Best In The West: Week Four

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

Boise State 56, Portland State 14

Boise State’s powerful, Ashton Jeanty-fueled offense scored 56 points for the second time in three games, rolling to a comfortable victory over Portland State. Unsurprisingly, Jeanty led the Bronco attack with 127 yards on 11 carries in score-related limited playing time. He didn’t find the end zone for the first time this season, but it wouldn’t matter in the slightest as Maddux Madsen had his best game under center, throwing for 188 yards and three touchdowns while connecting on 13 of 18 attempts.

The beatdown earned Boise State a spot in the AP Top 25, making the Broncos the first Mountain West team to crack the rankings this year. Boise State is also now the highest-ranked G5 team, which bodes well for the team’s playoff hopes.

Fresno State 38, New Mexico 21

Both the Bulldogs and the Lobos kicked off their conference schedule in Albuquerque. New Mexico put up a respectable performance, but the game was not as close as the score would indicate.

Jahzon Jacks helped to open the scoring for Fresno State, scooping up an Eli Sanders fumble on New Mexico's opening drive to set the Bulldog offense up in excellent field position. They made the most of the chance and scored a touchdown (plus a two-point conversion) after 10 plays, connecting on a five-yard touchdown pass from Mikey Keene to Josiah Freeman. Luke Drzewiecki kicked a 20-yard field goal on New Mexico's ensuing drive, but the Bulldogs scored another touchdown shortly after, pulling into a 15-3 lead only a few minutes into the second frame. After two more scores (a touchdown and a field goal), New Mexico could only hope to keep the game alive with a touchdown just before the halftime break to cut the lead to 25-10 for the Bulldogs. The second half was a bit closer, but Fresno State still outpaced its hosts 13-11, closing out the game with a secure 38-21 margin.

For the Lobos, Devon Dampier went 33-of-53 passing for 338 yards and a touchdown to tight end Trace Bruckler, and led the team with 67 yards on nine carries, but he also threw two interceptions – giving New Mexico three turnovers to go with 17 penalties worth 128 yards, which is hardly the recipe for staging an upset against Fresno State.

Keene was stellar for the Bulldogs and completed 26 passes on 33 attempts for 226 yards and a touchdown. Raylen Sharpe led the team in receiving yards with 49 on six catches, and also threw a touchdown pass on a nifty trick play. Tailback Elijah Gilliam rounded out the offensive leaders with 54 yards and a score on 18 carries.

With the loss, New Mexico falls to 0-4 (0-1) with a non-conference, in-state matchup against the New Mexico State Aggies on deck. Fresno State, now sitting at 3-1 (1-0), is in an entirely different position, and could establish itself as one of the true favorites in the MWC with a win this weekend over UNLV.

Washington State 54, San Jose State 52

After an impressive 3-0 start to the Ken Niumatalolo era, the Spartans finally met their match in Washington State – but it still took the Cougars regulation and two overtime periods to topple the Spartans.

San Jose State scored near the end of the third quarter to cap off a 21-0 frame and take a convincing 38-24 lead but Washington State opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown of its own to make it a one-score game. The teams traded punts, then San Jose State, with the clock starting to wind down, tried to chew up some time. It lost the ball with a turnover on downs after Emmett Brown failed to convert a fourth-and-1 try. The Cougars took it down the field and scored in five plays, but failed to convert the PAT, leaving the Spartans with a slim one-point lead and 6:11 on the clock.

Disaster struck again as Brown threw an interception to WSU’s Kyle Thornton, who was brought down at the San Jose State 32-yard line. It didn’t take long for Washington State to punch it in, but once again, the Cougars failed to convert the PAT. With the score now sitting at 43-38 in favor of Washington State, San Jose State needed a last-ditch effort on fourth-and-10 from the Washington State 20-yard line, and had its prayer answered by a touchdown pass to TreyShun Hurry, capped with a Nick Nash reception on the ensuing two-point try. The Cougars still weren’t finished, though, as Dean Janikowski nailed a 52-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

The two sides opened overtime with dueling interceptions, and Wazzu broke the drought in the second frame with a Dylan Paine touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion. The Spartans got the ball and had no choice but to match Washington State’s score. Brown found Nash to do just that, but he was sacked on SJSU's two-point try, leaving the Spartans with a hard-fought double-overtime loss.

Brown went 35-of-54 passing and had 375 yards and four touchdowns, but he was plagued by two interceptions and that lone sack. Nash is a known commodity at this point, racking up 16 receptions, 152 yards and two touchdowns. Floyd Chalk had 11 carries, 94 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, too.

Rest Of The West

Colorado State got back in the win column against UTEP, 27-17, but still doesn’t quite look quite right if you're expecting a high-flying, pass-heavy Jay Norvell offense. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was 14-of-22 passing for 132 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but the Rams ran for 224 yards to pick up the slack, led by a monstrous performance from Avery Morrow (21 carries, 156 yards and two scores). It was a climb to get to 2-2, and the Rams will have a bye before playing Oregon State – making this as good a time as any to repair this faulty passing game.
After failing to get much traction in a loss to Sam Houston last week, Brayden Schager and the Hawaii offense were looking for a bounce-back game against Northern Iowa. They got it. The Rainbow Warriors let loose on their guests to the tune of a 36-7 win, led by Schager's massive day, completing 35 of 43 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns. Dekel Crowdus led the way in receiving yards (83) on three receptions, but Pofele Ashlock (10 receptions, 74 yards, one TD), Nick Cenacle (nine receptions, 63 yards, two TDs) and Jonah Panoke (four receptions, 60 yards, one TD) were all plenty involved as well. Hawaii evened up their record at 2-2 and has yet another bye week coming up before heading to San Diego State to kick off conference play.
After losing two in a row, Nevada got a much-needed win over Eastern Washington, 49-16, to help this new-look team get back on track. Brendon Lewis was 16-of-22 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns, plus 12 carries worth 65 yards on the ground. Savion Red led the rushing charge with 117 yards and two touchdowns on 10 attempts, helped out by 10 carries, 63 yards and three more scores from Patrick Garwo III. With the win, Nevada gets to 2-3 on the season ahead of its first conference matchup, coming up in a trip to San Jose State after a bye.
The disaster continues for Wyoming. After clocking four non-competitive showings, the Cowboys are now 0-4 without much hope on the horizon. North Texas had no trouble putting the Cowboys away, racking up 318 passing yards and 216 rushing yards on its way to a 44-17 victory. Wyoming, meanwhile, had only 244 yards in the air and 69 on the ground. Having squandered non-conference play, the Cowboys will now kick off their Mountain West slate against Air Force. The Academy has struggled as well, but the Falcons are coming out of a bye week ahead of their trip to Laramie.