Category: Mountain West Football

How To Watch Mountain West Title Game Between UNLV, Boise State

How To Watch Mountain West Title Game Between UNLV, Boise State Game day is here for Rebels vs. Broncos Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire Get to big boy FOX The game is here and it’s in Sin City with the UNLV Rebels hosting the Boise State Broncos in a …

How To Watch Mountain West Title Game Between UNLV, Boise State

Game day is here for Rebels vs. Broncos

Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Get to big boy FOX

The game is here and it’s in Sin City with the UNLV Rebels hosting the Boise State Broncos in a matchup featuring a newbie going against a team that has been to multiple title games.

2023 Mountain West Football Championship: The Ten Most Important Players, Ranked

2023 MOUNTAIN WEST FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Boise State Broncos (7-5, 6-2 Mountain West) vs. UNLV Rebels (9-3, 6-2 MW)

WHEN: Saturday, December 2nd — 1:00 p.m. MST / 12:00 p.m. PST

WHERE: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: FOX

STREAM: FuboTV – Get a free trial

SERIES RECORD: This will be the 12th all-time matchup between the two schools. Boise State leads the series 8-3. The Rebels have lost the last six meetings.

WEBSITES: BroncoSports.com | UNLVRebels.com

ODDS: Boise State -3

SP+ PROJECTION: UNLV by 1.0

FEI PROJECTION: Even

PARKER FLEMING PROJECTION: UNLV 53.87% win probability (29.92-19.79)

The UNLV season is turning out to possibly be one of their best ever and a conference title would give them double-digit wins in school history (the 1984 season had all of its 11 wins ruled as forfeits due to using academically ineligible players.)

This team has done it all by changing quarterbacks from an injured Doug Brumfield to finding a gem in Jayden Maiava who became freshman of the year. First year head coach Barry Odom took what Marcus Arroyo built and turned it into a championship team.

Boise State Gives UNLV Bulletin Board Material

In addition to Maiava being a key player for the Rebels, here is a blurb of what our own Matthew Kenerly had to say about the UNLV QB and also WR Ricky White in his top 10 most important players.

5. UNLV wide receiver Ricky White

When the Rebels have needed a big play this year, White has been the one to deliver it most often throughout 2023. This has been especially true in recent weeks: His 29 receptions in November were the second-most in the Mountain West, but his 589 receiving yards, collected as part of an ongoing five-game streak of 100-plus yards, were the most anywhere in the country.

2. UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava

Maiava’s emergence as the 2023 season unfolded was one of the Mountain West’s most unexpected narratives, and his play down the stretch has been something to behold: Since the start of November, the Las Vegas native leads the conference in averaging 261.8 passing yards per game and is tied for first with seven touchdowns against just two interceptions. He’s only averaged 25 attempts in the last four games, but he’s made them count more than just about anyone else around.

As for Boise State, the most important player is explosive running back Ashton Jeanty and it is not even close. If he doesn’t have a big game then it is hard to see the Broncos winning the conference championship.

1. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty

No surprises here. It’s not that the Broncos missed him much when was sidelined for two games with injury, but they didn’t waste much time re-establishing the super sophomore as the offense’s centerpiece once he was healthy again: He earned eight yards per play on 13 touches against Utah State, then exploded for over 100 rushing and receiving yards in the victory over Air Force.

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Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Must Commit To Winning Football After Firing Of Ken Wilson

Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Must Commit To Winning Football After Firing Of Ken Wilson The Wolf Pack must put the effort into building a winner after firing Ken Wilson on Friday. Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire Nevada Fires Ken Wilson After …

Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Must Commit To Winning Football After Firing Of Ken Wilson

The Wolf Pack must put the effort into building a winner after firing Ken Wilson on Friday.

Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire

Nevada Fires Ken Wilson After Two Season And A 4-20 Record

On Friday, Nevada fired Ken Wilson after two seasons as the head coach of the Wolf Pack program. 

 

Show of hands, who is surprised by the firing.

 

If you are surprised, then you are lying.

 

Anyone who has paid attention to the Nevada football program knew that Wilson’s time was up.  The 4-20 record in two seasons as head coach and an offense and defense that was horrendous doomed Wilson. Also, the third thing that brought the Wilson era to an end was Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe did not hire Wilson.

