The third week of the Mountain West season is completed and we collected another Pac12 scalp! This time it was Air Force taking down Colorado in Boulder. A big win for the Falcons, and another big win for the conference. The Falcons got some help from running back Kadin Remsberg who rushed for 146 yards and a score to propel the Falcons to a win in overtime. Donald Hammond added 155 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Falcons had a sizeable lead in this game, two scores, but the Buffs came charging back and punched in a touchdown with :28 left to force OT. Good win for the Academy.

In other Mountain West action Wyoming, Boise State, and Nevada defeated their FCS opponents, sending the Big Sky Conference to 0-3 on the weekend against the Mountain West. Though, that didn’t come without struggle. Both Wyoming and Nevada had to come from behind to beat Idaho and Weber State respectively to get their wins. While Boise State won handily vs Portland State, the Broncos never looked like they were in full control until the second half. The Vikings were a scrappy squad against the hometown Broncos.

New Mexico, Hawaii, Colorado State, and UNLV all dropped contests against power five teams this weekend. None of them particularly close. New Mexico kept it close for a quarter, then Notre Dame scored 31 second quarter points. Hawaii was down right out of the gate 21-0 after a quarter and never got even close to Washington. Colorado State had a legitimate shot at Arkansas, tying the game in the third quarter. The Rams proceeded to give up 21 points in the fourth quarter and lost by a landslide. UNLV was down two at the half, then was shut out in the second half against Northwestern.

The coming week features a saucy matchup between Air Force and Boise State on the Blue on Friday night on ESPN2. Wyoming is headed to Tulsa, New Mexico State and New Mexico are renewing their rivalry in this week’s pillow fight of the week. San Jose State is headed to Arkansas for a paycheck. Nevada will take on UTEP, Fresno State will take on Sacramento State, Toledo is headed to Colorado State, Utah and San Diego State will be playing in what should be a very good game, and the night cap for the sleep deprived is Hawaii vs Central Arkansas with a 10pm MT kickoff.

Scores

Idaho 16
Wyoming 21

New Mexico 14
Notre Dame 66

Portland State 10
Boise State 45

Hawaii 20
Washington 52

Air Force 30
Colorado 23

UNLV 14
Northwestern 30

Colorado State 34
Arkansas 55

Weber State 13
Nevada 19

San Diego State 31
New Mexico State 10

Mountain West Player of the Week

This week’s Mountain West player of the week is Air Force running back Kadin Remsberg. Remsberg rushed 23 times for 146 yards and one touchdown as the Falcons flew to Boulder and beat the Colorado Buffaloes, another Mountain West win over the Pac12.

Mountain West MVP Candidates

Hank Bachmeier, QB, Boise State – 16/25 for 238 yards and 2 TD, 1 INT
Charles Williams, RB, UNLV –  16 carries for 144 yards and 2 TD
Jordan Love, QB, Utah State – Idle
Cedric Byrd, WR, Hawaii –  6 receptions for 72 yards and 1 TD
Cole McDonald, QB, Hawaii – 22/35 for 218 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT

Mountain West Power Rankings

Boise State
Utah State
Wyoming
San Diego State
Air Force
Hawaii
Fresno State
Nevada
Colorado State
UNLV
New Mexico
San Jose State

The Quad Shot

Wyoming only scoring 21 points on Idaho showed a lot of flaws in a team that’s currently 3-0 and heading into a tough game against Tulsa. Wyoming has had a tough time moving the ball through the air the last couple weeks. The offensive coordinator, Brent Vigen, might be on the hot seat after another week’s worth of struggles by the offense. The high of the season was obviously beating Missouri, but since then it feels a lot like hanging on for dear life the entire game. Slow starts have put the Cowboys in a hole in all three games so far this season, and they’ve been fortunate to dig themselves out, but you can’t live like that once conference play starts.

The Mountain West biggest win of the week came from Air Force, taking down Colorado in Boulder. Just another notch in the Mountain West belt this season knocking off another power five opponent. Unfortunately the conference lost some ground as Hawaii, UNLV, Colorado State and New Mexico all lost against power five opponents. For a while I thought UNLV had a chance, down only two at half time. The Wildcats put the screws to UNLV and ended that hope. Hawaii.. well, not quite.

Speaking of Hawaii.. can we talk about what Cole McDonald has going on with the top of his head? The blonde hair, the dreadlocks, the partially shaved sides.. I kind of just picture this is how everyone in Hawaii looks as I’ve never been to the islands. I know a couple guys from high school that moved there and last time I saw them on Facebook they had similar looks. I’m just going to assume this is a stereotype. Island living isn’t my thing, and I have no hair… so I guess I’ll stick to the mountains of Montana. I’d burst into flames in that much sun anyways.

As I do on most Sundays I go check out the Sagarin rankings. These particular rankings are kind of interesting as they’re largely devoid of human opinion, rather it’s a lot of formulas, Excel spreadsheets, and some other wizardry. A lot of people discredit these rankings, I find them incredibly interesting. Anyways, the Mountain West – Mountain division is ranked 11th this week, the second highest of the group of five conferences one spot behind the AAC West. The West division is ranked 15th. We’re also getting close to seeing the Missouri Valley of FCS overtake the lowest ranked FBS conference, the MAC-East. The top six teams in the Mountain West are Boise State (24), Utah State (35), Air Force (55), Fresno State (69), San Diego State (72), and Wyoming (80). As much as I bag on San Jose State… they’re ranked 140.