Another weekend of Mountain West football has departed us and the conference is still rolling after its superb weekend to start the season. Hawaii and San Diego State racked up two more wins against Power Five opponents. Nevada and Fresno State couldn’t quite complete the sweep this weekend but compared to previous years this is a pretty good year for the conference.
Hawaii’s gunslinging quarterback Cole McDonald led the Warriors to their second consecutive win over a Pac12 team by taking down Oregon State on the islands. Hawaii might be good, they may be okay, I’m not really sure yet, but they’re certainly bettering the reputation of the conference these first two weeks of the season.
Boise State and Marshall battled in the Mountain West’s pillow fight of the week. The defensive struggle between these two teams was impressive if you’re into that kind of football. Was a little surprised the game was that close, but a good win for Boise State over the Herd at home.
Colorado State and Utah State took care of their FCS opponents this weekend fairly handily. Jordan Love turned in a nice day passing to demolish a good FCS team in Stony Brook. Colorado State quarterback Collin Hill turned in a nice day to lead the Rams. Utah State just absolutely pummeled Stony Brook in Logan this weekend. The Aggies will be a tough out all season long.
Tulsa mostly had their way with San Jose State. The Golden Hurricane rushed for 256 yards on the Spartans and got 283 yards passing from Zach Smith to lead the win. The Sun Belt’s Arkansas State dominated UNLV bell to bell in Las Vegas to collect a win.
Onto the rest..
Scores
Marshall 7
Boise State 14
Wyoming 23
Texas State 14
Nevada 6
Oregon 77
Western Illinois 13
Colorado State 38
San Diego State 23
UCLA 14
Stony Brook 7
Utah State 62
Tulsa 34
San Jose State 16
Arkansas State 43
UNLV 17
Minnesota 38
Fresno State 35
Oregon State 28
Hawaii 31
Mountain West Player of the Week
This week’s Mountain West player of the week is Hawaii wide receiver JoJo Ward. Ward had 10 receptions for 189 yards and four touchdowns as Hawaii defeated Oregon State this past weekend.
Mountain West MVP Candidates
Hank Bachmeier, QB, Boise State – 22/34 for 282 yards and 1 TD, 1 rushing TD
Cole McDonald, QB, Hawaii – 30/52 for 421 yards and 4 TD
Jordan Love, QB, Utah State – 25/34 for 294 yards and 1 TD
Sean Chambers, QB, Wyoming – 8/18 103 yards, 50 yards rushing 1 TD
Juwan Washington, RB, San Diego State – 41 yards rushing
Mountain West Power Rankings
Boise State
Utah State
Hawaii
Wyoming
San Diego State
Air Force
Fresno State
Nevada
Colorado State
UNLV
New Mexico
San Jose State
The Quad Shot
Nevada getting absolutely hammered by Oregon was a bit of surprise. The Wolf Pack must have had a serious let down after their come from behind win last week. Oregon was probably a bit cranky after their loss to Auburn to open the season. Justin Herbert turned in another 300 yard day with five touchdowns. Nevada just couldn’t get anything going.
Disappointing finish for Fresno State. In reality that was a game that they probably should have won, especially at home. The Dogs had a seven point lead but Minnesota punched in a score with :58 seconds left to force overtime. Jorge Reyna getting picked off in the second overtime definitely killed the Bulldogs chances, but the opportunity to win was definitely there prior to the INT.
Hawaii might be the team that wins the West division this season. The ‘Bows are having quite a year so far. Two wins over Pac12 opponents and a date with Washington coming up this weekend. Washington is coming off of a tough loss. It was though the Huskies might be a contender for the playoff and could win the Pac12. After getting beat by California over the weekend the Pac12 looks completely up in the air. This seems like a good time for Hawaii to slip in and collect its third Pac12 win of the season. Going to be tough to leave the island and go to Seattle and get a win.
Wyoming is off to a 2-0 start and has Idaho coming in this weekend. Good chance for the Cowboys to get to 3-0 for the first time since 2011. Sean Chambers hasn’t been at the top of his game yet, but you have a feeling he’s due for a breakout and will take the Cowboys to another level. Once the passing attack gets rolling that team might be capable of about anything.