Best In The West: Week Six

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

Syracuse 44, UNLV 41

UNLV’s undefeated start to the season came to an unceremonious end at the hands of the Syracuse Orange. After putting up one of the most impressive performances of the year and solidifying themselves as a top team in the conference with a 59-14 win over Fresno State, the Rebels took a step in the wrong direction, falling to a completely beatable Syracuse squad. Though they did accomplish plenty on the evening, racking up 227 yards through the air and twice turning excellent special teams plays into scores, UNLV’s otherwise impressive game was spoiled by late mistakes, missed opportunities, and a questionable roughing the passer call in overtime.

The game was back and forth early and the Rebels even enjoyed a four-point lead at the half, but about halfway through the third quarter, the Rebels found themselves down 10 points after Syracuse followed up its half-ending field goal with a pair of quick touchdowns. Caden Chittenden made a 20-yard field goal with 3:30 left in the third to pull UNLV back within a score, and after the Rebel defense stopped Syracuse, Ricky White III got loose and blocked the ensuing punt, which Charles Correa recovered for a touchdown. Just like that, the scoreboard was even heading into the fourth quarter.

Syracuse had possession and began to threaten, but Jackson Woodard picked off Kyle McCord on the UNLV 5-yard line to take a scoring opportunity from the Orange and return the ball to his offense. They paid him in turn, traveling 94 yards in 10 plays and finishing off the drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Hajj-Malik Williams to White. The Rebels just needed to hold on for under three minutes to keep their undefeated season alive. But, aided by an unnecessary roughness penalty, Syracuse drove 75 yards down the field and scored, tying the game with only 23 seconds left to play and ultimately forcing overtime as UNLV opted to kneel out regulation rather than trying for a last-second score.

UNLV kicked a field goal to start overtime and tasked its defense with generating yet another stop. It nearly pulled that off, as Syracuse found itself in a third-and-20 situation after a costly chop block penalty. McCord dropped back and immediately found himself under pressure, dumping the ball off to LeQuint Allen at the line of scrimmage, where he was met by Woodard. Allen fell forward to gain about a yard, teeing up what would have been a fourth-and-19 on the 23-yard line. But, there was a flag on the play, and it was a big one – roughing the passer, with targeting. Though the latter was removed upon further review, the former could not be changed (no matter how much it probably should have been), and three plays later, Allen broke free of a Woodard tackle and darted into the end zone for the game's decisive score.

UNLV can rue the missed opportunity, but it does still have plenty to feel optimistic about. Barring one interception, Williams was stellar in the loss, completing 21 of 25 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another 53 yards and a score. The receiving tandem of White and Jacob De Jesus was predictably dangerous with White grabbing 10 receptions, 135 yards and a touchdown while De Jesus had four receptions for 39 yards. Outside of Wiliams, Jai'Den Thomas was UNLV's main ball carrier, rushing six times for 64 yards.

The Rebels are now 4-1 (1-0) and have a chance to get back on track against a Utah State team that has seen its fair share of struggles.

San Jose State 35, Nevada 31

Nevada, it seemed, had one thing on its mind when it took the trip to San Jose: Stop Nick Nash. Outright removing the star wideout is a pipe dream, but the Wolf Pack did everything they could to slow him down and it nearly paid off against a Mountain West title-contending San Jose State team. Nevada held Nash to five receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown, his worst receiving performance of the season. However, Nash still found a way to give a heroic performance, throwing a go-ahead 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Jabari Bates with under a minute left in the game.

Brendon Lewis led the Wolf Pack offense, throwing for 213 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 90 yards and two more touchdowns. For the Spartans, QB Emmett Brown was 12-of-28 passing for 170 yards and two touchdowns, while Walker Eget closed out the game and fared even better, hitting 10 of 13 throws for 141 yards.

