Category: Mountain West Football

Boise State Football: Taylen Green Enters Transfer Portal

After an adventurous 2023 season, the Broncos’ redshirt sophomore quarterback might be on his way out of Boise.

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Boise State Football: Taylen Green Enters Transfer Portal

After an adventurous 2023 season, the Broncos’ redshirt sophomore quarterback might be on his way out of Boise.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

Is a reconciliation in the cards?

College football’s transfer portal officially opened today, and one of the biggest names in the Mountain West announced a likely exit from the conference.

Just two days after leading Boise State to a Mountain West football championship, Broncos quarterback Taylen Green announced an intention to transfer from the program. Though he acknowledged the possibility of a return, the move isn’t altogether a surprising one after an uneven season at the helm of a talented offense.

Green played in 13 games this fall, starting all but one, and completed 57.1% of his 212 pass attempts for 1,752 yards and 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He also added 436 rushing yards and nine more touchdowns on the ground, but Green struggled in stretches throughout the year, falling into a rotation with redshirt freshman Maddux Madsen for a time. When Madden suffered an injury in November that shelved him for the rest of the season, it cleared the way for Green to finish the year as the unquestioned QB1.

His last possible game in a Broncos uniform was a memorable one, however, as he completed 12-of-15 passes for 226 yards, ran for 90 yards, and accounted for four touchdowns in Boise State’s 41-20 victory over UNLV on Saturday, earning Offensive MVP honors for the game. In 28 career games, Green has a 59.4% completion rate, 3,794 passing yards, 1,026 rushing yards, and 44 total touchdowns.

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UNLV Football: Jacob De Jesus Named Jet Award Finalist

The Rebels return specialist broke out in a big way this season and is a finalist to be named the college football’s best.

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UNLV Football: Jacob De Jesus Named Jet Award Finalist

The Rebels return specialist broke out in a big way this season and is a finalist to be named the college football’s best.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

Will a Vegas ace get his due?

The UNLV Rebels have received plenty of help from new contributors during one of the program’s best seasons ever, but few have stood out like Jose Pizano, who was named today as one of three finalists for the Jet Award, named after former Nebraska great Johnny Rodgers and given annually to college football’s top return specialist.

De Jesus joins USC’s Zacariah Branch and Marshall’s Jayden Harrison in the running for this award. He was brought to Las Vegas from Modesto Junior College in California, part of UNLV’s 2023 recruiting class, and didn’t need a lot of time to generate buzz in spring practice. In the fall, he served as UNLV’s top slot receiver and returned both punts and kicks for the Rebels, ranking fourth among all FBS players with 16.1 yards per punt return and 14th with 26.3 yards per kickoff return.

According to Mike’l Severe, the executive director of the Jet Award Foundation, the winner will be announced after bowl season and presented with the honor on April 4, 2024.

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Boise State Football: Ashton Jeanty Is MWwire’s 2023 Offensive Player Of The Year

The Boise State running back did heavy lifting this year to become a near-unanimous pick as Mountain West football’s top offensive weapon.

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Boise State Football: Ashton Jeanty Is MWwire’s 2023 Offensive Player Of The Year

The Broncos running back did some heavy lifting this year to become a near-unanimous pick as Mountain West football’s top offensive weapon.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

One of the nation’s most super sophomores.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

The Mountain West has typically featured a number of talented running backs in recent years, but few put on the kind of show that the Boise State Broncos really needed from Ashton Jeanty in 2023. That’s why he was our staff’s pick as the conference’s best offensive performer.

Even though he’s still only a sophomore, the Broncos weren’t shy about getting the ball to Jeanty early and often this season. Even if defenders knew he was coming, though, he was still difficult to stop: According to Pro Football Focus, he finished the regular season with 63 missed tackles, the most in the Mountain West, and ranked second among all FBS players in averaging 164.6 all-purpose yards per game. If that wasn’t enough, he also posted 18 touchdowns.

Even in a program that’s developed so many greats over the last two decades, few have reached the pinnacle that Jeanty did this fall. Just imagine what he could do next.

Also received votes: Chevan Cordeiro, QB, San Jose State; Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, New Mexico; Dallin Holker, TE, Colorado State; Tory Horton, WR, Colorado State; Steven McBride, WR, Hawaii; Kairee Robinson, RB, San Jose State; Brayden Schager, QB, Hawaii; Ricky White, WR, UNLV

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Colorado State Football: Mohamed Kamara Is MWwire’s 2023 Defensive Player Of The Year

The Colorado State Rams defensive end remained dominant this season and was a near-unanimous pick as Mountain West football’s top defender.

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Colorado State Football: Mohamed Kamara Is MWwire’s 2023 Defensive Player Of The Year

The Rams defensive end remained dominant this season and was a near-unanimous pick as Mountain West football’s top defender.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

A quarterback’s worst nightmare.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Colorado State football showed signs of progress in their second season under head coach Jay Norvell, but few players propelled the Rams back in the right direction like veteran defensive end Mohamed Kamara, who dominated as a fifth-year senior in 2023 and earned our honor as the Mountain West’s premier defensive standout.

After racking up 16 tackles for loss in 2022, Kamara raised his game this fall and had few equals anywhere in the country in terms of disrupting offensive backfields. He led the Mountain West with 17 TFLs and 13 sacks and, according to Pro Football Focus, 35 quarterback hurries.

Now that his collegiate career is in the books, there’s little doubt Kamara will go down in program history as a CSU great because he finished second with 30.5 career sacks and third with 45.5 career tackles for loss.

Also received votes: Jay’Vion Cole, CB, San Jose State; Wyatt Ekeler, S, Wyoming; Easton Gibbs, LB, Wyoming; Ahmed Hassanein, DE, Boise State; Emany Johnson, S, Nevada; Ike Larsen, S, Utah State; Bo Richter, LB, Air Force; MJ Tafisi, LB, Utah State; Trey Taylor, S, Air Force; Jackson Woodard, LB, UNLV

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UNLV Football: Jose Pizano Is MWwire’s 2023 Special Teams Player Of The Year

The Rebels kicker replaced a program great with ease and won the nod as Mountain West football’s best specialist.

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UNLV Football: Jose Pizano Is MWwire’s 2023 Special Teams Player Of The Year

The Rebels kicker replaced a program great with ease and won the nod as Mountain West football’s best specialist.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

A key leg up on the competition.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Mountain West football was once again flush with reliable special teams contributors in 2023, but UNLV kicker Jose Pizano comfortably thrived in what might have been a difficult situation and earned the right to be named as our staff’s pick as the conference’s top specialist.

Pizano transferred to the Rebels last off-season from Missouri State, where he’d twice earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors before being tasked to replace Daniel Gutierrez in Las Vegas this season. Despite the big shoes to fill, the Lehi, Utah native thrived and connected on 23-of-25 field goals and 50-of-50 extra points, posting 119 points in all. For his efforts, he was also recently named a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, though the scarlet and gray faithful may already claim him as the best kicker in the country.

Also received votes: Jack Browning, P/K, San Diego State; Jonah Dalmas, K, Boise State; James Ferguson-Reynolds, P, Boise State; Jacob De Jesus, KR/PR, UNLV; Tory Horton, PR, Colorado State; Marshall Nichols, P, UNLV

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UNLV Football: Jayden Maiava Is MWwire’s 2023 Freshman Of The Year

The Rebels quarterback answered the bell and then some when given a chance, making him the pick as Mountain West football’s top freshman.

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UNLV Football: Jayden Maiava Is MWwire’s 2023 Freshman Of The Year

The Rebels quarterback answered the bell and then some when given a chance, making him the runaway selection as Mountain West football’s top freshman.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

A Las Vegas product makes good at home.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Even in historic college football seasons, not everything goes according to plan. Thankfully for the UNLV Rebels, they had one of the nation’s best overall backup plans in quarterback Jayden Maiava, who earned our bid as the Mountain West’s best freshman in 2023.

Maiava began the year as the QB2 to incumbent starter Doug Brumfield, but when Brumfield was knocked out of commission against Vanderbilt in September, the Las Vegas native didn’t waste an opportunity to make a strong first impression, rallying the Rebels to a victory against the Commodores. He eventually settled into the starting job for good, finishing the regular season with a 64.1% completion rate, 2,626 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Also received votes: Pofele Ashlock, WR, Hawaii; Kage Casey, OT, Boise State; Devon Dampier, QB, New Mexico; Paul Fitzgerald, DE, Utah State; Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, QB, Colorado State; Derrick Moore, S, New Mexico; Jai’Den Thomas, RB, UNLV

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Colorado State Football: Dallin Holker Is MWwire’s 2023 Newcomer Of The Year

The Rams tight end broke out with a big role this year and won a close vote to be our pick as Mountain West football’s top new arrival.

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Colorado State Football: Dallin Holker Is MWwire’s 2023 Newcomer Of The Year

The Rams tight end broke out with a big role this year and won a close vote to be our pick as Mountain West football’s top new arrival.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

The Rams offense was in good hands.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Many college football teams have a knack for developing talent at certain positions. At Colorado State, that knack has coalesced around pass-catchers and it was no different in 2023 thanks to Dallin Holker, our pick as the Mountain West’s best new import.

Holker transferred to the Rams last off-season from BYU and it wasn’t hard to see why CSU provided such an alluring landing spot: Not only has the program developed the likes of Crockett Gillmore and Trey McBride over the years, head coach Jay Norvell has a track record of maximizing output from tight ends. As expected, he got busy and stayed busy, leading all FBS players at the position with 67 catches and 767 yards while scoring six touchdowns, all of which helped him become a John Mackey Award finalist in recent days.

Also received votes: Jay’Vion Cole, CB, San Jose State; Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, New Mexico; Jacob De Jesus, WR, UNLV; Dylan Hopkins, QB, New Mexico; Mikey Keene, QB, Fresno State; Steven McBride, WR, Hawaii; Harrison Waylee, RB, Wyoming; Jackson Woodard, LB, UNLV

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UNLV Football: Barry Odom Is MWwire’s 2023 Head Coach Of The Year

The Rebels reached nearly unprecedented heights this fall, which made Odom our unanimous pick as the Mountain West’s top leader.

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UNLV Football: Barry Odom Is MWwire’s 2023 Head Coach Of The Year

The Rebels reached nearly unprecedented heights this fall, which made Odom our unanimous pick as the Mountain West’s top leader.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

An off-Strip sensation this season.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

For as long as the Mountain West has existed, “UNLV football head coach” has been one of the toughest jobs in the country… until this year.

Rebels head coach Barry Odom earned our vote as the conference’s top coach by doing what was considered seemingly impossible by many: Build a winner in the desert. Despite an unexpected quarterback switch and other injuries on both sides of the ball, Odom’s team displayed tenacity throughout the season and finished the regular season with a 9-3 record, appearing in the program’s first conference championship game ever.

It marked the first time in nearly 40 years that the program had won so many games in one season, and though the Rebels eventually came up short against Boise State, UNLV still finished 62nd nationally by FEI and 60th by SP+. Both represent high-water marks for the program’s time in the Mountain West. While it remains to be seen what he can do for an encore, 2023 will go down as a season for the ages in Las Vegas no matter what.

Also received votes: Blake Anderson, Utah State; Craig Bohl, Wyoming; Brent Brennan, San Jose State; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Timmy Chang, Hawaii; Spencer Danielson, Boise State

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UNLV Football: Brennan Marion Is MWwire’s 2023 Coordinator Of The Year

The Rebels offensive coordinator was a key figure in the team’s rise and the overwhelming pick as Mountain West football’s top assistant.

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UNLV Football: Brennan Marion Is MWwire’s 2023 Coordinator Of The Year

The Rebels offensive coordinator was a key figure in the team’s rise and the overwhelming pick as Mountain West football’s top assistant.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

A worthwhile show in Las Vegas this season.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Coordinators don’t often generate the kind of excitement that Brennan Marion brought with him to UNLV, but the Rebels offensive coordinator proved once again to be the real deal and has been tabbed to be our choice as the Mountain West’s best assistant coach.

The raw numbers speak for themselves: Marion’s offense led the Mountain West by scoring 35.5 points per game and ranked fifth by averaging 6.11 yards per play, the latter of which marked UNLV’s highest per-play output since 2017. It generated the conference leader in receiving yards thanks to Ricky White (1,386) and featured a quartet of running backs who combined to score 31 rushing touchdowns, though in general they rarely missed an opportunity to put points on the board since the Rebels also led the conference by scoring on 94.3% of red zone opportunities.

While there’s always the chance Marion’s tenure in Las Vegas could be brief — he recently interviewed for the head coaching job at UTEP, for instance — he provided proof that the long-suffering UNLV football program can, in fact, develop a winner.

Also received votes: Kyle Cefalo, OC, Utah State; Spencer Danielson, DC, Boise State; Bush Hamdan, OC, Boise State; Brian Knorr, DC, Air Force Kurt Mattix, DC, San Diego State; Kevin McGiven, OC, San Jose State; Matt Mumme, OC, Colorado State; Bryant Vincent, OC, New Mexico

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Mountain West Wire’s 2023 Postseason All-Conference Football Team

Who did our staff pick as the best of the best in Mountain West football this season?

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Mountain West Wire Presents Its 2023 Postseason All-Mountain West Football Teams

Our staff has made its selections for the best of Mountain West football as we close out the 2023 season.

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Only the best of the best make the cut.

Mountain West Wire’s 2023 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Player of the Year | Freshman of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

With the Mountain West’s regular season in the books and the conference championship game just one day away, our staff here at Mountain West Wire has once again put its collective heads together to create our fifth annual postseason all-Mountain West football team.

If you’re interested in seeing how these selections stack up against our preseason picks, click here. Alternatively, you can click the following links to find our postseason honorees from 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.

As always, our all-conference roster goes four deep and attempts to best reflect the variety of offenses and defenses we see week in and week out throughout the conference:

  • We vote for a Defensive Flex player to better reflect that some units — like Boise State, San Diego State, and Wyoming — often operate with five defensive backs or a nickelback/linebacker hybrid in their 3-3-5 or 4-2-5.
  • We split our linebacker selections into two, inside and outside, as we’d previously differentiated between centers, guards, and tackles on the offensive lines and between interior linemen and edge rushers on defense.
  • We vote for three wide receivers instead of two.

If you disagree with our choices, feel free to let us know what you’d have done differently on Twitter or Facebook.

First Team

Offense

QB – Chevan Cordeiro, San Jose State
RB – Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
RB – Jacory Croskey-Merritt, New Mexico
RB – Kairee Robinson, San Jose State
WR – Tory Horton, Colorado State
WR – Ricky White, UNLV
WR – Jalen Royals, Utah State
TE – Dallin Holker, Colorado State
C – Thor Paglialong, Air Force
G – Mark Hiestand, Air Force
G – Wesley Ndago, Air Force
T – Adam Karas, Air Force
T – Cade Beresford, Boise State

Defense

DT – Jordan Bertagnole, Wyoming
DT – Payton Zdroik, Air Force
DE – Mohamed Kamara, Colorado State
DE – Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State
OLB – Jackson Woodard, UNLV
OLB – Bo Richter, Air Force
ILB – Easton Gibbs, Wyoming
ILB – MJ Tafisi, Utah State
CB – Cameron Oliver, UNLV
CB – Jay’Vion Cole, San Jose State
CB – Carlton Johnson, Fresno State
S – Ike Larsen, Utah State
S – Wyatt Ekeler, Wyoming
FLEX – Morice Norris Jr., Fresno State

Special Teams

K – Jose Pizano, UNLV
P – James Ferguson-Reynolds, Boise State
KR – Jacob De Jesus, UNLV
PR – Jacob De Jesus, UNLV

Second Team

Offense

QB – Jayden Maiava, UNLV
RB – Malik Sherrod, Fresno State
RB – Emmanuel Michel, Air Force
WR – Steven McBride, Hawaii
WR – Terrell Vaughn, Utah State
WR – Pofele Ashlock, Hawaii
TE – Mark Redman, San Diego State
C – Jacob Gardner, Colorado State
G – Mose Vavao, Fresno State
G – Wes King, Wyoming
T – Frank Crum, Wyoming
T – Kage Casey, Boise State

Defense

DT – Soane Toia, San Jose State
DT – Cole Godbout, Wyoming
DE – P.J. Ramsey, Air Force
DE – Tre Smith, San Jose State
OLB – Levelle Bailey, Fresno State
OLB – Andrew Simpson, Boise State
ILB – Alec Mock, Air Force
ILB – Bryun Parham, San Jose State
CB – Noah Tumblin, San Diego State
CB – Donte Martin, New Mexico
S – Trey Taylor, Air Force
S – Jack Howell, Colorado State
FLEX – Seyi Oladipo, Boise State

Special Teams

K – Jonah Dalmas, Boise State
P – Marshall Nichols, UNLV
KR – Jaelen Gill, Fresno State
PR – Tory Horton, Colorado State

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