During his two year tenure as head coach at Nevada, Wilson failed to keep the Wolf Pack as a competitive team in the Mountain West. Wilson’s predecessor, Jay Norvell, elevated Nevada into the championship picture despite not winning the Mountain West.

Wilson never got the Wolf Pack football program to those heights under Norvell. Instead, Nevada found itself at the bottom of the conference standings. Nevada only won two conference games during the Wilson era. Those conference wins came this season when Nevada defeated San Diego State and New Mexico.

After the 2022  season, Wilson did infuse the Wolf Pack with talent via the transfer portal. Players like RB Sean Dollars and QB Brendon Lewis to name a few were brought in to pump life to an anemic offense. But the results did not improve as Nevada’s offense was statistically worse this season than last season. The Wolf Pack offense in 2022 averaged 18.8 points per game and this season they averaged 17.3 points per game.

The Nevada defense  gave up 33.4 points per game this season. That number is worse than last season when they gave up 30.9 points per game. An offense that got worse and defense that failed to improve. Add in the coaching staff that looked incapable of getting the best out of the players, you have a disaster that is Nevada under Ken Wilson. And now he is out as head coach of the Wolf Pack. 

 

 

So where does Nevada go from here?

 

Well if you look at the list of potential candidates per Nevada Sports Net’s Chris Murray, it is a very unique pool of candidates.

(I do like that Nevada can hire a head coach from Yale whose last name is Reno. And also, if Nevada wants publicity, there are better ways to get it than to hire Jon Gruden)

Whoever Nevada hires as head football coach, I will say that there has to be a concerted effort from the athletic director on down to elevate Nevada football to a championship level.

In the past, Nevada has had a lot of success with a limited amount of money and resources. In this era of the transfer portal and NIL, the Wolf Pack will need to step up their commitment to winning football.

Nevada has shown recently that they are more committed to winning football such as raising the head coaching salary. But Nevada can’t just dip their feet into the pool of competitive college football in the 21st century, they need to jump all the way into the pool.

Yes, I know of the struggles Nevada has in terms of money, resources and in state talent. But Boise State has almost all of those disadvantages that Nevada has and Boise State has been successful for 25+ years.

It is past time for Nevada to get serious about winning football. Firing Ken Wilson is a step in the right direction, now it is up to AD Stephanie Rempe and the Wolf Pack nation to elevate the program.

Ken Wilson seems to be a good man who loves Nevada and the football program. But the Wolf Pack have to see the bigger picture and bring in a head coach who can get Nevada back into contention. And most importantly, the Nevada athletic department and the school must set that coach up for success year in and year out.

Nevada is one of three programs in the Mountain West who have not played in a conference championship game in football. The Wolf Pack’s rivals to the south, UNLV, will play in their first conference championship game on Saturday.

 

Time to step up your football program, Wolf Pack.

 

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Boise State Gives UNLV Bulletin Board Material

Boise State Gives UNLV Bulletin Board Material Oh boy, this got interesting Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire Let the trash talk begin The Mountain West title game features a familiar team in Boise State facing off against UNLV at Las Vegas. The game …

Boise State Gives UNLV Bulletin Board Material

Oh boy, this got interesting

Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Let the trash talk begin

The Mountain West title game features a familiar team in Boise State facing off against UNLV at Las Vegas.

The game has a lot of storylines with Spencer Danielson who is interim coach for Boise State who could be the permanent coach. UNLV is in its first-ever Mountain West title game and could earn that elusive football conference title since joining this league.

The game is expected to be a close one as the line has hovered around a two- or three-point line in favor of a road Boise State.

The latest intrigue comes from the Boise State football game notes to provide some bulletin board material for UNLV with a jab towards the Rebels’ football history that includes forfeiture of games back from their 1984 season and more jabs.

This was pointed out that Boise State has been doing these things in-game notes, but the first we noticed (we apologize to the Broncos staff who writes these things).

Here are a few highlights.

