, of course, San Diego State’s Todd Santos, the most prolific passer in major-college history, and you get the basis for a list that would make most conference’s proud.

Maybe that is why much of the talk among conference coaches this time around is the lack of such name players.

Only Air Force junior quarterback Dee Dowis, whose 1,315 rushing yards last season led the conference and set a major-college record for rushing by a quarterback, might command the kind of national attention that some of the conference’s prominent names of the past have enjoyed.

This does not mean the conference is without exciting players--SDSU’s tailback Paul Hewitt, for example, returns after leading the nation in scoring last season--but it is not a group that has anyone talking up a Heisman Trophy campaign.

The lack of attention-grabbing players helps explain why the emphasis this season is on the teams. And why not? Last season, for the first time in its 26-season history, the conference placed three teams in bowl games.

Wyoming, Brigham Young and Air Force made it to post-season play. That all three lost by a combined 12 points did not diminish the fact that the WAC took this as another sign that the national recognition it has received since BYU was voted the national champion in 1984 has begun to yield results.

The chances of matching that number of bowl invitations this season will depend on just how teams answer some of the following questions:

Is this the year Brigham Young regains the conference championship it held for 10 seasons until San Diego State ended its run in 1986?

Can Wyoming become the first school other than BYU to repeat as confernce champions since Arizona State did in 1973?

Is its potent wishbone attack, led by Dowis, enough for Air Force to challenge for the championship despite the loss of several expected defensive starters to injury and illness?

Will upstart Texas El Paso, for years one of the most downtrodden programs in college football, complete its rival with its first WAC title?

Can the Aztecs, whose defense last season was among the worst 10 in most NCAA Division I-A categories, find even a respectable defense to go along with an offense that returns almost every key player except Santos?

The answers to most of these questions should be forthcoming shortly, starting tonight when BYU opens the conference season at Wyoming.

It is the first of a series of early-season games that could say much about who represents the conference in the Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Check out these other important games, all to be played by the end of the season’s fourth week: Air Force at SDSU, UTEP at BYU and Wyoming at Air Force.

Here is a look at those contenders and the others that SDSU will challenge as it tries to regain the conference title it won for the first time two season ago:

AIR FORCE

1987 records: 9-4 overall, 6-2 conference.

1987 conference finish: 3rd.

Junior quarterback Dee Dowis apparently is fully recovered from a broken wrist that kept him out of the Freedom Bowl last season. That should give the Falcons plenty of reason to feel confident their wishbone attack again will be among the nation’s leading offenses. Coach Fisher DeBerry even is talking about passing more.

Also back from an offense that scored an average of 31.4 points per game last season are running backs Anthony Roberson and Albert Booker, along with guard David Hlatky, who will anchor a strong line.

But the Falcons optimism is tempered by a series of misfortunes to befell their defensive line. Three expected starters likely are lost for the season. Dan Mullins had knee surgery in the spring. Pat McNelis reported with a back injury. Kevin Hughes, a linebacker switched to the line, is hospitalized with a blood clot in his chest. Dan Korslund, who was expected to provide depth, lost part of a leg in a car accident this summer.

BRIGHAM YOUNG

1987 records: 9-4 overall, 7-1 conference.

1987 conference finish: 2nd.

After an uncharacteristic struggle the past two seasons to find an effective quarterback, Brigham Young finally settled on Sean Covey and the late-season results were impressive. He led the Cougars to victories in their final five regular-season games last season. The Cougars also return their three leading receivers--halfback Matt Bellini, tight end Darren Handley and fullback Fred Whitingham. Add in split end Chuck Cutler and Covey has plenty of targets.

The defense, which had led the conference seven of the previous nine seasons in scoring defense, slipped to fourth (22.6 points per game) and was ranked 88th in the country (216.4 yards per game) in passing defense last season. Leading the returners here are all-conferece selection Troy Long and Rodney Rice in the secondary.

The biggest hurdle facing BYU might be its schedule. Its out of conference schedule includes games with Texas, Texas Christian and Miami (Fla.), and the Cougars must play their final four games on the road, including their last three conference games against SDSU, Air Force and rival Utah.

COLORADO STATE

1987 records: 1-11 overall, 1-7 conference.

1987 conference finish: 8th.

Colorado State won one game last season--and that was against winless New Mexico. The Rams were one of the nation’s youngest teams last season and that will not change much as the roster includes 33 freshman.

