Category: Mountain West Football

Looking Back At The Tony Sanchez Era At UNLV

UNLV Tony Sanchez was let go as Rebels head coach. He did have some good moments to go along with the not so good moments.

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Looking Back At The Tony Sanchez Era At UNLV

How will we remember the Tony Sanchez era at UNLV?

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The Tony Sanchez era at UNLV is coming to a close.

This week UNLV athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois announced that Saturday’s game against arch-rival Nevada would be Tony Sanchez’s last. The Rebels head coach for the last five seasons has two years remaining on his contract with a buyout of $600,000.

For his part, Sanchez handled the news with class.

“I’m disappointed that I’m not going to get a chance to continue on. This is not something I wanted, but in competitive Division I athletics, it’s part of the life.

“So my legacy here? I don’t know. That’s not for me to say. All I know is I showed up to work every day, worked as hard as I could. We made a difference.”

It’s not for him to say, but it is for us to say. What legacy does Sanchez leave after five years in Sin City?

The Bad

The Rebels lost a lot under Tony Sanchez, which can be said for most coaches, in what has been a mostly forgettable fifty years of UNLV football.

Win or lose against the Wolf Pack on Saturday, Sanchez will depart UNLV as the school’s most successful coach of the last fifteen years. He was preceded by Bobby Hauck who went 15-49 in five seasons, though did lead his team to the Heart of Dallas Bowl at the end of the 2013 season. Before Hauck, Mike Sanford cobbled together a 16-43 record.

Still, for reasons fair and not, the expectations were different for Sanchez. He was in the spotlight from day one, being one of the few coaches in Division 1 history to make the leap straight from high school.

Sanchez won three games in year one. Four in year two. Five in year three. That’s no small accomplishment. Since John Robinson left as head coach in 2004, UNLV’s only had four seasons of five wins.

So, then the expectation is a bowl game. And that’s fair. The Rebs won four games last season, and that number will be the same if they knock off Reno this week.

Sanchez had a lot of talent in his tenure. Running back Charles Williams has put together a fine career, rushing for over 2300 yards placing him sixth on the all-time list at UNLV. Lexington Thomas is arguably the greatest ball carrier in school history. Thomas is second on that list, carrying the ball for over 3500 yards.

But you don’t have to look hard to figure out why Sanchez is on the way out. His prized recruit was quarterback Armani Rogers. Rogers didn’t produce, UNLV lost games, and now they’re looking for a new head football coach.

After a redshirt freshman year, Rogers played in 10 games in 2017. UNLV won five of those games. Rogers won MWC Freshman of the Year.

The next year, due to injury, Rogers only saw the field for six games. So, a down year can be forgiven.

This season Rogers played, played poorly and got hurt. Bowl game aspirations disappeared and Sanchez will be replaced. It’s that simple.

Kenyon Oblad played admirably filling in for Rogers. But not well enough for Sanchez to be retained. Still, you cannot help but feel like UNLV would be moving forward with its head coach were it not for a handful of dropped passes in 2019. The Rebels have been notorious for this in 2019. A couple catches, maybe Tony’s still around.

The Good

Few first-time head coaches have had an impact on a program the same way Tony Sa

nchez did at UNLV. The Rebels may very soon become a more high-profile destination based on the impact he has had in Las Vegas.

It’s no secret that Sanchez played in important role in getting the Fertitta Football Complex built. The $34 million facility features barbershop, a larger locker room, a 10,000-square-foot weight-room, underwater treadmills, a player’s lounge, a dining hall, and an academic center. It is a benchmark for UNLV athletics and the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held just last month.

Due to Sanchez’s work with the Fretittas top recruits are already expressing interest in playing for the Rebels. Recruits that he’ll not have the opportunity to lead.

That’s a tangible mark that he has had on the program and the community. Often times when head coaches are jettisoned, many like to reference a “change in culture.” I can’t tell you that the culture of UNLV football has changed. What I can tell you is that there is a big, bright, brand new, sparkling facility associated with UNLV football, and he played a critical role in bringing that into existence.

Being able to bring in a player like Armani Rogers, on the field performance aside, made some noise in Las Vegas. He was a highly sought-after recruit. He picked UNLV. That was a big deal.