  • Despite all the glitz and glamour in Sin City, all that glitters is not necessarily gold for the Rebels. UNLV enters this week looking to win its second conference championship ever and first since 1994.
  • If you think we’re forgetting something, we are certainly not. Yes, UNLV won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference in 1984 but later had to forfeit the title due to using ineligible players. No, that team was not coached by Jerry Tarkanian.
  • While he’s still barely into his (likely) long tenure at UNLV, Odom is already achieving one notable feat. With a 9-3 record, he is the first UNLV head coach to have a winning percentage in his tenure since Tony Knap posted a .696 mark (47-20-2) from 1976-81. We don’t blame UNLV for hiring a Boise State coach to
    find someone who knows how to win.
  • UNLV was originally founded in 1959 as a southern regional extension division of the University of Nevada. When it initially began operations, it used a classroom at Las Vegas High School. The moral of this story is no one should look disapprovingly upon Boise State’s history as a junior college.
  • The university’s endowment is $367.6 million. While that may be about double Boise State’s endowment, we’re pretty sure some former university president got lucky and rolled a seven to double that number.
  • UNLV’s basketball team is known as the Runnin’ Rebels while all other programs are just known as the
    Rebels. Knowing that important fact, we now expect UNLV to live up to its nickname and pass on every
    down on Saturday.

These comments fall into three categories: Bulletin board material for UNLV fans, genius comedy for Boise State fans, and the rest find this amusing and maybe even a little mean.

For UNLV players and fans, this has to add a little bit of extra motivation. As for the rest of us, we should be checking out the Broncos game notes going forward.

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2023 Mountain West Football Picks, Predictions, Players To Watch

2023 Mountain West Football Picks, Predictions, Players To Watch Staff predictions and a whole lot more. Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire Picks, predictions, and some boldness The 2023 Mountain West title game is here with Boise State traveling to …

2023 Mountain West Football Picks, Predictions, Players To Watch

Staff predictions and a whole lot more.

Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Picks, predictions, and some boldness

The 2023 Mountain West title game is here with Boise State traveling to UNLV this Saturday afternoon with a 12 p.m. local and 3 p.m. ET kick on FOX.

Our staff made a lot of predictions on the outcome, the betting line, MVP, and some nonsense.

The game is Boise State at UNLV (+2) O/U: 58.5 (These lines were as of Wednesday, so they may have changed)

Winner ATS:

Jeremy: Boise State

Matt K.: UNLV

Brandon: Boise State

Josh F: Boise State

Phil: UNLV

Tj: UNLV

Erik: Boise State

Michael: UNLV

LaMarr: UNLV

Collin: Boise State

Mountain West Championship Game: Keys For A Boise State Victory

Winner Straight Up:

Jeremy: Boise State

Matt K.: UNLV

Brandon: Boise State

Josh F: Boise State

Phil: UNLV

TJ: UNLV

Erik: Boise State

Michael: UNLV

LaMarr: UNLV

Collin: Boise State

UNLV vs. Boise State: How The Rebels Can Win, How to Watch, Odds, Prediction

Over/Under:

Jeremy: Over

Matt K.: Under

Brandon: Over

Josh F: Under

Phil: Over

TJ: Over 

Erik: Over

Michael: Over

LaMarr: Under

Collin: Under

PODCAST: Mountain West Championship Game Preview

Score Prediction:

Jeremy: Boise State 34, UNLV 28

Matt K.: UNLV 31, Boise State 27

Brandon: Boise State 35 UNLV 31

Josh F: Boise State 27 UNLV 21

Phil: UNLV 34, Boise State 31

TJ: UNLV 38, Boise State 31

Erik: Boise State 36, UNLV 24

Michael: UNLV 41, Boise State 36

LaMarr: UNLV 27, Boise State 24

Collin: Boise State 34, UNLV 20

2023 Mountain West Football Championship: The Ten Most Important Players, Ranked

Offensive MVP:

Jeremy: Boise State, RB, Ashton Jeanty

Matt K.: UNLV, QB, Jayden Maiava

Brandon: Boise State, RB, Ashton Jeanty

Josh F: Boise State, RB, George Holani

Phil: UNLV, QB, Jayden Maiava

TJ: Ricky White

Erik: Boise State, RB, Ashton Jeanty

Michael: UNLV QB, Jayden Maiava

LaMarr: UNLV, WR, Ricky White

Collin: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Ashton Jeanty

2023 Mountain West Football Championship: Eight Statistics That Could Decide The Game

Defensive MVP:

