Best In The West: Week Three

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

UNLV 23, Kansas 20

UNLV got the best of Lance Leipold’s highly touted Kansas team on Friday night, quickly establishing itself not only as one of the top teams in the conference, but as one of the early favorites for the G5 bid to the College Football Playoff – with the win over Kansas, the Rebels have already beaten two power teams and will have a shot at another when Syracuse comes to town in a few weeks. It’s the team's first 3-0 start since 1984, when Randall Cunningham led the Rebels to an 11-2 campaign.

Knocking off the Jayhawks was the toughest task of the season to this point for Barry Odom’s squad. They fell into an early deficit of 14-3 when Kansas bookended a 38-yard UNLV field goal with touchdowns. The teams swapped field goals, then UNLV missed one from 61 yards out, leaving the score at 17-6 with the clock winding down in the first half and Kansas set to get the ball to start the third frame. But, with 46 seconds left, Jalen Catalon picked off Jalen Daniels and gave the Rebels a shot. UNLV's offense took full advantage, needing only two plays to punch in a touchdown and take a manageable 17-13 margin into the locker room.

The Rebels still trailed in the fourth quarter, 20-16, but they again had a timely answer in the form of a robust nine-minute, 75-yard drive kept alive by Matthew Sluka’s legs (and some very slippery Kansas hands on what should have been a lost fumble) that ended in a touchdown and put the Rebels on top with just two minutes to play. Kansas' last-ditch effort fell short, and UNLV rolled to its first-ever appearance in a national top-25 poll (No. 25 in the coaches poll).

One impressive note in the victory is that UNLV did it without any real semblance of a passing game, as has been the case through each of its first three games. Sluka completed only seven passes for 86 yards, struggling mightily to get the ball to his playmakers. Ricky White was the only receiver with multiple receptions, but his three receptions netted just four yards. When he couldn’t get it done in the air, Sluka took it upon himself to get it done on the ground, rushing 19 times for 124 yards. UNLV's passing success rate this season is atrocious (33.3 percent), but the Rebels are 52nd nationally in rushing success rate, and could be nearly unstoppable if they eventually unlock the downfield threat one would expect from a team touting White and Jacob De Jesus out wide.

Fresno State 48, New Mexico State 0

Continuing its march to the Mountain West's top spot, Fresno State dismantled New Mexico State to move to 2-1 on the season.

After throwing two interceptions against Sacramento State last week, Fresno State signal-caller Mikey Keene kept the ball out of harm's way this time, completing 12 of 22 passes with two touchdowns and 221 yards. Keene spread the wealth to his leading wideouts, connecting twice with Mac Dalena for 82 yards and two scores; finding Raylen Sharpe five times for 58 yards; and hitting Jalen Moss once for a 49-yard gain. On the ground, Malik Sherrod was the most active runner with 113 yards and a score on 15 attempts, but he picked up some help from Sharpe (two carries, 74 yards), Bryson Donelson (12 carries, 58 yards), Elijah Gilliam (seven carries, 31 yards, one TD) and even backup quarterback Joshua Wood (three carries, four yards, two TDs).

The defense performance was commendable as well, and every bit as explosive. The Bulldogs snatched three interceptions, two by CB Cam Lockridge (who now has three on the season) and another from NB Justin Houston. They sacked all three quarterbacks who entered the game for New Mexico State and ended the night with five sacks, eight tackles for loss and an outstanding 21.3 percent havoc rate.

The win marks two straight 40-point scoring games for the Bulldogs, and they're looking to add another big win to their resume next week as they face a winless New Mexico squad. All eyes are on Boise State and UNLV in the MWC right now, but overlooking this Fresno State team is a mistake. 

San Jose State 31 Kennesaw State 10

With a win against Kennesaw State, San Jose State has quietly gotten off to a 3-0 start, including an early conference win over Air Force. Central to the team’s early success is wideout Nick Nash. The Owls couldn’t contain him in the slightest, as he went off for 225 yards and three touchdowns on 17 receptions (!!!). Through three games, Nash has 485 yards and six touchdowns. He’s also thrown a 26-yard touchdown, playing off his roots as a converted quarterback.

San Jose State seems to enjoy starting games with some sloppy play, and this was no exception. The culprit was Nash himself, who fumbled after catching what would have been a 30-yard completion. This led to a field goal and an early Kennesaw State lead, though that 3-0 deficit was erased pretty quickly as Nash twice found the endzone and SJSU added a field goal to take a 17-3 at the half. Nash and Co. weren’t quite finished yet. He and Justin Lockhart (four receptions, 106 yards) would both catch another touchdown before the night was through. 

The Spartans will face their toughest test thus far next week, as they face off with a 3-0 Washington State team on short rest.

BYU 34, Wyoming 14

Three weeks into the season, and Wyoming just looks lost. A lot had to go wrong for the Pokes to arrive at this juncture so early in Jay Sawvel's tenure, but the main point of concern is the offense. The Cowboys are dead last nationally in success rate (26.8 percent) and gained only 217 yards in their home loss to BYU, picking up 77 on the ground (32 from QB Evan Svoboda) and 140 through the air on a 14-of-32 from Svoboda, who also threw an interception and took a sack without once finding the end zone. He targeted 13 different receivers, but only two caught multiple passes – Tyler King (three receptions, 52 yards) and Jaylen Sargent (two receptions, 18 yards). 