Much of the returning talent is in the offensive and defensive backfields. Senior quarterback Scooter Molander and senior fullback Scott Whitehouse (fifth in conference with 812 yards) provide the stability on offense. All-conference free safety Ron Cortell, formally of Sweetwater High School, is the leader in the secondary. The biggest weakness is the offensive line, where the only starter returning is guard John Laurita.

HAWAII

1987 records: 5-7 overall, 3-5 conference.

1987 conference finish: 6th.

Hawaii, as usual, has an abundance of home games, playing nine of its 12 games at Aloha Stadium. But that might be the only edge the Rainbow Warroirs have going into the season. Nose tackle Al Noga, their defensive leader, is gone, along with most of the other defensive starters. Hawaii figures to start four new players in the secondary, including possibly Walter Briggs, who was on offense last season.

Warren Jones has won the quarterback position and All-WAC selection Heikoti Fakava returns at running back. But Hawaii continues to go through growing pains after switching last season to the run-and-shoot offense.

NEW MEXICO

1987 records: 0-11 overall, 0-8 conference.

1987 conference finish: 9th.

It might seem that things could not get any worse at New Mexico, but the recent months have been filled with more turmoil. Off the field, Athletic Director John Koenig resigned in the face of a growing investigation into personal expense account misuse. On the field, the Lobos have lost wide receiver Terance Mathis and guard Sam Taylor to academic ineligibility, and quarterback Duffy Daugherty, formally of Orange Glen High School, who transfered to Palmoar College after losing the starting job to freshman Jeremy Leach.

Leach is believed to be the only true freshman who will start the season at quarterback at a major-college. That is but a tip of the Lobos’ inexperience. Sixty-five of the 86 players on the roster have not played for the Lobos before.

TEXAS-EL PASO

1987 records: 7-4 overall, 5-3 conference.

1987 conference finish: 4th.

The rise of Texas El Paso might be one of the best stories in college football. The Miners had their first winning season since 1970 in their second season under Coach Bob Stull. They even had a chance to win the WAC title if they could have beaten BYU and Wyoming in their final two games at home last season but quarterback Pat Hegarty broke his jaw against BYU and the Miners lost both games.

Almost the entire team returns as 35 of the 44 players from last season are back. These most prominently include on offense tailback John Harvey, whose 1,170 rushing yards were second in the conference; all-WAC center James Spady, and Hegarty. The defense will count on linebacker Dan Morgan, the team’s leading tackler, and its secondary, which returns all four starters.

The key statistic might be the Miners’ pass defense. In a conference that produced six of the top 13 passing offenses in the country, UTEP was the only team to hold opponets to under 50 percent completion (48.5).

UTAH

1987 records: 5-7 overall, 2-6 conference.

1987 conference finish: 7th.

After splitting the job with Chris Mendonca last season, sophomore Scott Mitchell takes over at quarterback. His statistics (109 of 188 for 1,448 yards with only 4 interceptions) were impressive, and he is being called by Coach Jim Fassel the best quarterback he has coached since he taught John Elway as an assistant at Stanford.

If Eddie Johnson, a two-time All-WAC running back who missed most of last season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, comes back healthy, generating offense should not be a problem for a team that was third in the country in passing offense. A strong Johnson could more than help offset the loss of leading rusher Martel Black, formally of Sweetwater High School, after his arrest on federal drug charges in July.

The big question as usual is defense. Two years ago, the Utes were the worst defensive team in the country. Last season, they moved up three places to 101. More impressive improvement probably is needed.

WYOMING

1987 records: 10-3 overall, 8-0 conference.

1987 conference finish: 1st.

The bulk is back for Wyoming as the Cowboys return their entire starting offensive line that helped them to their first WAC title since 1976. The question is how good are the people they will be blocking for?

Only fullback Steve Bena returns at the skill positions. Randy Welniak, a senior who was recruited as a wishbone quarterback and sat out last season as a redshirt, has won the starting position. His main receivers will be Freddie Dussett, who sat out last season with a back injury, and Ted Gilmore, a community-college transfer. All-WAC punter Tom Kilpatrick will double at tight end. Dabby Dawson, another community-college, transfer will start at running back.

Tackle Pat Rabold, second in sacks last season, leads the returners on defense. Dave Schutt, who was to start at middle linebacker, was killed over the summer when he fell trying to jump from one freight train to another.