Jeremy: Boise State, DE, Ahmed Hassanein

Matt K.: UNLV, LB, Jackson Woodard

Brandon: Boise State, LB, Andrew Simpson

Josh F: Boise State, DE, Ahmed Hassanein

Phil: Boise State, DE, Ahmed Hassanein

TJ: UNLV, DB, Jaxen Turner

Erik: Boise State, DE, Ahmed Hassanein

Michael: UNLV: Jackson Woodard

LaMarr: UNLV: Jackson Woodard

Collin: Boise State, DJ Schramm

Under the radar player who makes an impact:

Jeremy: Boise State, CB, A’Marion McCoy

Matt K.: UNLV, LB, Marsel McDuffie

Brandon: Boise State, LB, DJ Schramm

Josh F: Boise State, WR, Stefan Cobbs

Phil: Boise State, WR, Stefan Cobbs

TJ: UNLV, DB, Cameron Oliver

Erik: Boise State, WR, Prince Strachan

LaMarr:  WR Jacob De Jesus

Collin: Boise State, DL Braxton Fely

One wild prediction:

Jeremy: There will be a trick play that goes horribly wrong and results in a turnover.

Matt K.: Jai’Den Thomas will the game’s longest play from scrimmage.

Brandon: UNLV will run a fake punt that will result in a touchdown

Josh F: 5+ Combined Turnovers

Phil: 28 unanswered points by UNLV

Erik: An offensive/defensive lineman will score a touchdown 

Michael: 50-plus-yard passing touchdown

TJ: UNLV wins off a Hail Mary

LaMarr: Jayden Maiava throws for 400 yards

Collin: there will be a special teams touchdown and a kick blocked.

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Mountain West Championship Game: Keys For A Boise State Victory

Mountain West Championship Game: Keys For A Boise State Victory Can the Broncos win with an interim coach? Follow @MWCwire Boise State travels to UNLV WEEK 12: Boise State Broncos (7-5, 6-2 MW) vs. UNLV Rebels (9-3, 6-2 MW) WHEN: Saturday, December …

Mountain West Championship Game: Keys For A Boise State Victory

Can the Broncos win with an interim coach?

Follow @MWCwire

Boise State travels to UNLV

WEEK 12: Boise State Broncos (7-5, 6-2 MW) vs. UNLV Rebels (9-3, 6-2 MW)

WHEN: Saturday, December 2nd – 1:00 PM MT/12:00 PM PT

WHERE: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: FOX

STREAM: FuboTV — get a free trial

RADIO: The Boise State broadcast can be found on KBOI 670 AM / KTIK 93.1 FM in the Boise area. 

SERIES RECORD: Boise State leads the all-time series 8-3, including a 38-13 victory in 2019  in Las Vegas. UNLV’s last win was in Las Vegas in 1976, 31-26.

LAST GAME: Boise State beat Air Force 27-19, while UNLV lost to San Jose State 37-31
ODDS: Boise State -2.5

SP+ PROJECTION: UNLV by 1.0

FEI PROJECTION: Even

PARKER FLEMING PROJECTION: UNLV 53.87% win probability (29.92-19.79)

When this season kicked off, most that covered college football had Boise State picked to be in the conference championship game. Very few, if any, had UNLV as their opponent and hosting the game. If you look back to just four weeks ago, it looked to be Fresno State’s for the taking after defeating Boise State and UNLV in back-to-back weeks and leaving Boise State reeling as the goal shifted from a championship to hopefully being above .500. 

UNLV responded by rolling New Mexico and Wyoming, coming back to beat Air Force, before falling to SJSU in the final week of the season.  Boise State beat New Mexico and Air Force while taking it to Utah State in that stretch.  Oh, and the Broncos fired Andy Avalos after the New Mexico win in a surprise move for Athletic Director Jeremiah Dickey. Interim Coach Spencer Danielson looks to be the first interim coach to win a conference title game in NCAA history.

Keys To Victory

Dance With Who Brought You

With running backs like Ashton Jeanty and George Holani, as well as the mobility of QB Taylen Green, the Broncos had the second-best rushing offense in the Mountain West this season behind Air Force.