The Cowboys fall to 0-3 with the loss, making the program's first such start since 2015 when the Pokes opened with a 0-6 start and finished the season 2-10. With conference play only a few weeks away, Wyoming is running out of time to find solutions. The team is gearing up to face North Texas next and hoping merely for a competitive outing.

Baylor 31, Air Force 3

At first, Air Force looked like Air Force. In the first half, the Falcons forced three turnovers, gave up only 14 yards, and held the ball for nearly 24 minutes. Somehow they still trailed 6-3, but the game felt very much in control. 

The Falcons broke character in the second half, though, and Baylor scored 25 unanswered points to pull away for a comfortable win. Air Force, which has struggled mightily on offense thus far, played three different quarterbacks and completed only three passes. Starter John Busha went 0-for-5 passing and rushed 21 times for 45 yards, fumbling twice, but his backups didn’t fare much better. Quentin Hayes completed one throw, a seven-yard pass to Bruin Fleischmann, while rushing thrice for four yards, and Josh Johnson completed an 18-yard pass to Tre Roberson before throwing an interception. For the season, Air Force's offense in 132nd nationally in success rate and dead-last in explosiveness – a far cry from the ultra-efficient attack of years past.

Minnesota 27, Nevada 0

Nevada is still in search of an identity, and a shutout loss to Minnesota didn't help the cause. Wolf Pack safety Keyshawn Cobb grabbed an interception, but the team didn’t have much else going for them – Brendon Lewis completed 15 of his 23 passes, but racked up only 114 yards while tossing three interceptions and suffering four sacks. The ground game wasn't much better, as Savion Red and Pat Garwo led the way with only 23 yards apiece.

If there’s consultation for the Wolf Pack, it’s that this was their first blowout loss of the year. They've still suffered a trio of defeats, but a five-point loss to SMU and a three-point loss against Georgia Southern is a bit easier to swallow than Saturday's beatdown. But, even after this dud, Nevada seems to be on the right track and has a chance to prove that this week, hosting Eastern Washington and looking to right the wrongs of last year's 33-6 loss to another Big Sky opponent (Idaho).

Colorado 28, Colorado State 9

As with most sequels, this rematch of last season's double-overtime thriller proved far less compelling than its predecessor.

The game started fairly well for Colorado State, at least on defense, as the Rams held Colorado to just a field goal in the opening 15 minutes. Unfortunately for the Rams, there were 45 minutes left to play, and they decided not to participate in many of them. The third quarter was particularly damaging for Jay Norvell's squad, squandering a chance to cut into a 14-3 deficit with an interception that CU turned into another touchdown. Needing a response in a hurry, CSU marched down the field only to fumble the ball four yards from the endzone. The defense got that one back with a forced fumble of its own, but Brayden Fowler-Nicolosu was again intercepted, leading to yet another Colorado touchdown and an insurmountable 28-3 lead. On the day, CSU gave the ball away four times, including three in Colorado territory. 

Things in Fort Collins aren’t getting any better. The Rams have fallen to 1-2 in Norvell‘s third year, and though that's the record you might expect after playing Texas, Northern Colorado and Colorado, the Rams haven’t been competitive in either loss. The once high-flying offense has been grounded – Fowler-Nicolosi has only thrown one touchdown across three games; Tory Horton has made just 10 receptions for 120 yards; and the Rams have been significantly more effective on the ground (53rd in rushing success rate) than through the air (115th). They'll look to right the ship next against a winless UTEP team.

Rest Of The West

• Installing Sean Lewis' wide-open spread offense takes time, especially when applied to a program that spent so long operating with a ground-and-pound approach. At least, that’s what the Aztecs want to believe, having been visibly outmatched for the second week in a row, falling 31-10 to California. SDSU was outgained by nearly 200 yards, 473 to 276, turned the ball over twice, committed 15 penalties and didn't find the endzone until the fourth quarter, when the game was already well in hand for the Bears.
• Hawaii was back in action after taking a week off, but hardly looked well-rested in a lackluster showing against Sam Houston, dropping the game 31-13 and falling to 1-2 on the year. The Rainbow Warriors were never really competitive in the contest, struggling significantly on third-down tries (2 of 14) and committing 14 penalties worth 122 yards – effectively doubling the total yardage gap, which favored Sam Houston 422 to 308. The Hawaii defense has looked good at times this year, particularly at getting into the backfield, but it had no such luck against the Bearkats. They allowed Hunter Watson to throw three touchdowns without generating a sack, though Cam Stone did nab an interception. It's a disappointing result, and the ‘Bows have plenty to work on, but they should have a chance to do that against Northern Iowa next week. 
• New Mexico, in what is becoming a pattern, played a respectable first half only to fall apart in the second half on its way to a 45-19 loss at Auburn. The Lobos traded punches with their hosts through the opening frame, entering the break behind by four points, 17-13, but they suffered too many costly mistakes down the stretch and eventually dropped out of the game. The Lobos are now 0-3 in the Bronco Mendenhall era, and have a tall task ahead with Fresno State coming to town.