Best In The West: Week Eight

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

UNLV 33, Oregon State 25

Trailing by double digits with halftime fast approaching, UNLV rattled off 27 straight points to beat Oregon State on the road, 33-25, and keep itself in the mix for the G5 bid to the College Football Playoff.

Hajj-Malik Williams certainly left his mark on the game, rushing for two touchdowns and connecting with Ricky White III for a third within that stretch. On the day, Williams hit 15 of 27 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown, while rushing 12 times for another 65 yards and two scores.

Though his lone passing score looked likely to seal the win with a little under five minutes left, pushing UNLV into a 33-17 lead, the Beavers responded by going 75 yards in just over two and a half minutes for a touchdown and two-point conversion. With 2:14 to play, UNLV just had to hold on to the ball to ice the game, but Williams made a rare mistake with an interception on third-and-five, putting Oregon State back in business near midfield. The Beavers stormed all the way down to the 6-yard line, but an incomplete pass as time expired gave the Rebels their sixth win of the season and their second in a row after dropping a game to Syracuse.

UNLV and Boise State have established themselves as the undisputed cream of the crop, and the two meet this week in what could be a playoff elimination game. 

Fresno State 24, Nevada 21

The Bulldogs and the Wolf Pack started the week on Friday night in Reno, and Fresno State snapped a two-game skid in a tight victory. For a little more than half of the game, it was a back-and-forth affair with Nevada striking first and enjoying a 21-17 lead going into the second half. But Joshua Wood capped off a 95-yard drive for the Bulldogs with a seven-yard touchdown run and put Fresno State on top for good late in the third frame.

For the first time this year, Mikey Keene did not throw a touchdown pass, completing 13 of 20 passes with one interception and a season-low 190 passing yards. Elijah Gilliam ran the ball 20 times and notched 66 yards and two touchdowns. Fresno State will host San Jose State next in an effort to build some momentum in conference play.

For Nevada, QB Brendon Lewis got roughed up and handed the team over to Chubba Purdy to close the game out. Before exiting the game, Lewis was putting together a nice night, completing 13 of 19 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown in the air and 38 yards with another touchdown on the ground. Purdy threw for 53 yards and completed three of his five passes. Jaden Smith had nine catches for 134 yards and Nate Burleson II had just one catch but made the most of it, as it was a 46-yard touchdown. As he often is, Savion Red was strong on the ground, garnering 13 carries for 56 yards and a score. Nevada will head next to Hawaii, looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the second time this season. 

San Jose State 24, Wyoming 14

In a clash between two teams with confusion at the quarterback position, the Spartans bested the Cowboys, taking an early lead and holding onto it throughout the outing. Wyoming ran, and will continue to run, a two-quarterback system with Evan Svoboda and Kaden Anderson sharing snaps. On the other side, Walker Eget has mostly taken over the starting job, though Emmett Brown had an attempt. 

The Spartans started the game off with a 39-yard touchdown run from Floyd Chalk IV, but missed a field goal, fumbled the ball, and threw an interception on their next three drives. The Cowboys couldn’t make anything of it, however, and Eget completed a 17-yard pass to Nick Nash for a touchdown to give the Spartans a 14-0 lead into the half.

They kept with their up-and-down performance to open the second half, launching another interception. The Cowboys made something of it this time, getting on the board with a Svoboda pass to Justin Stevenson for an 18-yard touchdown.

Svoboda completed 14 of 27 attempts for 194 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Anderson completed 4 of 11 attempts for 116 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Tight end John Michal Gyllenborg, a member of the preseason All-MWC team, caught his stride and had the best game of the season with five receptions, 137 yards and a touchdown – his first of the year.

Eget completed 20 of 38 passes for 318 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Justin Lockhart caught four passes for 129 yards and Nick Nash matched that output on 10 receptions, adding a touchdown. San Jose State will face off with Fresno State this week, while Wyoming is slated to host Utah State.

Colorado State 21, Air Force 13

Air Force mounted a late comeback bid against Colorado State, but a two-touchdown fourth quarter wasn’t enough, and the Rams escaped with their third league win in as many tries.

Colorado State had a shutout going into the fourth quarter, but lost a fumble early in the frame that Air Force took advantage of, marching 73 yards in under two minutes to score as John Busha completed a 33-yard pass to Tylor Latham. Colorado State punted on its next possession and Air Force put together another scoring drive, capped this time by a 1-yard rush from Busha, though the Falcons failed to convert a two-point conversion.

Now within striking distance, Air Force forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, but couldn’t do anything with it, suffering a costly interception with 2:38 remaining that returned the ball to CSU at midfield. The Falcons managed one more stop and ran 12 plays in the game's final drive, but could only move 24 yards before they ran out of time.

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was 11-of-21 passing for 178 yards and a touchdown. Caleb Goodie added a large share of that yardage with three receptions, 103 yards and a score, while Vince Brown had two catches for 37 yards and a touchdown. The Rams also rushed for 205 yards, with Avery Morrow accounting for 132 yards on 20 carries. Jalen Dupree had seven attempts and ran for 40 yards, adding a touchdown.

The Rams will try to keep their momentum going as they host New Mexico, while Air Force gets a bye week before its matchup against a very good Army team.

Rest Of The West

• Hawaii has enjoyed moments of progress this season, but didn’t show much of anything against Washington State, falling 42-10 in a game that was never all that competitive. Brayden Schager completed 20 passes on 30 attempts, threw one touchdown and an interception, and took three sacks as the Rainbow Warriors fell to 2-5 (0-3).
• Boise State and San Diego State were on bye weeks. For Boise State, getting Ashton Jeanty a chance to rest his legs ahead of a trip to Sin City is a welcome opportunity. San Diego State, meanwhile, has been on a little bit of a roll and stacked up two conference wins before the break to get to 3-3 (2-0). The Aztecs will take another week off of conference play and face Washington State coming out of the bye.