Jeanty won the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year with 1,113 yards and 13 touchdowns, in addition to 537 yards receiving and five touchdowns, with Green and Holani adding another 878 yards on the ground and 12 touchdowns combined. UNLV does have a good run defense, but the Broncos ran well against Air Force and Wyoming, who both finished better against the run than UNLV.  The running game needs to set the tone for the game, not just for the physicality but for the big play ability to keep pressure on the Rebel defense.

Keep The Top On the Pass Defense

Boise State has improved dramatically in the latter part of the season against the pass, which is misleading. Two of the last three games have been against New Mexico and Air Force, which is helpful, but the Bronco secondary held up well against Utah State, who finished fourth in passing. A big part of that has been due to the defensive line creating much more pressure on the quarterback. 

Defensive lineman Ahmed Hassanein has been wreaking havoc and racked up 12 sacks on the season, along with linebacker Andrew Simpson, who also has 15 tackles for loss.  While UNLV is a run-first team, they have a dangerous quarterback-receiver combination of Jayden Maiava and Ricky White.

White averages over 17 yards a catch and has seven touchdowns on the season, so he is familiar with getting loose in opponents’ secondary.  If the pass rush can keep Maiava from getting comfortable, Boise State should be able to keep the Rebel running game in check.

Focus!!!

There has been a lot of news and speculation going around the program regarding the search for their new head coach.  Many players want interim head coach Spencer Danielson to be the next coach, which has led to a renewed passion for the program.  This may lead to players being too excited for a game that appeared out of reach a few weeks ago, and while they should be excited for the opportunity, they have to play within themselves to avoid costly mistakes. 

UNLV has forced the most turnovers in the Mountain West this season and will be looking to capitalize on every mistake made. One clear advantage the Broncos will have is that they have been here before.  This game is the Broncos 4th title game in the last five years, so most of the team knows how to handle the game. At the same time, this is UNLV’s first winning season since 2013, let alone a championship game, so they will have to figure out how to win a big game on the fly.

Prediction:

Regardless of the outcome, this season has turned out better than most fans thought it would three weeks ago.  That said, the Bronco defense turnaround should help Boise State outlast the UNLV Rebels 36-24.

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Nevada Fires Head Coach Ken Wilson After Just Two Years

Nevada Fires Head Coach Ken Wilson After Just Two Years The reduced buyout had to be a key factor. Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire 4-20 record won’t cut it Nevada football did what had to be done and saved a few bucks in the process. Nevada Sports …

Nevada Fires Head Coach Ken Wilson After Just Two Years

The reduced buyout had to be a key factor.

Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

4-20 record won’t cut it

Nevada football did what had to be done and saved a few bucks in the process. Nevada Sports Net is reporting that after just two seasons Ken Wilson is out as the Nevada Wolf Pack head coach.

The Wolf Pack athletic department has not yet made a public decision on Wilson’s future.

This had to be done. Wilson previously was Oregon’s defensive coordinator and was a defensive coach at Nevada from 1989 through 2012. So, a return to a school he was very familiar with would pay off, unfortunately it didn’t.

The move to relieve Wilson of his duties today as opposed to right after the regular season was due to a lower buyout on Dec. 1. Nevada will save $500,000 by being patient and have to pay coach Wilson $1 million per the buyout.

Per Chris Murray of Nevada Sports there were conversations about his future to see if it was worth it to keep Wilson around.

Wolf Pack administration spent this week having in-depth conversations with Wilson and his staff to assess the program and why it has struggled the last two seasons.

The higher ups decided to go with a fresh start after a 4-20 record that was not showing much if any improvement. Wilson did inherit a tough situation with Jay Norvell leaving for Colorado State and that caused a ripple in talent to follow Norvell and other locations.

The lack of improvement and fight had to be the doing in for Wilson. The offense was inept with rotating quarterbacks throughout the year either due to ineffectiveness or injury made life difficult.

The defensive coach also never fielded a great defense in his time in the Mountain West.

Not being competitive is the worst part of the situation. Sixteen of Nevada’s 20 losses under Wilson were by double digits. They lost to two FCS teams in two years against Incarnate Word and Idaho, were winless in year one in the Mountain West, and endured a 16-game losing streak.

