What We Learned After Week 4 Of Mountain West Play
So… what happened this week.
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A blurb on each team.
Air Force: The Falcons could not get it done against Boise State this week as they lost 30-19 in the conference opener. The Falcons were able to hang around for the first few quarters but could not hang with the Broncos. A few errant passes by Donald Hammond III cost the Falcons some points, especially one that would have led to a touchdown.
The rushing attack plugged away in this game but Boise State was able to limit any big rushing gains. The longest run was just a 20-yarder by Timothy Jackson.
Boise State: The Broncos are 4-0 and are in positioning themselves very nicely by topping Air Force, plus it helps that UCF dropped its first regular-season game in a while. So, what we learned is that the Broncos are in the driver’s seat for a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
The Broncos also held in check the Falcons ground game that averaged only 4.75 yards per rush which is about a yard less than they normally average.
Colorado State: So, close.
The running game came alive vs. Toledo with Marvin Kinsey not only breaking off another huge run with a 74-yarder and 246 yards overall and a pair of touchdowns. He has all three touchdowns and has 426 of his 556 yards in the prior two games.
Also, the Rams quarterback situation seems just fine without Collin Hill. Patrick O’Brien torched Toledo’s secondary with 405 yards and newly eligible wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers had five catches for 88 yards.
Fresno State: Good job getting the first win, Bulldogs. The offense looked sharp against FCS foe Sacramento State with Jorge Reyna going for 312 yards and two scores, plus the ground game added three touchdowns of its own.
The one concern is the Bulldogs defense which gave up 233 yards of passing offense and three touchdowns. There are a few reasons for that since playing an FCS team there are a lot of players who get play9ing time who normally do not play as much.
Nevada: Is there a quarterback controversy in Reno? Due to an injury to Carson Strong he did not play this week. The Wolf Pack had Christian Salano see his first action since a hand injury in fall camp as did transfer Malik Henry. Salano got the bulk of the action with 13 of 19 for 182 yards and a pair of scores. We will how Jay Norvell treats this situation as the Wolf Pack open up league play vs. Hawaii next week.
Utah State: The Aggies defense is why they were able to give San Diego State its first loss of the year. The way the Aggies defense got behind the line of scrimmage with 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and quarterback hurries forced Aztecs quarterback Ryan Agnew to be uncomfortable for a good portion of the game. Shaq Bond had a pick-six in the first half which proved very valuable in the six-point win.
The offense did struggle against a really good Aztec defense as QB Jordan Love did not have a touchdown pass for the first time in nine 10 games. That seems more to due with the San Diego State defense than Love’s ability at quarterback. That could be in issue down the road when the Aggies take on Boise State.
Hawaii: Similar to Fresno State, defeat an FCS team an move on for next week. The accuracy of Cole McDonald was key in this game. He was a solid 25 of 32 with 300 yards and only one interception. Perhaps the confidence from this game will help him going forward.
Hawaii also had a defensive score.
New Mexico: So. Many. Points. Before anyone gets excited about the Lobos scoring 55 points but it should be noted that they gave up 52 points to New Mexico. So, maybe they found the secret to its offense.
We may be included to bring back the #ThrowBos hastag as Tevaka Tuioti had 355 yards and three touchdowns in the air. Yes, it was against New Mexico State but this is a step in the right direction for the Lobos.
San Diego State: Despite not having Juwan Washington and an early pick-six this Aztecs team rebounded in the second-half to nearly pull off the come from behind victory over Utah State. Ryan Agnew has harrassed all night and did have a few bad throws, but he is the reason San Diego State had a fourth quarter comeback which he led a pair of touchdown drives. However, that final drive to potentially win after a Utah State missed field goal was pretty bad as Agnew was 1 for 3 and sacked on a 4th and 10 play.
San Jose State: Holy crap, congrats!! San Jose State defeated Arkansas in its first Power Five victory since it defeated Stanford in 2006. The game was not fluky in the sense that the Spartans were able to make plays on both sides of the ball. Perhaps this is the start of a new chapter for the Spartans.
That Spartan defense was lights out with five interceptions in the game which only led do seven points. This game could have been a blowout for the Spartans had they converted a few more of those interceptions into points.
Wyoming: The Cowboys seven-game winning streak was snapped and there might be a quarterback controversy. Sean Chambers was pulled for Tyler Vander Wall for a snippet of this game. Neither played all that well and while there were 214 yards combined, 87 of those came on two plays in the fourth quarter. This is something to watch this week in practice.
