Best In The West: Week 10

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

New Mexico 40, UNLV 35

New Mexico needed all 40 points and all 60 minutes, but it got the job done as it fought past UNLV. After racing out to a shaky 6-0 start this season, UNLV has been forced to pay the piper in the past two games with back-to-back losses, dropping to 6-2 on the year. New Mexico’s season has looked completely different. 

Though their first six games, the Lobos fought tooth and nail for a 3-3 record, and that effort has paid off with three wins in a row: A blowout over Nevada, a blowout over their former coach now at Utah State, and a hard-fought win over UNLV, one of the conference’s darlings.

The game created a logjam in the third-place slot in the league, with both teams (along with Fresno State, Hawaii, San Jose State and Utah State) having two conference losses.

New Mexico, as it apparently loves to do under Jason Eck, made a statement early. The only score of the first quarter was a 30-yard pass from Jack Layne to Damon Bankston, and the Lobos added two more in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead before the Rebels got on the board. When they did, they retaliated with three unanswered touchdowns of their own to tie the game with time becoming scarce in the first half.

With under two minutes to play in the second frame, Layne connected with Keagan Johnson for an 80-yard touchdown. Down one score, the Rebels could have tied the game or run the clock out (they could get the ball back in the second half) but did neither. The Lobos forced and recovered a fumble, and converted it into a 25-yard field goal that ended the half.

After a minus-4-yard three-and-out drive to open the second half, UNLV punted, and New Mexico cashed in another field goal. UNLV scored a touchdown on its next drive, and another touchdown a few drives later gave it the first lead of the game, 35-34, with 6:35 remaining.

The Lobos took UNLV’s late-game effort in stride, scored quickly on an efficient eight-play, 75-yard drive, and forced a turnover on downs and a fumble on UNLV’s last two possessions to ice the game.

Layne was 17-of-22 passing for 342 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Anthony Colandrea was 36 of 46 for 382 yards and three touchdowns, with another 39 yards on the ground. He didn’t throw a pick, but he lost one fumble, one of three UNLV turnovers.

New Mexico is on a bye this week, and will host Colorado State next on Nov. 15. UNLV will have a chance to warm the Rams up for that game this week, heading to Fort Collins in need of a victory to snap this losing streak and stay alive in the MWC title race.

Fresno State 30, Boise State 7

After losing two in a row, Fresno State bounced back to hand Boise State an absolutely historic beatdown in Boise. The Broncos, who make a habit of taking care of business in conference play and protecting their home field, haven’t lost like this in decades.

Boise State's offense, which has had plenty of success this year, saw some early adversity as starting quarterback and preseason Offensive Player of the Year Maddux Madsen exited the game with an injury after Boise State's third possession.

Meanwhile the Bulldog attack, which has seen its fair share of struggles this year, made the game as brutal as possible. Fresno State passed for only 35 yards, winning the game by running the ball through Boise State’s teeth, rushing for 189 yards. Fresno State scored late in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead and blocked a field goal on the following drive to keep the Broncos scoreless.

Boise State would end up on the board later, though, tying the game on a 10-yard Max Cutforth pass to Chase Penry late in the second quarter. Cutforth’s next pass wasn’t as successful. The Broncos forced a three-and-out, and when they got the ball back, Malik Sherrod ran for one yard, then Cutforth threw an interception to Fresno State’s Simeon Harris. This resulted in a Bulldog field goal and a 10-7 lead at the intermission.

Instead of settling in and adjusting at the break, the Broncos came into the second half less prepared and more rattled. Fresno State punted on the first drive of the second half, but Boise State fumbled the ball on its first snap of the half. Fresno State then scored a touchdown, and Boise State threw a pick. The teams traded punts before Fresno State scored again, notching a 24-7 lead by the end of the third quarter. With two more field goals in the fourth quarter and nothing going for the Boise State offense, Fresno State sealed a 30-7 victory.

Both teams are now 6-3 overall. Boise State is 4-1 in conference play and Fresno State is 3-2. They're each headed into a bye this week. For Boise, it’s a much-needed break to regroup and get ready to take on Sean Lewis and his mighty Aztecs in San Diego on Nov. 15. For Fresno State, it’s a well-deserved break after knocking off the perennial favorites. The Bulldogs host Wyoming in their next game on Nov. 15.

San Jose State 45, Hawaii 38

Another fitting result in a week full of strong signals of parity in the Mountain West, San Jose State held on as Hawaii put together an impressive second half and secured an upset victory.

The contest, coached by two former Hawaii quarterbacks, featured some lovely QB play as Micah Alejado and Walker Eget combined for 825 yards and five touchdowns in the air. With high-octane passing performances coming from both sidelines, the seven-point difference was largely leveraged on the ground. Hawaii ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns while SJSU ran for 172 yards and four scores. 

It started off even at seven after the first quarter before the Spartans used a commanding 24-7 quarter to take a 31-14 lead into the break. Hawaii put some pressure on the Spartans by scoring on its first drive in the second half, but SJSU responded in kind. Still, the Rainbow Warriors kept the pressure on and scored 14 unanswered to make it 38-35 in the fourth, but the Spartans scored again and a Hawaii field goal that followed was too little, too late.

Hawaii will host the league-leading San Diego State Aztecs this weekend, while San Jose State welcomes a struggling Air Force squad.

San Diego State 24, Wyoming 7

A 17-point romp over Wyoming, with an assist from Fresno State against Boise State, vaulted the Aztecs to the top of the conference. That spot has suddenly become lonely as all but San Diego State have picked up a conference loss. For the fourth game in a row, the Aztecs avoided that fate by a large margin. San Diego State, now 4-0 in conference, has been dominating. The Aztecs are allowing just 10.3 points per game in league competition, and are winning games by an average of roughly 24 points.

Against Wyoming, the Aztecs earned a 17-point victory despite playing far from their best game. They were only 2 of 12 on third down, suffered two turnovers, and missed a field goal. The Cowboys, who are playing much better in Jay Sawvel’s second year, played a respectable game and kept it close for much of the outing. It was 7-7 after the first quarter when Wyoming found the end zone on its first drive and the Aztecs only scored on a short-field situation after an interception put them 24 yards away from the end zone.

Another interception set the Aztecs up for a field goal in the second quarter. Wyoming tried to return the favor when it grabbed an interception on SDSU’s next drive, but it missed the field goal. That led to an Aztec touchdown to make it a 17-7 game, and the teams traded interceptions to end the half.

The second half was hard-fought football, and a nightmare for anyone who prized highly efficient offenses. San Diego State missed a field goal on its first drive – which was a real shame because the drive itself was plenty impressive, snapping 14 plays and nearly seven minutes. The teams then traded a pair of punts each. Wyoming fumbled, San Diego State punted, Wyoming missed a field goal, and the teams traded punts again. Finally, the Aztecs scored again before forcing a turnover on downs and taking victory formation.

San Diego State has a test in the week ahead as it travels to Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors are 4-1 at home, and their only blemish was a 23-21 loss to Fresno State. The Cowboys get to head back to camp for a week before taking on Fresno State in week 12.

Army 20, Air Force 17

Air Force snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Wyoming in week eight and had a bye week to prepare for a home game against an Army team with a losing record.

The Falcons looked poised to pull off a midseason turnaround like the one they managed last year. Even as the game churned on, it seemed like the Falcons could, at any point, gain the upper hand and pick up their second win in a row. They scored first on a first-quarter 52-yard field goal from Reagan Tubbs, and Army fought back with a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead, then a 10-3 lead with a field goal in the second quarter.

The game remained close throughout the second half, with Air Force adding game-tying touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, the second of which knotted the game at 17 apiece with 1:29 to play. But, Army drove 65 yards to set up a 27-yard field goal that found its way through the uprights as time expired.

With a 2-6 (1-4) record, Air Force is now running out of time to sort itself out, or else it will miss a bowl in back-to-back seasons for only the second time in Troy Calhoun’s tenure. With no margin for error, the Falcons are headed to San Jose State this week.