The stats don’t lie either when looking at scoring points and allowing points. Nevada was 128th in scoring in 2023 and 120th in 2022. The team scored 1.4 fewer points per game in that time.

Defensively it was not much better. In 2023 that unit gave up 33.4 points per game which was 115th in FBS, and in 2022 allowed 30.9 and 103rd in all of college football.

This Nevada football program has had lots of success but very little has happened in the Mountain West. Their FCS tenure under Chris Ault was elite as was their final years in the WAC where they were pulling off upsets with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback. They have gone to bowl games in the conference with seven since they joined the Mountain West back in 2012.

Nevada is at a crossroads because it is widely known they are not extremely committed to football. Compare that to basketball where things are a bit better with facilities and a well known coach in Steve Alford.

This next hire is important for Nevada as they need to find someone to get them back to the success of being at worst a bowl-eligible team with upside.

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Nevada Football: Head Coach Ken Wilson Fired

The Wolf Pack are on the hunt for a new leader after Wilson couldn’t get the program out of its current hole.

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Nevada Football: Head Coach Ken Wilson Fired

The Wolf Pack are on the hunt for a new leader after Wilson couldn’t get the program out of its current hole.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

The next chapter begins soon.

After leading the Nevada Wolf Pack to back-to-back 2-10 seasons, head coach Ken Wilson has been fired.

The news, first reported by Matt Zenitz of On3Sports and confirmed by Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net, doesn’t necessarily come as a shock. Nevada failed to turn the page after previous head coach Jay Norvell left the program for Colorado State in December 2021, a move that launched a substantial transfer portal exodus which may have ultimately defined Wilson’s tenure in Reno.

He won his first two games as head coach in the 2022 season, but the Wolf Pack then suffered a 16-game losing streak that extended into 2023. After another pair of consecutive victories against San Diego State and New Mexico in October, the team lost its last four games, sealing Wilson’s fate.

Despite starting with significant holes on the roster, the Wolf Pack never found many long-term solutions on either side of the ball after two seasons. By Brian Fremeau’s FEI efficiency metric, Nevada fell from 53rd in 2021 to 124th last year and 128th this season; by Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, they dropped from 67th to 125th to 131st. The Wolf Pack are also the only team in the Mountain West to average fewer than 20 points per game in each of the last two years, a period in which they also finished either next-to-last or last in the conference by yards per play on offense and yards per play allowed on defense.

As Murray noted, Wilson’s 24-game stint as head coach is the program’s shortest since Jeff Horton’s infamous Red Defection to UNLV in 1993.

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San Jose State Football: Spartans To Face Coastal Carolina In EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

The Spartans will head to the Hawaiian islands once again to close 2023 against the Chanticleers.

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San Jose State Football: Spartans To Face Coastal Carolina In EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

The Spartans will head to the Hawaiian islands once again to close 2023 against the Chanticleers.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

An early Christmas gift for the surging Spartans.

The EasyPost Hawaii Bowl made a triumphant return to college football’s postseason scene last season, following a two-year hiatus, and is now one of the first games on the scene with a matchup in place for December: The San Jose State Spartans will clash with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, first reported by Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

After starting 2023 with a 1-5 record, Brent Brennan’s Spartans ended the regular season with a six-game winning streak, including rivalry wins over Hawaii and Fresno State and a season-ending road victory over UNLV, though the computers didn’t favor them in a three-way tiebreaker for the Mountain West championship game. The consolation comes with some intriguing narratives, however, namely that star quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, a native of the islands who transferred from Hawaii before the 2022 season, will get one last chance to impress before a home crowd.

Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, secured bowl eligibility for the fourth straight season under first-year head coach Tim Beck with a 7-5 record, but they had plenty of their own challenges in the fiercely competitive Sun Belt Conference. For instance, star quarterback Grayson McCall only appeared in seven games before being lost for the season to injury and recently left the program for the transfer portal.

This year’s Hawaii Bowl is not on Christmas Eve but will take place the day before on Saturday, December 23. It will be broadcast on ESPN, kicking off at 5:30 PM local time (7:30 PM Pacific/8:30 PM Mountain).

