Best In The West: Week 11

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

Boise State 28, Nevada 21

Boise State survived a close one at home to avoid disaster against Nevada. With the stakes at an all-time high in Boise, the Broncos have no room for error as they fight to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff.

The Broncos threw a couple of punches in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead, and looked likely to add another blowout victory to their resume. Nevada had other plans. A 75-yard touchdown drive followed, cobbled together by a 26-yard run from Sean Dollars, back-to-back 14-yard passes to Marcus Bellon and a 17-yard touchdown run from Brendon Lewis, putting the Wolf Pack right back in the mix. 

With Nevada showing signs of life, the Broncos stumbled as Maddux Madsen threw an interception to Tori Daffin near midfield. The Nevada offense had been given a gift, but couldn’t do anything with it as Dollars fumbled, giving the ball right back to Boise State.

As it turns out, that wasn’t too rare of an opportunity, because the Nevada defense stood tall and forced another turnover, this time recovering a fumble from Jeanty. The Wolf Pack didn't take this one for granted, dialing up a flea flicker on fourth-and-1 and catching Boise State completely off guard as Marcus Bellon fired a 44-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Ramseur. Suddenly, after two consecutive turnovers from Boise State, Nevada had tied the game at 14 with six minutes to play in the second quarter.

That score would stand going into the half, but not much longer. Boise State got the ball to start the second half and drove 95 yards to score, garnering big yardage on a 38-yard completion to Cam Camper and an 18-yard Madsen run. The Broncos added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to take a 28-14 lead, but the Wolf Pack still wouldn’t go away. Nevada marched all the way down the field and was about to score before Dollars again fumbled, this time on the goal line. Nevada got the ball back and punched a score in with just over two minutes left, but there wasn’t enough time, and the Broncos held the ball to run out the clock.

It was a great effort from Nevada, a team that seems to be full of those this season, despite its 3-8 record. Lewis was 17-of-26 passing for 188 yards and a touchdown without a pick. On the ground, he added 32 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Jaden Smith led the receivers with four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. The loss officially removes Nevada from bowl contention and leaves the team still searching for a conference win, sitting now at 3-8 (0-5).

As for Boise State, it was once again all Jeanty. He had 34 carries for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Everyone else, it seemed, was happy to watch Jeanty do all the work – Madsen, who has looked promising in the past few weeks, regressed to complete just 9 of 20 passes for 119 yards with a touchdown and a pick, though he did run for 58 yards. The Broncos are 8-1 (5-0) and sit at No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings, with their next bout coming at San Jose State on Saturday evening.

UNLV 29, Hawaii 27

The Broncos weren’t the only top team struggling with a scrappy foe this week. The Rebels had a hard time putting away Hawaii on the road, and the Rainbow Warriors even took the lead in the third quarter, but UNLV eventually got the job done.

The Rainbow Warriors started the game by throwing an interception that led to a UNLV field goal, and UNLV quickly expanded that lead with a 23-yard Hajj-Malik Williams touchdown run after forcing Hawaii to punt on its second possession. Brayden Schager uncorked a 74-yard touchdown pass to Dekel Crowdus to push Hawaii into the game, but the next score came courtesy of the UNLV special teams – a common occurrence this year – as Ricky White III blocked a Hawaii punt for a safety to give UNLV a 12-7 advantage in the waning moments of the first frame. 

In the second quarter, the teams refused to alter that scoreline, save for one small exception from the Warriors. UNLV missed a pair of field goal tries in the period while Hawaii made good on its lone attempt, sending the game to halftime with only two points separating the two teams.

Out of the break, the teams reversed course from the second frame and exclusively manufactured scoring drives. UNLV got it started with a long drive that ended in a field goal, which Hawaii quickly answered through a 49-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Panoke, giving the Rainbow Warriors their first lead of the game, 17-15. The Rebels responded with a four-play touchdown drive of their own, theirs capped off by a 37-yard touchdown pass to White. The two drives took just over three minutes combined. To close out the quarter, Kansei Matsuzawa made a 33-yard field goal for Hawaii with a minute remaining, generating another two-point margin for the final frame, 22-20.