Even with the loss, Nevada is making visible progress and is now 2-4 (0-1) with a game against Oregon State on deck. San Jose State, meanwhile, remains undefeated in conference play and will look to improve further on its 4-1 (2-0) record with a trip to Colorado State this weekend.

San Diego State 27, Hawaii 24

Hawaii got behind early and spent all game trying to catch up to a lackluster San Diego State offense, suffering a two-yard touchdown run from Marquez Cooper with a little over seven minutes remaining that decided the game. Both the Rainbow Warriors and Aztecs threw the ball well but couldn’t gain much traction on the ground – Hawaii had a slight edge in the air as Brayden Schager threw for 272 yards while Danny O’Neil threw for 224.

Despite Hawaii’s better quarterback play and a slight advantage in total yards, San Diego State was the team that found a way to get the job done. Hawaii’s inability to get off the field didn’t help. The Aztecs went 3 for 3 on fourth-down conversions and rode Cooper’s two touchdowns to victory.

The loss drops Hawaii below .500 on the season and in conference play as the Warriors now sit at 2-3 (0-1). They have a tough task on the horizon as Ashton Jeanty and the Boise State Broncos are making their way to the island. San Diego State is now 2-3 (1-0), and the Aztecs will be looking to build some momentum and stay unbeaten in conference play as they face a struggling Wyoming team.

Oregon State 39, Colorado State 31

Colorado State fell short, but showed signs of life – and maybe even progress – against Oregon State. The Rams had been struggling this season and came in as heavy underdogs, but they took the Beavers to double overtime before finally giving way.

In the second overtime period, the Beavers struck first as Anthony Hankerson rushed 25 yards to the house and Gevani McCoy completed a pass to Jermaine Terry II to complete the two-point conversion try. The Rams moved all the way to the Oregon State 3-yard line in response, but a tackle for loss and an illegal substitution penalty pushed them back to the 11-yard line for the final play of the game – an incomplete pass to Tory Horton.

Even in the loss, Horton's involvement was key to Colorado State's success. The preseason All-Mountain West receiver has been dormant all season long with just seven catches, 120 yards and no touchdowns in his first three games, but he finally found a groove against Oregon State, hauling in nine catches for 158 yards and a score. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi clearly enjoyed having his top target back in form, completing 20 of 30 passes for 263 yards and two scores, helping the CSU offense to a season-high 439 total yards, picking up another big outing from tailback Avery Morrow (25 carries, 140 yards, one TD) in the process.

The Rams fall to 2-3 and are the only MWC team yet to play a conference game. That changes this week as they prepare to host San Jose State.

Navy 34, Air Force 7

In the past few years, Air Force has developed a habit of singing second when it plays Navy. Air Force had defeated Navy in each of the past four matchups, often convincingly – in that span, the Falcons outscored the Midshipmen 93-26. 

That all changed this year. In an attempt to revitalize a struggling offense, second-year head coach Brian Newberry and first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic have installed a hybrid Wing-T system, and to say that it has been working would be a severe understatement. With quarterback Black Horvath behind center, the Navy offense has become the stuff of nightmares, producing 43.6 points and nearly 300 rushing yards per game.

Air Force had no answers for its visitors, as Horvath completed 9 of 15 attempts for 134 yards and rushed for 115 yards and two scores on 18 carries. He was aided by Eli Heidenreich, who added 100 yards on six carries, and Alex Tecza, who twice found the end zone on six carries.

For Air Force, new QB Quentin Hayes had a pretty good game, but it was for naught. He was 5-of-6 passing for 115 yards and a touchdown, Air Force's only score, and rushed 11 times for 17 yards. Air Force didn’t have much luck on the ground, either. Kade Frew led the team with 29 yards on seven attempts, trailed closely by Cade Harris (four carries, 24 yards) and Terrence Gist (three carries, 23 yards). Navy had 329 yards on the ground to Air Force’s 158, as the Falcons fell to 1-4 (0-2) ahead of this week's trip south to play New Mexico.