Best In The West: Week 13

Best in the West is The Aggship's weekly Mountain West football round-up.

UNLV 27 San Jose State 16

The Rebels and Spartans faced off in a San Jose downpour on Friday night. The rain inhibited both offenses, but it really did a number on San Jose State. UNLV missed a field goal and San Jose State fumbled the ball before any scoring happened – UNLV struck first with a field goal.

The Spartans got on the board when Isiah Revis picked off Hajj-Malik Willams and returned it 40 yards to the house to take a 7-3 lead. UNLV’s ensuing drive was much more successful and went for a touchdown to put the Rebels back on top.

San Jose State responded with a touchdown, its only one of the night. After retaking the lead the defense stepped up and forced UNLV into a fourth-and-3. UNLV ran their punt unit onto the field but muffed the snap, and the ball went 47 yards in the wrong direction before getting kicked out of the back of the end zone, counting as a safety for San Jose State.

Taking advantage of UNLV’s miscues, San Jose State led 16-10 at the half, but the Rebels settled in during the second half. They came out and kicked a field goal on their first possession, then Jai’Den Thomas broke free for a 25-yard touchdown run to take the lead with 1:44 left in the third quarter. UNLV added another touchdown in the fourth quarter for good measure, but wouldn’t need it because the Spartans were done scoring in the first half.

Walker Eget completed just 4 of 22 attempts for 81 yards and a touchdown. Floyd Chalk IV was SJSU's only rusher with positive yards at 56, but the Spartans ended up with just 33 rushing yards on the day. San Jose State’s conference slate is complete, and the Spartans will conclude their season against Stanford.

Williams completed 11 of 20 passes for 131 yards and threw one touchdown and one interception. Thomas ran for 135 yards and a touchdown while Kylin James added 48 yards and a touchdown. The Rebels got some help from Fresno State the next day, but they worked their way back into title contention with the win. UNLV climbed to 9-2 (5-1) on the season and to No. 22 in the CFP Rankings. The Rebels will play against Nevada for the Fremont Cannon in their final regular season game. With a win, they will travel to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship.

Boise State 17 Wyoming 13

Boise State punched its ticket to the Mountain West title game after a hard-fought slog in Laramie. The Broncos struggled to get the job done against a two-win Cowboy team, but Ashton Jeanty did just enough to power Boise State to victory. 

The game opened up with a Cowboy field goal, then two straight missed field goals – one from each team. On Boise State’s second drive, Jeanty put his stamp on the game, breaking away for 61 yards to put the Broncos in scoring position. Two plays and 46 seconds later, they were ahead 7-3.

The next score was a five-yard pass from Kaden Anderson to Justin Stevenson to put the Cowboys back in front. They nearly took the lead into the half, but Boise State kicked a field goal as time expired to tie the game going into the break.

After a scoreless third quarter, Wyoming finally kicked a field goal to retake a lead with 9:03 to play. It wouldn’t take long for the Broncos to hit back, though, as they scored on their next drive. Jeanty fueled the drive with 53 yards on four carries and Jambres Dubar put the finishing touches on the march with a two-yard touchdown run.

Anderson started for the Cowboys but went into concussion protocol and was spelled off by Evan Svoboda. Before exiting the game, Anderson completed 9 of 14 for 116 yards and a touchdown, plus 22 rushing yards. Svoboda completed 6 of 13 passes for 87 yards. Harrison Waylee led the efforts on the ground with 16 carries and 69 yards. The Cowboys are 2-9 (2-5) and could be looking at their worst season since 2015 if they can’t pick up a win in their final game of the year against Washington State.

It was a very shaky game for the Broncos, who gave potentially their worst performance of the season and barely survived. Maddux Madsen completed 14 of 26 attempts for 167 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass. Jeanty led the offense and had 19 carries for 169 yards and a touchdown. Dubar added a touchdown and 22 yards. Cam Camper had five receptions for 73 yards, leading the receiving core.

Boise State will have to get back to full form soon, because it has already secured a busy postseason for itself. Regardless of the results of the final week of the season, the Broncos will be hosting the Mountain West Championship game, and, of course, are bowl eligible. So, they'll have at least three more games to play. At 10-1 (7-0), Boise State is in a prime position to earn a berth to the College Football Playoff with a win against Oregon State and a Mountain West championship victory. The Broncos are currently ranked 11th in the CFP rankings and would all but be guaranteed a spot if they win out.

Fresno State 28, Colorado State 22

A late November game between Fresno State and Colorado State with conference title implications is not something that seems out of the ordinary, but it was the Rams, not the Bulldogs, who came into the game with their eyes set on the Mountain West championship.

Unfortunately, with a trip to the title game within reach, the Rams tripped up and let Fresno State get the best of them. Fresno State put together a nice attack led by Mikey Keene. He lost one fumble but otherwise played a clean game. The Colorado State attack was effective as well and outgained the Bulldogs 402-331, but couldn’t do enough in the second half to come back and win.

Colorado State scored first, on the first possession of the game, but Fresno State matched it on its first drive and added three more in the second quarter.

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi ran in a touchdown late in the third quarter to get the Rams going again after giving up 21 straight points, but on their next drive, they turned it over on downs, and on the drive after that they threw an interception. Then, after Fresno State’s sixth punt of the half, the Rams drove 90 yards and punched in a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining. It was enough to make it close, but not enough to get the job done. Even without scoring in the second half, the Bulldogs dashed Colorado State’s title hopes, short of an upset from Nevada against UNLV.

Keene had 21 completions on 29 throws, 186 yards and two touchdowns. Mac Dalena was his main target with seven catches for 81 yards and a score. Raylen Sharpe added 58 yards on five catches as well. On the ground, Bryson Donelson had 12 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown, and Joshua Wood added a touchdown with four carries for nine yards. The Bulldogs reached bowl eligibility with the win, claiming a record of 6-5 (4-3). They will play UCLA to cap off their regular season.

Fowler-Nicolosi was 25-of-50 passing for 302 yards with a score and a pick. Jamari Peterson had 10 receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown. Justin Marshall led the mostly lackluster rushing game with 18 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. The Rams suffered their first Mountain West loss of the season and are now 7-4 (5-1). They will host the Aggies in their season finale.

Air Force 22 Nevada 19

Air Force has been winning as of late, while Nevada has been doing the opposite. That held true as the Falcons (somehow) beat the Wolf Pack in one of the more absurd football games of the season.

Air Force went full Air Force mode and did not gain a single passing yard through the entire game. Falcon quarterback Quentin Hayes attempted only three passes, two incompletions, and an interception to Kitan Crawford. It was the first time this season that an FBS team has won without a single passing yard.

Other than the one pick, the Falcons ran a tight ship with no other turnovers and only one penalty for five yards. As they are wont to do, the Falcons defended staunchly against the run and gave up only 94 yards, 53 of them belonging to Brendon Lewis. After a seven-game losing streak, Air Force has turned it around and won three straight games in a variety of unlikely ways. The 1-7 start has given way to a 4-7 (2-4) record and a chance to pick up a fifth win against San Diego State.

Nevada has looked competitive all season long, but has often found itself on the wrong side of dramatic one-score games. That all culminated with the ultimate late-game loss, surrounding 15 points in the fourth quarter to an Air Force team that, again, did not complete a single pass. At 3-9 (0-6), things have been pretty ugly for Nevada in conference play and it doesn’t get much uglier than this. Looking ahead, Nevada’s path isn’t much easier as it heads to Vegas to take on the Rebels for the Fremont Cannon.