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Mountain West Football: Week 2 Winners And Losers
Who came out ahead and who left something to be desired across the Mountain West in Week 2 of the college football season?
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Encouragements and letdowns from the week that was.
What a splendorous Saturday that was.
Sure, Mountain West football didn’t end up seeing a ton of drama because five different games were decided by 20 or more points, but the day wasn’t without angst and joy. Here are the winners and losers for Week 2.
Winners
1. Utah State
No, it wasn’t on the level of their beatdown of Idaho State way back in 1919, but the Aggies created and caught just about every break imaginable in a wild 78-28 victory over the Bengals. Quarterback Cooper Legas looked completely in command of the offense, finishing the game 14-of-16 for 125 yards and two touchdowns before resting the entire second half, while the running back trio of Robert Briggs, Rahsul Faison, and Davon Booth combined to run for 279 yards on 20 rushing attempts. That’s an average of nearly 14 yards per carry.
The Aggies defense did its part, too, forcing three turnovers that turned into 20 points, including pick-sixes by both Ike Larsen and Jaiden Francois, while breaking up eight passes and collecting eight tackles for loss and two sacks. It won’t always come so easily, of course, but Utah State has done a lot in its first two contests to dispel a lot of the uncertainty with which they came into 2023.
2. Air Force’s defense
The Falcons might have had the ugliest win of any Mountain West team this weekend, but it’s an encouraging sign that Brian Knorr’s defense put Sam Houston State in a hammerlock early and never let up to lead the way in a 13-3 result.
Bo Richter had two of the Falcons’ four sacks while Alec Mock cleaned up with a team-high 11 tackles, including six solo stops. The Bearkats had one drive in nine that crossed midfield (and that was only because of an Air Force fumble) and finished the day with six three-and-outs, a 3-of-13 showing on third downs, and 80 yards of total offense which averaged 1.8 yards per play. There’s plenty of room for improvement, but Air Force now knows it can lean on its strength.
3. New Mexico’s offense
Now that’s more like it. The Lobos couldn’t quite get things going in Week 1 against Texas A&M, which wasn’t a huge shock, but they wasted no time putting Tennessee Tech in a world of hurt en route to a 56-10 victory.
Quarterback Dylan Hopkins found an early rhythm and threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception, in completing 13-of-17 attempts. Running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt continued his strong early campaign, as well, racking up 162 rushing yards and three scores on 12 carries. Three different UNM pass catchers had a reception of at least 40 yards, as well, and all of these are the signs of life that fans desperately needed to see heading into a key rivalry clash with New Mexico State.
Losers
1. Nevada
Woof. The Wolf Pack have established an alarming trend of losing games to FCS opponents, doing so three times since 2017, but their 33-6 loss to the Idaho Vandals might have been even worse than the final score would suggest.
The troubles started early when Nevada had three trips inside the Idaho 30-yard line on their first four drives and managed only two field goals, but the offense crossed midfield just once more in the final three quarters and gave the ball away three times. The defense, meanwhile, managed three sacks but never figured out how to contain Vandals quarterback Gevani McCoy, who threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and engineered a performance through which Idaho finished the game outgaining Nevada on a per-play basis, 7.8 to 4.2.
Is Ken Wilson already on a hot seat? It may be too early to say for sure, but things haven’t come together as envisioned yet in Reno and it could get worse before it gets better.
2. Boise State’s home field mystique
Are the Broncos just like everyone else now? It’s hard to say with complete certainty one way or the other, but an 18-16 home loss to UCF left the Boise State faithful with more questions than answers. As KTVB’s Jay Tust pointed out, the team now has an 8-6 record at home under head coach Andy Avalos.
On the one hand, the Broncos coughed up 530 yards of total offense at 8.2 yards per play, but on the other the Knights finished their contest with two giveaways, nine points in five red zone trips, and a 40% third-down conversion rate. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty did just about everything you could ask of him, posting 212 all-purpose yards and a touchdown, but quarterback Taylen Green was only 9-of-19 for 144 yards, one TD, and one INT before cramping forced him to give away to backup Maddux Madsen. Madsen led a clutch drive and connected with Stefan Cobbs to give the Broncos a lead with under two minutes to go, but UCF rallied to move 58 yards for the game-winning field goal as time expired.
What happens from here? Next week’s home date with North Dakota qualifies as a “get right” game, but after a 0-2 start the Broncos are under a lot of scrutiny.
3. San Diego State
After a pair of solid defensive showings to open the year, the Aztecs didn’t have any answers against UCLA in a 35-10 blowout at home. Bruins true freshman quarterback Dante Moore looked every bit a five-star player while the running back tandem of Carson Steele and T.J. Harden combined to average 8.3 yards per carry and score two touchdowns.
San Diego State’s offense had some nice moments, most notably Mekhi Shaw’s touchdown reception, but Aztecs quarterback Jalen Mayden was sloppy overall and finished the day 19-of-37 with 196 yards, one TD, and three interceptions. The running game didn’t offer much reprieve, either, since Kenan Christon and Martin Blake mustered only 45 rushing yards on 18 attempts. The result wasn’t terribly surprising, but it demonstrates that the Aztecs still have lots to accomplish in order to re-establish themselves as a top-tier Mountain West contender.
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