What We Learned After Week 7 Of Mountain West Football
What happened as conference play heated up?
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We finally get some good intel on a few teams.
Air Force – The Falcons running game came back to life after a one-week poor showing by rushing for 340 yards on 69 carries against Fresno State. Bouncing back against a Bulldogs defense that most thought would be really good this year is a good sign.
On the rushing defensive side, the Falcons upped that game as well by holding the Bulldogs to under four yards per carry. This was the fifth time in six games that the Falcons have done that.
Boise State – The Broncos big win over Hawaii showed resilience at the quarterback position. Starter Hank Bachmeier left the game with a hip injury and in came Chase Cord who move the offense quite well as if he were the starter all year long.
His stats were modest as he completed 12 of 18 yards for 175 yards and three scores, but they could have been much more since the Broncos had multiple drives that started in Hawaii territory. Also, third-string signal-caller, Jaylon Henderson had a nice showing with a passing touchdown on 6 of 10 for 82 yards.
There is no word on when Bachmeier will be back but Boise State seems to be in good hands with Cord this upcoming week vs. BYU.
Colorado State – Just maybe Mike Bobo was giving a push to Patrick O’Brien by saying there would be a quarterback challenge this past week. Looks like that probably worked as he was on fire with 420 yards to lead the Mountain West this week. Half of those yards went to a healthy Warren Jackson who had 214 receiving yards and two touchdowns. When the Rams offense is clicking it can be really good and dangerous against the rest of the league.
Fresno State – It took until midseason to get a grip on who or what this Bulldogs team is, and we are getting there. The Air Force loss showed that the defense most expected to be more than fine and good is not doing all that great. Going up against a run-option team like the Falcons is not easy but they allowed a lot on the ground and barely penetrated the backfield.
The passing offense was efficient, for a part, with Jorge Reyna going 20 of 27 but the bulk of that was in the first half. The running game as well was bad with Ronnie Rivers having only one second-half carry. This Fresno State team needs to work on its defense and figure out a better ground attack if it wants to stay in the race for the West Division.
Hawaii – Playing Boise State is tough and this year teams need to be perfect to beat the Broncos. Warriors quarterback Cole McDonald had three touchdowns and did not throw a pick in the game. With those type of numbers, it would seem that Hawaii would be competitive, if not win the game. The game was not close with 16 points coming in the fourth quarter to give that illusion. The passing game was fine but the rushing offense is still lacking as is the passing defense which was carved apart.
New Mexico – Maybe the time has finally come for Bob Davie’s time as the Lobos head coach. His move to an offense that wants to pass the ball more is failing miserably and we never know who the quarterback is from week to week. This time vs. Colorado State it was Sheriron Jone who threw just one interception and was only 8 of 17.
The one shining moment for the Lobos comes from running back Bryson Carroll who had 193 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps New Mexico should go back to running the ball more with Caroll.
Nevada – Special teams are clutch for Nevada as Brandon Talton kicked another game-winning kick to remain perfect on the year.
However, the big story is QB Malik Reed who made his first career FBS start and had a really good game. He did have two picks but he also was 22 of 37 for 352 yards and a score. Nevada needed all of that to escape with the win over San Jose State. Reed might have won himself the starting job. The 352 yards was a season-high for a Wolf Pack quarterback and the 9.5 yards per attempt was tied for the most.
San Diego State – The Aztecs are underrated. They seem to be fully healthy at running back with Juwan Washington having a solid game with 84 yards on 23 carries. The biggest revelation is at quarterback where Ryan Agnew has come into his own and is an upgraded version over prior Aztec quarterbacks. He is efficient and is not turning the ball over, he also runs at a nice clip and throws the ball downfield more than his predecessor.
San Jose State – Josh Love continues to be an overlooked quarterback as he threw for over 400 yards for the third time this year and it became his first loss while eclipsing that mark. The Spartans clearly are better on offense but the defense is still what is hampering them from getting over the top and achieve bowl eligibility.
Wyoming – Sean Chambers is still having issues passing the ball. He was 5 of 14 for 109 yards with a pick and a touchdown. He doesn’t need to throw the ball all that well for the Cowboys to succeed as the running game is going well with a combo of Chambers and Xazavian Valladay.
Passing for just over 100 yards is fine but doing so under 33% is not the answer. If Chambers were 5 of 9 and still had 109 yards then that would look much better, but at the midway point it is hard to see him getting that much better.