When Bobby Hauck left UNLV was a middling Mountain West Conference team nobody was talking about. When Sanchez departs UNLV will be a middling Mountain West Conference team that some people are talking about.

His time with the Rebels was a good thing.

 

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PODCAST: 2019 Mountain West Week 14 Preview

Get ready for Week 14 of Mountain West football.

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PODCAST: 2019 Mountain West Week 14 Preview

Final week of the regular season.

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Pride is on the line.

Jeremy and Matt are back to preview the final week of the Mountain West regular season. There are five league games and two non-conference games. There is not really much on the line this week as there are no more bowl bids that can be earned and the championship game has been set with Hawaii and Boise State.

Speaking of Boise State, they need to win to keep pace in the Group of Five mix and the Cotton Bowl and that is the biggest storyline of the week. We also discuss the coaching changes at both New Mexico and UNLV and what is next for those openings at each school.

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

Here is our list of complete sponsors.

Or just help us out directly through our Patreon page through this link.

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Hawai’i vs. Army: Keys to Hawaii’s victory

Week 14: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors(8-4) vs. Army Black Knights(5-6) When: Saturday, November 30, 2019 @ 7:30pm HST 10:30pm MT Where: Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI TV: CBSSN Streaming: FuboTV – Watch for free with a seven-day free trial. Radio: ESPN …

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Week 14: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors(8-4) vs. Army Black Knights(5-6)

When: Saturday, November 30, 2019 @ 7:30pm HST 10:30pm MT

Where: Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI

TV: CBSSN

Streaming: FuboTV – Watch for free with a seven-day free trial.

Radio: ESPN Honolulu

Odds: Hawai’i by -3

ESPN FPI: Projects Hawai’i 63.6% win

Can UH win their ninth game on senior night?

No one celebrates senior night quite like Hawai’i as they honor 23 seniors this Saturday. The copious amount of flower and candy leis drowns the faces of the players as they take their last walk onto the field. If they can somehow beat Boise State the following week it will be the last time ever most of the seniors will take the field at Aloha Stadium.

But the seniors and the rest of the Rainbow Warrior football team will first solely concentrate on beating a tough Army team. This will be the fifth overall meeting between the two teams with UH leading the series 3-1 and 2-0 in Honolulu. The last meeting in 2018 Army squeaked by Hawai’i in West Point 28-21.

Hawai’i head coach Nick Rolovich said it best that this team only has three games left to play for each other, for the university and for the state. Meaning they will not rest starters in getting ready for the MW championship game unless they are still recovering from an injury. Let’s see how the ‘Bows can manage a victory over the Black Knights:

Chasing Chevan

We probably won’t know who the starter is for this game until game day but whoever starts needs to be effective either with their arm or legs and score points early. Hawai’i redshirt freshmen QB Chevan Coideiro led the ‘Bows down the field with his legs after Cole McDonald was pulled from the game in the third quarter of last week’s nail bitter win against San Diego State.

It will be tough for Army to prepare for both QBs and limit the big plays from WRs JoJo Ward, Cedric Byrd and yards after catch from Jared Smart and Jason- Matthew Sharsh.

If one element of the run and shoot clicks the other elements will be effective and I still believe running the ball with Miles Reed will open up the QB run or pull the LBs forward giving more open space for Hawaii’s receivers.

Doing their 1/11th

The proven way to stop a triple-option team is each defensive player is responsible for their guy. You need to be focused every down otherwise it just takes one missed assignment and the ball carrier will score from sixty yards out. The Army offense can be plain and simple but effective averaging 302 yards on the ground. It’s pounding you with the RB/FB in Connor Slomka(572 rush yds) or QB keep with the leading rusher Kelvin Hopkins Jr(619 rush yds.)

It’s been impressive to see the defense has stepped up in the last three games and keeping the last two opponents to just 7 and 11 points per game. Yes the last two opponents had subpar offenses but it seems they are playing better through communication and tackling. I don’t see as much blown coverages or missed tackles as much as the first half of the season and so it looks promising for the team overall that when in close games the defense can step up seal the victory.

