Best In The West: Week Two

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

San Jose State 17, Air Force 7

Air Force and San Jose State kicked off Mountain West competition this weekend, and will open up this week's edition of Best In The West. SJSU first-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo became very familiar with Air Force during his time at Navy, and leaned on that experience to guide the Spartans to a surprising upset victory, walking into Colorado Springs and stifling the Air Force triple option, allowing only 197 total yards.

Air Force quarterback John Busha struggled to get the ball out and completed only seven passes on 20 attempts for 54 yards while twice tossing costly interceptions. The Falcons found more success on the ground, running for 143 yards led by a joint effort from Cade Harris, who ran for 50 yards and a touchdown, and Roman Bradley, who added 39 more yards.

The San Jose State offense was better, though not on the ground. The Spartans only ran for 50 yards, 43 of which came from tailback Floyd Chalk, but they accomplished enough through the air to decide the game. Quarterback Emmett Brown threw for 262 yards and two scores on 17-of-32 passing, connecting chiefly with wideout Nick Nash, who hauled in seven receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Jackson Canaan, who added three receptions, 88 yards and the second score.

San Jose State is now 2-0 (1-0), with Kennesaw State on deck, while Air Force falls to 1-1 (0-1) ahead of its forthcoming matchup at Baylor.

Oregon 37, Boise State 34

It took the ninth-ranked Oregon Ducks all 60 minutes to find a way past Boise State, breaking a 34-34 tie on a 24-yard field goal with only two seconds remaining. For the Broncos, who struggled all evening on special teams – from a missed 54-yard field goal try in the third quarter to a brutal showing for the coverage unit, which allowed a 47-yard punt return for a score in the third frame and a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown in the fourth.

On the positive front for Boise State, star halfback Ashton Jeanty continued his fledgling Heisman campaign with 192 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, adding another eight yards on two receptions and accounting for more than half of Boise State's 369 yards of total offense.

Boise State still holds early playoff aspirations despite the loss, but won't have another chance to garner national attention for at least a few more weeks – the Broncos are on a bye this week and will host FCS Portland State next before a must-win bout with Washington State on Sept. 28.

UNLV 72, Utah Tech 14

The UNLV offense flew high against Utah Tech, getting just about whatever it wanted on the way to nearly 700 total yards. The Rebels earned 34 first downs, put 44 points on the board in the first half alone, and racked up an absurd 504 rushing yards for the game.

In the passing game, Ricky White went off for 111 yards and three touchdowns, needing only five receptions to do it. On the ground, freshman Greg Burrell led the way with 101 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, but he was far from alone as a host of Rebels ran free against an outmatched defense. Backup QB Hajj-Malik Williams had 88 yards on 10 carries, tailback Kylin James had 75 yards on eight carries, starting signal caller Matthew Sluka added 70 yards and a score on nine carries, and HB Devin Green had 61 yards on six carries, adding yet another TD. Jai'Den Thomas, UNLV's starting halfback, needed only two carries to garner 30 yards and a trip to the end zone.

The Rebels are sitting comfortably at 2-0 but face the biggest challenge of their season thus far, heading down to Lawerence for a Friday night clash with Kansas. 

Idaho 17, Wyoming 13

The disastrous debut for new head coach Jay Sawvel and his Wyoming Cowboys continued this weekend with a dreadful showing against Idaho. In what was supposed to be a tune-up game ahead of BYU’s trip to Laramie, the Pokes got bullied on their home field by the Vandals on the way to a 17-13 loss.

Quarterback Evan Svoboda didn’t throw any interceptions, but he was sacked four times and struggled to get anything going all evening, completing just 10 of 24 passes for 126 yards. All told, Wyoming earned 270 yards to Idaho’s 225, but the Vandals got it done where the Cowboys couldn’t, keeping the end zone clean on a critical six-play red zone stand at the end of the third quarter to limit their hosts to a field goal, which ultimately made the final four-point difference.

Now 0-2, the Cowboys are on the brink of catastrophe, staring down a potential spiral over the next three weeks with a home matchup against BYU, a road trip to North Texas, and a rivalry showdown against Air Force.

Rest Of The West

• A rollercoaster season for Jeff Choate's Nevada Wolf Pack continues. A week after beating Troy, Nevada welcomed another Sun Belt opponent to Reno and fell to Georgia Southern, 20-17. Quarterback Brendon Lewis led the team in rushing with 97 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and fared well through the air, completing 23 of 35 passes for 271 yards and another score, highlighting wideouts Cortez Braham Jr. (110 yards and a touchdown) and Jaden Smith (103 yards). But, it wasn't enough to outgun the Eagles as they stood tall on a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, forcing a Savion Red fumble just short of the goalline, stuffing a fourth-and-short run with a little under three minutes left, and bringing Smith down five yards short of the end zone on the game's final play.
• Over in the Valley, the Bulldogs chalked up their first win of the season, bouncing back nicely after a season-opening loss at Michigan and taking care of business against Sacramento State, 46-30. It was a solid win, but it was far from perfect, especially given Fresno State’s conference title aspirations. The Hornets racked up 469 yards to Fresno State's 513, and a trio of turnovers from the Bulldog offense helped keep their guests around into the final frame. Mikey Keene made up for his two interceptions by throwing for 358 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bulldogs certainly have room for improvement ahead of this weekend's home matchup with New Mexico State.
• Colorado State got back on track after its no-show at Texas last week, beating Northern Colorado 38-17 to secure its first win of the year. It was a bit of an odd performance from the usually pass-heavy Rams, though that may not be a bad thing as halfbacks Keegan Holles, Justin Marshall, Damian Henderson and Avery Morrow combined for 33 carries, 221 yards and two scores. They needed it, too, as Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi continued his slow start to the year with only 180 passing yards and one score. It didn't help that star wideout Tory Horton was held in check, catching only two passes for 43 yards, but there's something to be said for winning in different ways.
• San Diego State got blanked at home in the Mountain West’s first game against its new Pac-12 guests, falling 21-0 to Oregon State. The Aztecs managed only 179 yards on the night, picking up 107 from QB Danny O’Neil (11-of-24 passing) while eking out just 72 yards on the ground. Their longest run of the night, a 10-yarder, came courtesy of Marquez Cooper, who pitched in 13 carries for 53 yards. The defense didn’t fare much better, allowing 420 total yards to the Beavers, led by Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson, who teamed up to rush 34 times for 160 yards and two of the game's three scores. San Diego State now sits at 1-1 with an in-state matchup against a surprisingly stout Cal squad ahead.
• Thanks to early byes, Hawaii (1-1) and New Mexico (0-2) both had the week off. Hawaii is back in action at Sam Houston on Saturday evening, while New Mexico is looking to extend Auburn's streak of home losses to opponents from the Land of Enchantment after NMSU upended the Tigers in 2023.