Week two of the Mountain West football season has come and gone and the Mountain West saw some pretty lopsided games, and a heart breaker for Boise State.

The Broncos had a sizeable lead on the Washington State Cougars half way through the fourth quarter and everything came unraveled. Leading 31-10 with 10:53 left in the game Washington State went on to score 21 points unanswered to force overtime. Both teams, by the time the fourth quarter came around, were playing with back-up quarterbacks. Both Luke Falk and Brett Rypien were on the sidelines as their teams were headed to overtime. Washington State’s Jamal Morrow hauled in a touchdown with 1:44 left to complete the comeback. In the first overtime both Boise and Washington State kicked field goals to tie it at 34. In overtime number two Washington State got a touchdown from Gerard Wicks, while Boise State got a touchdown from Cedrick Wilson, hauling in a 15 yard pass from Montell Cozart. In the third overtime Boise State managed a field goal from 37 yards out. Washington State ended the game with a 22 yard Jamal Morrow touchdown pass from Tyler Hilinski. Final score 47-44 Washington State.

New Mexico and New Mexico State played in their in-state rivalry this past weekend. The Lobos were down 30-5 to start the fourth quarter and mounted their own comeback against the Aggies. New Mexico started their comeback with a Tevaka Tuioti pass to Chris Davis for a touchdown, but failed their two point conversion. New Mexico would quickly get the ball back and got a 61 yard run from Jay Griffin and got a two point conversion to make the 30-19. New Mexico kicked a field goal to bring the score to 30-22 with about six minutes left in the game. The Lobos would get the ball back one more time and score once more, another Tuioti pass to Jay Griffin. New Mexico failed their two point conversion and the game would end 30-28.

In other Mountain West games Utah State demolished FCS Idaho State in Logan on Thursday night. Wyoming took down FCS Gardner Webb in Laramie in their home opener. Josh Allen threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cowboys. Alabama handed Fresno State 41-10 in Tuscaloosa. Fresno State was never really in this game, but played considerably well. Colorado State easily took down FCS Abilene Christian. Nick Stevens threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns for the Rams, Michael Gallup caught 103 yards and one touchdown in that effort.

Texas absolutely handled San Jose State in Austin over the weekend. UCLA got a big day from Heisman hopefully Josh Rosen. Rosen threw for 329 yards and five touchdowns to beat Hawaii. Dioceme Saint Juste rushed for 154 yards for the ‘Bows. UNLV got back on the right side of the win column by beating Idaho in the world famous Kibbie Dome. UNLV needed a win after getting beaten last week by FCS Howard. Toledo easily beat Nevada in Reno, 37-24. Ty Gangi had 277 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Pack.

In what might be the most shocking win of the week for the Mountain West, San Diego State went to Tempe and beat the home standing Arizona State Sun Devils 30-20. The teams fought to a tie ball game after the first quarter then Rashaad Penny took the game under his wing and ran back a 99 yard kick return to start the second quarter. The Aztecs never looked back as they led the rest of the way and eventually won. The Aztecs only got 79 yards passing from Christian Chapman, but with Penny doing the heavy lifting they didn’t need much production from the passing game.

In this week’s Mountain West action there will be a few chances for Mountain West teams to make a statement for the league. Oregon will visit Laramie to take on the Cowboys. Air Force will go to the Big House to take on #7 Michigan. Utah State will go to Wake Forest. Colorado State will go to Tuscaloosa to take on the #1 Crimson Tide. Fresno State will go north to take on the #6 Washington Huskies. San Jose State will go east to take on Utah. In the night cap #19 Stanford will go to San Diego to take on the Aztecs. In not Mountain West vs P5, Nevada will take on Idaho State. Boise State and New Mexico will duke it out on Thursday night.

Scores

Idaho State 13
Utah State 51

Gardner-Webb 0
Wyoming 27

Fresno State 10
Alabama 41

Boise State 44
Washington State 47

Abilene Christian 10
Colorado State 38

San Jose State 0
Texas 56

Hawaii 23
UCLA 56

UNLV 44
Idaho 16

Toledo 37
Nevada 24

New Mexico State 30
New Mexico 28

San Diego State 30
Arizona State 20

Mountain West Player of the Week

Rashaad Penny, running back, San Diego State. Penny piled up 353 total yards with three touchdowns in the Aztecs win over Arizona State on Saturday night. Penny had 216 yards on the ground with one touchdown, four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown, and a 99 yard kick return for a touchdown.

Mountain West MVP Candidates

Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State
Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
Nick Stevens, QB, Colorado State
Brett Rypien, QB, Boise State
Diocemy Saint Juste, RB, Hawaii

Mountain West Power Rankings

1. San Diego State
2. Colorado State
3. Wyoming
4. Boise State
5. Air Force
6. Fresno State
7. New Mexico
8. Utah State
9. Hawaii
10. Nevada
11. San Jose State
12. UNLV

Final Thoughts and Hot Takes

A lot of lopsided scores this week in the Mountain West. Some good, like Wyoming and Colorado State winning handily. Some not so good with San Jose State not even putting up a fight at Texas and UCLA hammering on Hawaii.

Not sure what to make of Hawaii so far. Nick Rolovich appears to have the team headed in the right direction, however, getting handled by UCLA is a bit of a mystery. I don’t know what UCLA is right now as they had to fight back from 34 down last week to win against Texas A&M. Not really sure what the ‘Bows are either, maybe they’re improving?

Boise State .. man. That was a tough game. Both starting QBs out of the game and goes to triple overtime. As someone who doesn’t have anything invested in either team (except I own one of Mike Leach’s books), I can say that was a lot of fun to watch as a fan.

Big week for the Mountain West coming up. I honestly don’t know who can win their Power 5 games this week. I thought Wyoming had a good shot at Oregon before the season started, but the Ducks are just absolutely rolling to start the season. They scored almost at will on Nebraska last weekend. Air Force and Michigan is the type of game that Michigan hates and AFA will keep shockingly close. Utah State and Wake Forest could have an upset. Bama will probably roll the Rams, like they did Fresno State. Washington’s defense is just going to smother Fresno State. Utah will score at will on San Jose State. San Diego State and Stanford could be an interesting game. Stanford didn’t look all that great against USC and San Diego State rolled ASU. That’s the most likely upset I see here.

Shout out to the Hawaii fan in my Twitter mentions last week.. see, I gave your boy some love this week!