I’m looking for senior LB Solomon Matautia and senior CB Ikem Okeke to have big games this Saturday.

Rumble on the rock

There were only 21,000+ at last week’s game but it sounded like 35,000. The team really fed from the crowd’s energy especially on 3rd down defense. With this last game guaranteed to be played at Aloha Stadium it might be the last chance the fans can should show up in numbers to support a team that is giving their all and not giving up. When the ceiling in the locker rooms rumble from the crowd stomping the team feels it. I’m not sure if a 7:30pm kickoff will affect the attendance but UH hopes for a big turn out to celebrate the seniors and the ‘Bows ninth victory.

Prediction

It may be closer to most Hawai’i fan’s liking but I predict UH offense will put up more points than the past two games and the defense will make a final stop to Army’s last drive.

Hawai’i 28 Army 21

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Game Day Preview: No. 20 Boise State heads to Colorado State to Finish the Regular Season

Boise State is looking to go undefeated in Mountain West play.

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Game Day Preview: No. 20 Boise State heads to Colorado State to Finish the Regular Season

Broncos Seek their First Undefeated Season in Mountain West Conference Play

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Boise State vs. Colorado State is the finale.

Boise State heads south to Fort Collins for the last game of the 2019 regular season.  The Broncos have already clinched the Mountain Division while Hawaii has locked up the West Division, setting up a rematch from earlier in the year on the Blue Turf for the Mountain West Championship Game next week.

The Broncos do have some business to attend to before that championship game in the form of the Colorado State Rams. The Rams have had a disappointing season and were eliminated last week from bowl eligibility by the Wyoming Cowboys.

Colorado State has never defeated Boise State in football before so knocking off the Mountain West’s premier franchise will be extra sweet in their final game of the year if the Rams can pull off the upset. Meanwhile, Boise State will look to finish 8-0 in conference play which would be a first for the Broncos since joining the Mountain West in 2011.

Date: Friday November 29, 2019
Where: Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, CO
When: 1:30 PM, Mountain Standard Time
Spread: Boise State -12.5
How to Watch: CBS Sports Network
Stream: FuboTV – Get a seven-day free trial
ESPN FPI Win Predictor: Boise State to win at an 88.4% rate
Weather: High of 35 ̊/Low of 19 ̊  with light snow showers and mild winds. Sunset at 4:34 PM
Head to Head Record: Boise State 8 wins, Colorado State 0 wins
Previous Meeting: Boise State 56, Colorado State 28 on October 19, 2018 in Boise, Idaho
MWC Mountain Division Titles: Boise State 3, Colorado State 0
MWC Conference Titles: Boise State 3, Colorado State 0

Bronco/Ram History Rewind

Colorado State began football play in 1893 and were an independent until joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 1909 before moving to the Mountain State Conference in 1938 and finally the Skyline Conference in 1948.  The Rams returned to independency in 1962 before making the jump to the Western Athletic Conference in 1968.

Boise State would join the ranks of the Western Athletic Conference in 2001 but Colorado State had departed the WAC for the Mountain West Conference in 1998.  Boise State would themselves join the MWC in 2011. 

Despite the relatively close proximity between the schools, Colorado State and Boise State did not meet on the football field until they became conference mates in 2011. The Broncos and Rams have played every year since then and were both placed in the Mountain Division in 2013 when the conference expanded to 12 teams.

Boise State has won all 8 matchups since 2011 and many have them been by lopsided scores.  However, the 2017 game was quite memorable. Colorado State jumped out to a 28-3 lead but due to the heroics of Cedric Wilson and Alexander Mattison, Boise State was able to rally and force overtime when they were able to score a stunning victory with a final margin of 59-52.

Colorado State Season Rewind

The fifth season under Mike Bobo has not gone according to plan for Colorado State. After getting smoked by in state rival Colorado, the Rams got in the win column by defeating an FCS opponent at home. The Rams proceeded to lose the next 4 games and slipped to 1-5 at the midway point of the year. To make matters worse, Colorado State would lose their starting quarterback Colin Hill for the year during this period.