The teams traded a pair of punts before UNLV added some insurance in the form of a 32-yard touchdown run from Jai'Den Thomas. It would need the insurance, because Hawaii scored on its next drive, but UNLV held the ball to seal the game. 

At 4-6 (2-3), Hawaii still has hope for a bowl game but will need to be perfect in its final two games against Utah State and New Mexico. UNLV has already secured bowl eligibility but has its sights set on the Mountain West title game, a feat it will need some help to reach. For their part, the Rebels just have to keep winning, starting with a game against San Diego State this week. Beyond that, they need Colorado State to lose one of its remaining games.

New Mexico 21, San Diego State 16

New Mexico snapped its own losing streak while extending San Diego State's skid to three games, relying on an explosive rushing attack and stifling defense to nab a big road win. Eli Sanders took over the first quarter with a 51-yard run and a 68-yard run to propel the Lobos to a 14-3 lead in the early going. The Aztecs added another field goal and a touchdown to make it 14-13 at the break, then hit a field goal to take a two-point lead late in the third quarter. But, on the next drive, New Mexico put the game's final score on the board with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Davis to reclaim the league and ultimately secure a hard-fought win.

Danny O’Neil and Marquez Cooper led the Aztec offense. O’Neil was 26-of-41 passing and had 195 yards with a touchdown. He avoided throwing an interception, breaking a three-game skid. Cooper had 35 carries for 123 yards but didn’t break the goal line. The Aztecs are 3-6 (2-2) and still in play for a bowl game, though that is likely to change this week with a trip to UNLV on the schedule.

The Lobo offense, meanwhile, generated nearly 500 yards on the evening. Engineering the operation was Devon Dampier, who threw for 176 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 127 yards. Using his spectacular first-quarter performance to give the Lobos an early advantage, Sanders had 16 carries for 173 yards and two touchdowns. New Mexico is in a similar situation to San Diego State. The Lobos are 4-6 (3-3), and will likely lose their shot at bowl eligibility against Washington State this week, but have plenty to be excited about in year one of a new coaching tenure.

Air Force 36, Fresno State 28 

Air Force shocked Fresno State with a 36-28 win, claiming its first conference win of the year and only its second win overall, adding Fresno State to the likes of Merrimack. The Falcons used a swarming ground defense to slow the Bulldogs, holding them to negative-5 rushing yards. Fresno State’s leading rusher was Elijah Gilliam, who earned only 15 yards. The Bulldogs found more success through the air as Mikey Keene was 23-of-26 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw a costly interception in the third quarter. Despite his best efforts, Keene’s team fell short and now sits at 5-5 (3-3). The Bulldogs have a week off before hosting Colorado State.

Quinten Hayes only threw the ball six times and connected just twice for 14 yards and a touchdown, but he rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns to bolster the Air Force attack. Dylan Carson led the way on the ground with 33 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Air Force is 2-7 (1-4) and plays Oregon State next.

San Jose State 24, Oregon State 13

Sticking with Walker Eget at quarterback, San Jose State toppled Oregon State 24-13. The Spartans forced three turnovers – a fumble in the first quarter and two interceptions in the fourth – to help secure the win. The first of those picks was snagged by DJ Harvey and returned for a touchdown to give San Jose State a 17-13 lead. The Spartans forced a turnover on downs on the next Beaver drive and added another touchdown. Oregon State put together a threatening drive, but a goal line interception by Micheal Dansby with 1:47 left sealed the game for the Spartans.

The dominating fourth quarter for San Jose State’s defense vaulted the Spartans to their sixth win of the season and bowl eligibility. They are now 6-3 (3-2) ahead of back-to-back tough tests against Boise State and UNLV. Eget completed 18 of 35 passes for 395 yards, throwing one touchdown and an interception. Nick Nash had six receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown.