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Mountain West Football: Week 4 Winners And Losers
Who came out ahead and who left something to be desired across the Mountain West in Week 4 of the college football season?
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Encouragements and letdowns from the week that was.
Blocked field goals. Second-half surges and collapses. Fumble recoveries for touchdowns in the end zone on offense and defense. Six different games decided by eight or fewer points. The week in Mountain West football had it all, making it a great couple days of high drama, but here are the winners and losers from Week 4.
Winners
1. Mountain West running backs
In spite of so many graduations and transfers over the last couple of off-seasons, talent at the running back position might be as deep as ever across the Mountain West if Week 4 was any indication. On Friday night, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty posted another Herculean performance in their 34-31 slugfest against San Diego State, accounting for 254 of the Broncos’ 409 yards of total offense with two touchdowns; Air Force, meanwhile, had two different players, Emmanuel Michel and John Lee Eldridge III, combine for 250 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a 45-20 rout over San Jose State.
The following day, New Mexico’s Jacory Croskey-Merritt and UNLV’s Jai’den “Jet” Thomas continued their strong runs throughout non-conference action, as well: Croskey-Merritt scored twice in the Lobos’ overtime road win at UMass, including the game-winner in overtime, while Thomas tallied four touchdowns and 100 rushing yards in the Rebels’ 45-28 road victory at UTEP. Wyoming’s Harrison Waylee continued to make an instant impact for the Cowboys, as well, ripping off a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to help set up the team’s late rally over Appalachian State.
In all, it was a great day to get things done on the ground.
2. Boise State punter James Ferguson-Reynolds
Now, you might be thinking, “A punter, really?” Ferguson-Reynolds, however, has been the best specialist in the Mountain West so far throughout this young campaign and the Broncos might not have been able to outlast San Diego State without his contributions on Friday.
The Aussie averaged 50.8 yards per attempt and pinned the Aztecs inside the 20-yard line three times on five punts, helping the Broncos to a ten-yard advantage in average starting field position (Boise State: own 38; SDSU: own 28). After four games, Boise State also ranks eighth nationally with 44.35 net yards per punt, so for all of the early teeth-gnashing about the Broncos’ uneven early showings, special teams have been on point.
3. Hawaii’s defense
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but the Warriors found a way to solve New Mexico State in a 20-17 victory. One big component of that turnaround revolved around eliminating big plays on defense: After allowing eight explosive plays for 183 yards in the first two quarters, Hawaii gave up just three for 63 yards after halftime.
Jacob Yoro’s unit also engineered a similar turnaround on third downs, shutting down NMSU on three such second-half opportunities after enabling the Aggies to convert 5-of-7 tries early on. While it remains to be seen how much they can surprise in conference play, it’s encouraging to see signs of progress in year two under head coach Timmy Chang.
Losers
1. Utah State
Give credit to the Aggies for fighting back to make their 45-38 loss to James Madison as close as it was, but it didn’t have to be that way. Blake Anderson’s squad got pasted in the first half while falling behind 38-17, coughing up eight yards per play and 360 yards of total offense while allowing three sacks throughout the first thirty minutes. Then, the Aggies made one too many mistakes down the stretch, giving the ball away three times in the second half even as they forced four turnovers of their own.
That tale of two halves made for another frustrating Utah State performance, as the Aggies clearly have the talent to make waves and contend for a bowl bid but rarely seem inclined to play disciplined football for a whole four quarters. After four games, USU might be the Mountain West’s most mercurial team.
2. Nevada
For the second straight week, the Wolf Pack showed more sustained signs of life, but their 17-0 halftime lead against Texas State proved to be alarmingly short-lived as the Bobcats ripped off 35 unanswered points and rolled up 377 yards of total offense in the third and fourth quarters.
Offensive inefficiencies didn’t help matters, either. The Wolf Pack still can’t run the football if quarterback Brendon Lewis isn’t scrambling — both Sean Dollars and Ashton Hayes averaged fewer than four yards per carry — and they fumbled four times in the contest (the two they lost both led directly to Texas State touchdowns). Now the Mountain West’s lone winless team, it could be a long slog through the conference schedule if the offense can’t hang on to the ball and the defense can’t stop giving up big plays.
3. San Jose State’s run defense
The Spartans had few answers for the powerful Air Force running game on Friday, but while the Falcons averaging 5.48 yards per carry might look like business as usual, it may also be the latest evidence that this San Jose State team might have a fatal flaw on its hands.
While the difficulty of the schedule certainly plays a part, SJSU has now given up five or more yards per carry in three of their four games and a total of 13 rushing touchdowns. Five different Spartan defenders had at least ten tackles against Air Force, but they mustered only three tackles for loss on 73 rushing attempts and that’s also been in keeping with their overall performance so far: SJSU has just 3.25 TFLs per game against FBS opponents, which is less than half of what they averaged in 2022.
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