Week ten in the Mountain West has come and gone once again and we’re starting to narrow down the teams at the top for the division championships. Boise State is currently leading the Mountain division with a one game lead, plus a tie breaker over Wyoming. Wyoming has a half game lead over Colorado State and owns the tie breaker there. Fresno State has a half game lead over San Diego State and owns the tie breaker over them. UNLV could have an outside shot at the West division, but there would have to be some chaos for that to happen.
That said, there’s a lot of the season left, three games in fact, until we’re on route to decide a conference champion. Boise State still has three tough games left, versus Colorado State, Air Force, and Fresno State. There very well could be a scenario where Boise State and Fresno State could face each other in back to back weeks if they both make the title game. Winner of that game, you can suppose, would decide who gets home field for the championship.
The Mountain West week kicked off with the Black Knights from Army visiting Air Force. The two triple option military academies were facing off in their annual game. Army has seen a resurgence of its program under head coach Jeff Monken. Army won this football game against Air Force without attempting a single pass. Think about that for a moment. The crazy thing is this not the first time they have not attempted a pass in a game this season. Army rushed 59 times for 392 yards and three scores to shut out the Falcons. Air Force on the other hand, attempted 12 passes and rushed 35 times for 89 yards. The Black Knight defense had the Falcons number in this one. Army running back Ahmad Bradshaw had 23 carries for 265 yards and a score. Kell Walker had a pair of touchdowns. Air Force will host Wyoming next week.
Utah State got a nice road win on Saturday afternoon as they marched down to Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico also runs a form of the triple option, however, it was not good enough to score enough points to beat Utah State this week. The Aggies got two touchdowns from running back LaJuan Hunt, one of them a 65 yarder which would prove to be enough to stop the Lobos. The Aggies also got a 70 yard fumble return touchdown from David Woodward to seal the game for the Aggies. New Mexico recorded their first touchdown of the day on a Tevaka Tuioti 34 yard run with 3:20 left in the game. Aggie quarterback Jordan Love threw for 114 yards and an interception. The Lobos will be at Texas A&M next weekend in a late season non-conference matchup, while Utah State will have a late season bye.
Hawaii made the trip stateside to Sin City to take on UNLV. The two teams were playing for the Golden Pineapple trophy, some hideous looking trophy that someone could lose an eye if they are the trophy kissing type. UNLV took care of business in the third quarter with 21 straight points on two Johnny Stanton touchdown passes, and a Lexington Thomas three yard touchdown run. That would prove to be enough scoring to get the Rebels past Hawaii. Lexington Thomas continued his impressive season rushing for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels. Johnny Stanton threw for 244 yards and two scores for the Rebels. On the other side of the ball Diocemy Saint Juste rushed for 111 yards and a score. Quarterback Dru Brown threw for 269 yards and a touchdown. UNLV will host BYU on Friday night on ESPN2, while Hawaii will host Fresno State.
You could say this has been a pretty disappointing year for the Nevada Wolf Pack. You’d also probably be right. The Wolf Pack turned in another disappointing performance this past weekend as they traveled to the blue to take on Boise State. The Broncos continued with their two quarterback rotation with Brett Rypien and Montell Cozart. Rypien had a nice game throwing for 258 yards and two scores, while Cozart had 35 yards passing and 24 yards rushing. Boise State got 64 yards and two scores from running back Alexander Mattison. On the other hand, it was a tough night for Ty Gangi who threw three interceptions for the Wolf Pack. Kelton Moore had 106 yards rushing and a score for Nevada. Boise State will be at Colorado State next week in an important Mountain division match-up, while Nevada will take on San Jose State in the Mountain West pillow fight of the week. Loser of that game moves to the bottom of my power rankings.
