Best In The West: Week Nine

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

Boise State 29, UNLV 24

On Friday night, the nation tuned into one of the biggest games of the season as Heisman-hopeful halfback Ashton Jeanty and the Boise State Broncos took on Hajj-Malik Williams and the UNLV Rebels.

It was a special game for the conference, in large part because it wasn’t only important to the conference – this game carried relevance nationally in a way that perhaps no other Mountain West regular season bout ever has. The two teams took the field with a lot at stake, including an inside track to the Mountain West title game and, more than that, an inside track to a potential bid for the inaugural 12-team playoff.

The biggest question for the Broncos this season has been about Jeanty's surrounding cast. The Heisman candidate has been good enough to win several games on his own, but for a team with real playoff aspirations, depth is not optional. For UNLV, it was a test to see if the Rebels could stop a fully rested Boise State team with one of the best players in the country.

Ultimately, the Broncos came out on top and proved that Jeanty has enough backup to beat good teams. And he needed it here. UNLV managed to slow the star tailback down and hold him to 128 yards, a feat he needed 33 carries to accomplish, and one touchdown. But, Maddux Madsen completed 18 of 33 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown using a full arsenal of Bronco receivers, as Austin Bolt, Prince Strachan, Matt Lauter and Cam Camper all had multiple catches and at least 30 yards.

Although they came up short, the Rebels looked very capable in the contest, especially Williams – who completed 12 of 21 passing attempts for 179 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 19 times for 105 yards and another touchdown.

With the win, Boise State moved to 15 in the AP poll, making it the leading non-power conference team, six spots ahead of unbeaten, 21st-ranked Army. At 6-1 (3-0), Boise State controls its destiny and will decide for itself if it plays in the Mountain West title game and the College Football Playoff. Boise State plays San Diego State next, with Nevada, San Jose State, Wyoming and Oregon State rounding out its regular season slate. 

At 6-2 (2-1), UNLV certainly appears to be the second-best team in the conference, but will need some outside help proving it. With one conference loss, the path is there, but it's not in UNLV’s control. Colorado State and San Diego State are both unbeaten in conference play, and while the Rebels play Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State and Nevada to finish the season, they won't get a shot at the Rams.

Fresno State 33, San Jose State 10

Fresno State earned a convincing win over San Jose State to reclaim the Valley Trophy and settle in right behind the leaders at the top of the conference.

Mikey Keene cleaned up his act to get the job done while San Jose State’s quarterback issues persisted. Walker Eget, who snatched the starting job from Emmett Brown, relinquished the job back to Brown late in the game. For his part, Keene completed 30 of 41 attempts for 275 yards and three touchdowns – more completions, yards, and touchdowns than Eget and Brown combined.

Eget completed 14 of 31 attempts for 202 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while Brown completed 6 of 16 attempts for 66 yards and threw an interception. Xavier Ward also pitched in at quarterback for the Spartans and completed one pass on three attempts for 16 yards, though he also threw a pick. 

Outside of the solid quarterback play, Fresno State enjoyed an explosive defensive performance to help seal the victory. The Bulldogs forced four turnovers, two sacks and three tackles for loss to hold San Jose State to its season-low of 10 points. 

The Bulldogs now sit at 5-3 (3-1) with their only in-conference loss coming at UNLV. They will host Hawaii next week to try to keep it that way. The Spartans fell to 5-3 (3-2) and have lost three of their last five. They have a bye week to sort out their offense before playing at Oregon State.

Colorado State 17, New Mexico 6

After three straight games of scoring 50 points, the New Mexico offense was stumped against Colorado State as the Lobos slid to 3-5 (2-2). The Lobos somehow came off the rails and failed to find the end zone at all, despite Devon Dampier completing 23 passes on 40 attempts for 319 yards and rushing for 51 more yards. Four turnovers doomed the New Mexico offense, while its defense and special teams gave up a 17-point second quarter that the team couldn’t come back from.

The Rams are now on a three-game winning streak to open up conference play and are 5-3 (3-0). After surrendering an early field goal, the Rams took over the game on a four-play, 79-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 46-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to Caleb Goodie. Kobe Johnson doubled CSU's output with an 82-yard punt return for a score after New Mexico's ensuing possession. Jordan Noyes rounded out the dominant frame with a late field goal to extend CSU's lead further.

New Mexico will try to resuscitate its offense as it will host Wyoming this week, and the Rams travel to Nevada looking for another big conference victory.

Hawaii 34, Nevada 13

Hawaii snapped a three-game drought as it stunned Nevada in something of a landslide victory. Nevada, it seemed, had been trending in the right direction while Hawaii had been floundering. That all changed as Hawaii took a 17-0 shutout lead into the half and never looked back, bolstered by quarterback Brayden Schager, who had a staggeringly effective game. Most of his production came on the ground, where he rushed 19 times for 120 yards and four touchdowns. As a passer, he had a more reasonable performance, completing 14 of 25 attempts and throwing for 153 yards and a score. 

For Nevada, it’s just another in a long list of perplexing losses this season. The Wolf Pack punted just once in a game where they scored only 13 points. Turnovers, a lot of them, and a missed field goal accounted for the rest of Nevada’s giveaways – the Wolf Pack turned the ball over on downs three times to go with a fumble and an interception. Schager and the Rainbow Warriors didn’t need much help but gladly capitalized on the Wolf Packs blunders.

Up next for Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors will head to Fresno State. Nevada, meanwhile, will host Fresno State.

Washington State 29, San Diego State 26

San Diego State took Washington State to the wire, but the newly assembled team with a freshman quarterback just couldn’t find the win.

The Aztecs seemed to be in control going into the final frame when they scored a touchdown to take a 26-14 lead. Washington State took its next possession to the house, though and San Diego State couldn’t stand up to the Cougars’ comeback effort as young Danny O’Neil made a costly mistake, throwing an interception from the Washington State 22-yard line. The following Cougar drive ended in another touchdown, giving them the 29-26 lead over the Aztecs. San Diego State got the ball back with five minutes to play, but couldn’t do anything with it and gained just 16 yards before punting it back over to the Cougars to seal the game. 

O’Neil, San Diego State’s freshman quarterback, continued to impress, despite the interception. He completed 22 of 34 passes for 195 yards. Marquez Cooper took care of the scoring, rushing 18 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns. The Aztecs have a tough task ahead with a trip to Boise, Idaho to take on the No. 15 team in the nation.