Coach Bobo and company would finally stop the hemorrhaging with a road trip to New Mexico where the Rams were able to knock off the Lobos.  Colorado State carried the momentum over to score a stunning upset victory on the road at Fresno State and followed that with another win at home over UNLV.  During this time, new quarterback Patrick O’Brien distinguished himself with solid play on the field and the Rams looked to have a hope of getting to a bowl game in 2019.

The good times would quickly come to a halt though.  Colorado State would lose to instate rival Air Force by 17 points and then get defeated in the Border War by Wyoming by 10 points and fall to 4-7.  Without any postseason hopes remaining, Coach Bobo and Patrick O’Brien will throw everything they have at the Broncos and look to end the year on a positive note. 

Rankings

In the College Football Playoff Rankings, the Broncos held fast at 20th despite their blowout victory last week. Meanwhile in the traditional polls, the Broncos find themselves also at 20th in the AP Poll and 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Colorado State is not receiving votes in either poll.  Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings have the Broncos checking in as the 26th best team in division 1 football and the Rams find themselves at 109th.

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College Football Playoff Rankings: Boise State Remains At No. 20

The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out and they are good for the Broncos.

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College Football Playoff Rankings: Boise State Remains At No. 20

Broncos remain the same.

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Broncos still need help.

The big question going into the latest College Football Playoff rankings in regards to the Group of Five and the Mountain West is if Boise State moves above either Memphis or Cincinnati.

Logic would lean toward the Bearcats and the playoff committee having them behind the Broncos. However, the committee spoke by ranking Boise State at No. 20 and Cincinnati one spot ahead at 19. Memphis is still ahead of the pack at 18 and in position by winning out to earn a Cotton Bowl berth.

Where these will really change is once Memphis who plays Cincinnati this weekend. A Tigers win means they are in the AAC title game for a rematch but a Memphis loss coupled with a Navy win means the Midshipman take on the Bearcats.

The other Group of Five team to be ranked are Appalachian State at No. 24.

  1. ohio state

  2. lsu

  3. CLEMSON

  4. GEORGIA

  5. ALABAMA

  6. UTAH

  7. OKLAHOMA

  8. MINNESOTA

  9. baylor

  10. PENN STATE

  11. FLORIDA

  12. wisconsin

  13. michigan

  14. oregon

  15. AUBURN

  16. NOTRE DAME

  17. IOWA

  18. MEMPHIS

  19. CINCINNATI

  20. BOISE STATE

  21. OKLAHOMA STATE

  22. USC

  23. IOWA STATE

  24. kansas state

  25. APPALACHIAN STATE

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College Football Playoff Rankings: Projecting Boise State In The Week 14 Top 25

With the Mountain division title in hand, how will Boise State look to the CFP committee this week?

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College Football Playoff Rankings: Projecting Boise State in the Week 14 Top 25

With the Mountain division title in hand, how will Boise State look to the committee this week?

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

Does another win equal another move up?

The Boise State Broncos have picked a good time to start peaking.

Since their narrow escape against Wyoming a few weeks ago, Bryan Harsin’s boys in blue have notched a pair of wins by a combined 68 points, most recently throttling Utah State to secure another Mountain division title.

Though their championship rematch with Hawaii will have to wait another week, there’s still plenty of reason to notch another win in the season finale at Colorado State.

Will they make up any ground on the AAC foes in front of them in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings? As always, keep this in mind first: A lot can change in a week and in the CFP era and things have definitely tended to change quite a bit over the course of a month or so.

Here’s a quick recap of the weekend that was and what it might mean.

Who lost?

From the top:

  • #6 Oregon lost on the road to Arizona State, 31-28
  • #8 Penn State lost on the road to #2 Ohio State, 28-17
  • #25 SMU lost on the road to Navy, 35-28

Is that it? The two top-ten teams aren’t likely to fall far enough to make a difference for Boise State, though at least we can finally bid adieu to the Mustangs and their good fortune in one-score games.

By Way of Comparison: How did the rest of the Group of 5 fare?

  • #18 Memphis defeated South Florida on the road, 49-10
  • #19 Cincinnati defeated Temple at home, 15-13
  • #24 Appalachian State defeated Texas State at home, 35-13

In case you had any question about why the Tigers jumped the Bearcats in last week’s rankings, the newest piece of justification for that was unceremoniously demonstrated on USF in Tampa on Saturday. Cincinnati, meanwhile, tallied their fourth win of the year by exactly three points and now head to Memphis on Saturday in what probably amounts to a de facto elimination game in this hunt.

We mentioned Navy already and the Midshipmen may now have the juice to jump back into the top 25 themselves. Better yet, they still have a chance to create some havoc in the rankings if they can get to the AAC title game, but they’ll need Cincinnati to overcome its recent blase performances and beat Memphis to do so.

App State isn’t likely to lose any ground after another comfortable Sun Belt victory, but they look like the longest of longshots to claim the top spot. The Mountaineers need to beat Troy in a walk, then you’re betting on a situation where Navy beats Houston, Cincinnati beats Memphis, and Boise State and Hawaii both lose this weekend. After that, App State will need to crush Louisiana-Lafayette, then hope Navy wins the AAC and Hawaii wins the Mountain West. That… may be asking a lot.

What about Air Force?

Air Force could make it into the top 25, but at this point it wouldn’t be much more than a nicety. Remember, a Group of 5 must win their conference in order to claim the New Year’s Six bowl spot, so now that the Mountain West championship is already set between Boise State and Hawaii, the Falcons can’t do that. Better luck next year.

So what do I think the top 25 will look like? Read on.

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New Mexico Football: Bob Davie To Depart As Head Coach

The Lobos become the second Mountain West football team in the market for a new coach after the season is finished.

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New Mexico Football: Bob Davie to Depart as Lobos Head Coach

The Lobos become the second Mountain West football team in the market for a new coach after the season is finished.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

The end of an era in Albuquerque.

After eight seasons as the head coach of the New Mexico Lobos, it was announced today that Bob Davie will depart from the program following the team’s season finale against Utah State next Saturday.

Following a meeting between and athletic director Eddie Nuñez, the AD acknowledged that “the time has come for a new director for our football program” after a third straight season in which the Lobos can finish with no more than three wins.

Davie himself appeared appreciative of the opportunity despite the ups and downs of his eight-year tenure, saying that he was “proud of what we accomplished at UNM, [though] we are all disappointed that we have not been able to sustain the success we acheived and all desire.”

Davie inherited a team that finished 1-11 in 2009, 2010, and 2011 and slowly began to build one of the most interesting teams in the Group of 5, developing an option-based running game that would finish third among FBS teams on a per-carry basis in 2012 and in the top 16 every year until 2016. It took four seasons for New Mexico to reach .500, but they did so in a 2015 campaign which marked the team’s first bowl appearance in eight years.

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The Lobos followed that 7-6 finish by going 9-4 in 2016, a high point the program hadn’t seen since 2007, on the strength of that run-heavy offense which finished first in the country with 6.61 yards per carry. That momentum quickly tapered, however, when New Mexico fell back to 3-9 in 2017.

He goes into Saturday’s game against New Mexico with a 35-63 record, which makes him the third-winningest head coach in Lobos history. He also leaves the program with a 1-1 record in bowl games.

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UNLV Parts Ways With Tony Sanchez, Will Coach Season Finale vs. Nevada

UNLV football is going in a new direction as they have fired Tony Sanchez.

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UNLV Parts Ways With Tony Sanchez, Will Coach Season Finale vs. Nevada

Sanchez is out as Rebels head coach.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

UNLV is in the market for a new coach.

UNLV announced that is not going to retain Tony Sanchez after five years and with a 19-40 record but he will be on the sidelines this weekend taking on Nevada with a chance to win the Fremont Cannon.

The team released statements from Sanchez and athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois.

“We appreciate everything that Tony has done for our university and football program,” Reed-Francois said. “He made us better. Because of his work and his vision, we have the best facilities in the Mountain West and rival some of the best in the country.”

The announcement came to no one’s surprise as Sanchez has not been able to get the UNLV team to a bowl game during his time, and that was basically a requirement said by Reed-Francois last spring when she was evaulating the football program.

“I’m grateful for my time here and proud of the strides we made as a football program, on and off the field,” Sanchez said. “I’m proud of our student-athletes and our staff and how we have positioned the program for future success. I look forward to finishing the season strong with these young men.”

That is not to say that he did not do good things for the program. He was able to help bring in money for the program to build facilities including the Fertitta Football Complex.

The on the field success was not there and that includes one glaring game vs. Howard back in 2017 which UNLV was a heavy favorite but lost the game, 43-40. That team ended with just five wins and had they won over that FCS foe, the Rebels would have gone bowling at least once in his tenure.

There are other reasons as well for his ouster but it comes down to not getting wins. He was given a decent amount of time to improve the Rebels but coming from a high school program, even one of the best in the country in Bishop Gorman, it always was going to be an uphill battle to turn the Rebels into a winning team.

One thing that did hurt him this season was the loss of offensive coordinator Barney Cotton who had a heart transplant prior to the season, and that left Sanchez and the Rebels scrambling for an offensive coordinator. Cotton seemed to be a very important piece of this staff and the offense was never really all that consistent or really good with the replacement coordinator.

The timing of the firing by allowing Sanchez to coach the finale has a few reasons by the higher ups at UNLV. The main one is that if the Rebels were to defeat rival Nevada and win the Fremont Cannon by ending the year winning back-to-back games. There then could be fan support in allowing him to stay on as coach and lead the UNLV football team into the new Raiders stadium.

Doing it this way nixes that possibility, and with that UNLV goes into a new era of Rebel football.

Sanchez has two years left on his contract after 2019 and will be paid his base salary through 2021 which is $300,000 per year.

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What We Learned After Week 13 Of Mountain West Football

Get a quick take on each of the 12 teams.

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What We Learned After Week 13 Of Mountain West Football

Week 13 is in the books.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Titles clinched and dreams crashed.

Air Force – Donald Hammond III lived up to the Falcon moniker by throwing for 327 yards on just 9 of 10 passes and four touchdowns. This performance might have just gave the Falcons signal-caller the player of the year award.

Boise State – Apparently, it doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for Boise State as Jaylen Hendersen helped lead the Broncos to a thrasing of a win over Utah State which clinched the Mountain Division title.

Colorado State – We learned that when the Rams play a really good defense like it did vs. Wyoming that it offense struggles. This is nothing new when teams play the Cowboys but Colorado State’s offense has been extremely good of late and it just happened to run into a tough defense.

Fresno State – Oh boy. The offense line was a complete mess in this game and the coaching staff made some odd coaching decisions like not giving the ball to running back Ronnie Rivers and also passing three consecutive times with 90 seconds left and in the shadow of their goal posts.

Hawaii – Warriors win a defensive game and stopped the San Diego State rushing game to clinch the West Divison. The offensive passing game was pretty efficient but the standard Warriors eye-popping numbers were not there. However, the turnovers were held to a minimum of just one and for some reason head coach Nick Rolovich swapped between Cole McDonald and Chevan Corderio.

Nevada – Welcome to 2019, Toa Taua. The sophomore running back had just his second game of more than 100 yards on the ground. Taua’s season can be classified as a sophomore slump but he does have two games left to build up on the 135 yards he had vs. Fresno State.

New Mexico – Nothing. Literally nothing. The top two running backs are out with injuries and starting quarterback Tevaka Tuioti left the game. It is only a matter of time before Bob Davie is released of his duties.

San Diego State – The running game was completely shutdown vs. Hawaii and this area of the team has been an issue all year and it continued on the islands on Saturday night.

San Jose State – Josh Love is really good. He had 465 yards and three touchdowns but he had four picks. The only problem is that Love can not do it all and the running game did not really help his cause this week.

UNLV – The defense is better thane expected as they forced five turnovers vs. San Jose State. This is the second game they had a good defensive performance as they held Hawaii to just 21 points the week prior, but it was a game they lost.

Utah State – Where to begin? The glamour position of quarterback has not been nice to Jordan Love. He had another bad interception that led to a pick-six in the blowout loss to Boise State. The defense of the Aggies was not good and they were taken apart by third-string quarterback Jaylen Henderson.

Wyoming – There is depth at quarterback people did not know. Levi Williams had to enter the game vs. Colorado State and he moved the ball well, specifically with his feet, as Tyler Vander Wall was getting treatment for an injured leg. Also, the Cowboys defense put the clamps down on a pretty good Rams offense.