BYU’s slide this season probably comes as a delight to most Mountain West fans, and Fresno State was the latest team to pile on the Cougars. It wasn’t a pretty Fresno State win, but it was a win over BYU at home. Jordan Mims and Jimmy Camacho accounted for all of Fresno State’s points on Saturday night. Mims had two touchdown runs, a pair of two yards runs, and Camacho added two field goals for the Bulldogs. On the other side of the ball, Squally Canada and Rhett Almond had all of the points for BYU. Fresno State continues to win, making their case to be West division champions. Fresno State will be at Hawaii next weekend.
Colorado State and Wyoming played for the 109th time in the annual Border War in Laramie. The game, for the most part, was played in a snow globe. The terrible weather conditions hindered both teams’ offenses. The lack of offense from Colorado State played right into Wyoming’s wheel house of stout defense. The Cowboy defense held the Rams to their lowest offensive output all season. Josh Allen carried the Cowboys, throwing for 138 yards and rushing for 60 yards. Wyoming’s lone touchdown came from Kellen Overstreet with 4:21 left in the game to give the Cowboys the win and the Bronze Boot. Colorado State got a good day from Dalyn Dawkins who rushed for 154 yards. Izzy Matthews added 41 yards and a score for the Rams. Colorado State will host Boise State next weekend, while Wyoming will travel to Air Force.
In the night cap San Diego State made a trip up the coast to take on San Jose State. San Jose State continued to show an ineptitude on the football field that is rarely accomplished. The Aztecs rushed for 554 yards on 71 attempts to beat the Spartans 52-7. Rashaad Penny rushed for 234 yards and three scores, while Juwan Washington added 134 yards and two scores for the Aztecs. Another back, Chase Jasmin got in on the action and rushed for 82 yards and a score as well. Penny had more yards rushing than San Jose State had for total yards. San Diego State controlled the ball for 43:19 while piling up 31 first downs and 648 total yards. Complete domination. San Diego State will have a bye next week, while San Jose State will be in Reno to take on Nevada in the Mountain West Pillow Fight of the Week.
Scores
Colorado State 13
Wyoming 16
Army 21
Air Force 0
Utah State 24
New Mexico 10
Hawaii 23
UNLV 31
Nevada 14
Boise State 41
San Diego State 52
San Jose State 7
BYU 13
Fresno State 20
Mountain West Player of the Week
This week’s Mountain West player of the week is San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny. Penny ran for 234 yards and three touchdowns as the Aztecs pummeled San Jose State this past weekend.
Mountain West MVP Candidates
Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State – 20 carries, 234 yards, 1 TD
Nick Stevens, QB, Colorado State – 8/14 for 110 yards
Andrew Wingard, DB, Wyoming – 6 tackles, 1 TFL
Brett Rypien, QB, Boise State – 20/27 for 258 yards and 2 TD
Diocemy Saint Juste, RB, Hawaii – 20 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD
Mountain West Power Rankings
1. Boise State
2. San Diego State
3. Wyoming
4. Colorado State
5. Fresno State
6. Hawaii
7. Utah State
8. Air Force
9. UNLV
10. New Mexico
11. Nevada
12. San Jose State
Final Thoughts and Hot Takes
San Jose State lost again.. and gave up 554 yards rushing. How is that possible? That’s just about literally not playing any defense, just letting them run up and down the field.
Then again, does anyone really slow down Rashaad Penny? Another 200 yard game, now leading the nation in rushing yards. Still no where near the Heisman conversation.
Tough game coming up for New Mexico.. not exactly the kind of game you want when you’re not playing that well then you have to go into Kyle Field in front of 100K+ fans in an SEC atmosphere.
Didn’t expect an Army shutout this weekend, but that team sure is good. They’ve made incredible strides the last two or three years. Used to be the laughing stock of college football, now you don’t wanna spar with them.
Also, I really want to see a game at West Point, looks like such a neat atmosphere there.
Boise State and Colorado State is a game with big Mountain West implications. Boise State certainly isn’t the team of old, and Colorado State’s ego is a little bruised after the loss at Wyoming. I can see an upset brewing here.
My picks for this week are: UNLV, Wyoming, Nevada, Texas A&M, Colorado State, and Hawaii.