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2023 Mountain West Football Championship: The Ten Most Important Players, Ranked

Both Boise State and UNLV will need some big performance to claim the crown. Who might they need to stand out the most on Saturday?

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2023 Mountain West Football Championship: The Ten Most Important Players, Ranked

Both Boise State and UNLV will need some big performance to claim the crown. Who might they need to stand out the most on Saturday?

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

Athletes abound.

10. UNLV linebacker Jackson Woodard

One thing that is almost certain to define Saturday’s result is whether or not the Rebels can remain stout against the run. In that regard, UNLV has not been the most disruptive team in the Mountain West all year long but Woodard has stepped up in recent weeks to lead the charge. He collected 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the team’s last three games, and according to Pro Football Focus, he collected 16 total stops in November, which tied for third-most among conference defenders.

9. UNLV linebacker Marsel McDuffie

Pop quiz: Which defender playing in Saturday’s championship tilt ended November with the highest overall Pro Football Focus grade? If you guessed that this was a leading question to highlight McDuffie’s 77.2 mark, pat yourself on the back. He has been overlooked in the Rebels’ surge, but the sophomore has anchored the middle linebacker position all season and played his best ball in recent weeks.

To wit, he was one of only two Mountain West defenders to average double-digit tackles in November, missing just one tackle attempt (per PFF) while collecting 16 stops, an amount that tied with Woodard for third-most in that stretch. In other words, the Grand Prairie, Texas native is an under-the-radar Lone Star athlete in this game who could be ready for a star turn.

8. Boise State linebacker Andrew Simpson

In examining the statistics, few players in the Mountain West have been as unpredictable as the redshirt sophomore who’s made ten starts on the weak side this year. On the one hand, he’s emerged as a much-needed havoc generator for the Broncos defense, picking up a conference-high eight tackles for loss in November along with 2.5 sacks and, like McDuffie and Woodard above, 16 stops per PFF.

Unlike the two Rebels linebackers, though, Simpson also has a season-long missed tackle rate of 24.7% that is the fifth-highest mark among conference players at the position. They’ll need him to be on point against a UNLV rushing game that features two athletes, Vincent Davis and Jai’Den Thomas, who have combined to force 57 missed tackles this season.

7. Boise State punter James Ferguson-Reynolds

Despite leading the country with an average of 50.08 yards per punt and a net of 43.06 that ranks fifth, Ferguson-Reynolds somehow wasn’t named a Ray Guy Award finalist earlier this week. Surely, he’ll be motivated to prove to the voters that their oversight was foolish and be prepared to bail out the Broncos should they find themselves in a jam.

Ferguson-Reynolds’s prominence in flipping the field will come in handy on Saturday since UNLV has benefitted from some of the nation’s best field position week after week, facing a field that, on average, extends just 67.1 yards. For his part, Ferguson-Reynolds has launched 26 of his 49 punts more than 50 yards and pinned 22 of them inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, so that usual script gets rewritten, you can thank the Aussie sophomore for it.

6. UNLV wide receiver Jacob De Jesus

If that script looks like business as usual, though, it’ll probably be because De Jesus is running free. The former Modesto Junior College product has been the Mountain West’s top return specialist in 2023, leading the conference with 26.4 yards per kickoff return and 16.8 yards per punt return while finishing fifth overall with an average of 107.2 all-purpose yards per game. He’s also been handy as the Rebels’ primary slot receiver as well, managing 20 first downs on 46 receptions, so the Broncos will need to be mindful whenever the ball is in De Jesus’s hands.

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PODCAST: Mountain West Championship Game Preview

PODCAST: Mountain West Championship Game Preview UNLV vs. Boise State; who wins? Contact/Follow @MWCwire Title game is here! Jeremy and Josh are back to preview the Mountain West football title game between UNLV and Boise State. They give …

PODCAST: Mountain West Championship Game Preview

UNLV vs. Boise State; who wins?

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://mwwire.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Title game is here!

Jeremy and Josh are back to preview the Mountain West football title game between UNLV and Boise State. They give predictions and offer up some bold predictions.

Before that they discuss the coaching news across the conference and all-conference picks.

You can find the Mountain West Wire podcast below or subscribe to the show via TuneIn, Spotify, iTunes, and more. Listen in, subscribe and rate it and let us know what you think!

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