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Boise State Tops Utah State To Claim Mountain Division Title

The Mountain Division is Boise State’s, again.

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Boise State Tops Utah State To Claim Mountain Division Title

Jaylen Henderson and Broncos defense lead the way.

Contact/Follow @erik_smiley54 & @MWCwire

Broncos dominate Aggies.

Boise State traveled to Logan, Utah, with the ability to lock up the Mountain Division title and their berth in the Mountain West Championship game.

With an upset, Utah State would put themselves in the driver’s seat to accomplish the same thing.  Even though none needed to be added, the questions revolving who would be starting at quarterback for both teams added some intrigue leading up to the game. The call at game time is Jordan Love for Utah State and Jaylon Henderson for the Broncos.

Utah State came in to the game on a two-game winning streak with wins over Wyoming and Fresno State. It has been tough sledding at times for the Aggies as they have had blow out loses to LSU, BYU, and Air Force but have also had impressive games against San Diego State and Wyoming. Although this game doesn’t carry quite as much wait as last year’s ranked match up there is still a lot for the Aggies to play for.

Boise State came into the game with a four-game win streak on the season as well as a three-game win streak against the Aggies. Boise State has had their struggles throughout the season as well, seldom having all facets of their game clicking at the same time. The Broncos as a whole did extremely well overall against New Mexico last week and aim to continue that trend this week against a much tougher Utah State team.

First Quarter:

Like last week the Broncos got out to a fast start. It took longer than 9 seconds, but not by much, with the Broncos only needing four plays to cover the 75 yards to the endzone.  George Holani opened with a 35-yard carry the put the Broncos in Aggie territory. Jaylon Henderson completed two passes that to C.T. Thomas that netted 10 yards before hitting John Hightower for the 30-yard touchdown.

The Bronco defense showed up as well forcing Utah State into a quick 3 and out on their first possession.  Holani had another big carry, this one for 12 yards, on the first play of the following drive but Utah State forced a couple of incompletions from Henderson to force the punt. Joel Valasquez got a good punt off and pinned the Aggies inside their own 20-yard line, starting their drive on their own 14.

The Aggie offense was able to put together a long drive that was supported by a couple of incredible catches. Jordan Love was able to connect with Deven Thompkins, who fought through tight coverage, for 47 yards and Caleb Repp who made an incredible one-handed catch along the sideline of the endzone for a 7-yard touchdown.  It wasn’t good for Love as Curtis Weaver got a good hit on him, sacking him for an 8-yard loss right before his completion to Thompkins.  

With the game tied at 7, the Broncos kept to the ground with Holani continuing to gouge the Aggie defense for another 18 yards on the first two plays of the drive.  Boise State then took to the air with Henderson completing a 17-yard pass to Akilian Butler, but inaccuracy and a couple of flat out drops by John Hightower killed the drive forcing another punt. 

Boise State’s defense took it upon themselves to give the Broncos the lead on the following drive. On the first play, Love dropped back and attempted to hit a quick wide receiver screen to the outside.  Love stained down his read and Jalen Walker was able to get the jump on the throw, intercept the pass, and trot into the endzone to put the Broncos back up by 7.

This started the trend of punting and touchdowns for the Aggies, which normally isn’t noteworthy, but it was completely one-sided. Over the next eight possessions, the Aggies have three punts and a turnover on downs while the Broncos score four consecutive touchdowns.

The Aggies opened with a holding on the first play of their drive and were not able to make the yardage up thanks to the second Broncos sack of the game on 3rd and 7 by Chase Hatada for a 2-yard loss.

Holani continued his domination of the game accumulating 50 more yards on the ground on the final 4 plays of the drive.  Boise State stayed on the ground for the entire drive with Khalil Shakir opening the drive with an 11-yard rush as well.

There was a tremendous amount of excitement around the score, much more than a touchdown in the first quarter really should draw, as the Broncos called Statue of Liberty Left for Holani to cover the final 5 yards into the endzone. That carry gave Holani over 100 rushing yards in the first quarter.

Boise State 21, Utah State 7

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