Mountain West football: Week of Sept. 11
Mountain West league play opens this week with Air Force hosting Utah State on Friday at 6 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network. The other 10 MW squads are in action Saturday, with seven of them facing Autonomous 5 opponents, four of which are nationally ranked.
Hawaii will face its third Autonomous 5 program of the season when it visits No. 13/13 Oregon on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors, who opened their season with games against Vanderbilt and Stanford, earned their first win of the season with their 31-20 victory over Albany in Week 2. Junior quarterback Brayden Schager threw for 266 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes, extending his streak of games with at least one TD pass to 12 straight. Wide receiver Steven McBride had a game-high seven catches for 72 yards and two TDs, giving him scoring catches in each of his first three games for Hawaii. McBride has a MW-best five TD catches so far this season, which ranks second in the FBS.
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Air Force will put its seven-game winning streak on the line when it welcomes the Aggies. Dating back to last season, the Falcons have held three of their last six opponents to just three points and are looking to win their league opener for the first time since 2016, when they coincidentally beat Utah State, 27-20.
Utah State, whose only loss so far has come at the hands of a ranked Iowa squad, put on an offensive clinic in its 78-28 win over Idaho State in Week 2. The Aggies’ 78 points scored were the fourth-most in school history and most since a 136-0 win over Idaho State in 1919, while their 44 second-quarter points were program and MW records.
Wyoming, which opened its season with a win over No. 24 Texas Tech, takes on another ranked foe from the Lone Star State when it visits No. 6/4 Texas on Saturday. The Cowboys moved to 2-0 on the season with their 31-17 win over Portland State in Week 2, with quarterback Andrew Peasley going 11-for-16 for 201 yards and a career-best three touchdowns through the air.
San Diego State will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it visits No. 17/16 Oregon State on Saturday. The Aztecs, who fell 35-10 to UCLA in Week 2, will hit the road for the first time this season when they take on their second straight Pac-12 opponent.
Colorado State was idle last week after opening its season with a 50-24 setback to Washington State in Week 1. The Rams face another Pac-12 squad this week when they head to Boulder for a showdown against No. 21/18 Colorado, with ESPN College GameDay and Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff both in town ahead of the contest.
Boise State gets Saturday’s schedule underway with a 10 a.m. MT kick against North Dakota. The Broncos suffered an 18-16 setback to UCF in Week 2. The Knights kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to rally for the win.
After dropping a 35-7 decision at No. 2/2 Michigan in Week 2, UNLV returns home to host Vanderbilt this weekend. The last time the Rebels faced an SEC squad was in 2019, when UNLV downed Vanderbilt 34-10 on the road.
In front of a sellout crowd, Fresno State opened its home slate with a 34-31 double-overtime win over Eastern Washington in Week 2 to run its winning streak to 11 games. After the squads swapped touchdowns in the first overtime, Dylan Lynch hit a 25-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs on top in 2OT and linebacker Levelle Bailey ended the game by intercepting the Eagles’ first pass of their second extra possession.
Nevada welcomes Kansas, its second Autonomous 5 opponent of the 2023 campaign, for its first night game of the season Saturday. The Wolf Pack, which opened the season against No. 6/6 USC, dropped a 33-6 decision to Idaho in its home opener in Week 2 to see its current losing streak dip to 12 games.
New Mexico rolled to a 56-10 win over Tennessee Tech in Week 2, with quarterback Dylan Hopkins going 13-for-17 for 273 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters of work, earning MW Offensive Player of the Week honors.
San Jose State heads to Toledo on Saturday looking to even its record at 2-2 after earning its first win of the season with a 59-3 victory over Cal Poly in Week 2. The Spartans, who earned their first win by 50 or more points since 1988, turned in their largest victory margin since topping University of Mexico 103-0 in 1949.
Three Mountain West programs are receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll: Fresno State (21 points), Wyoming (six) and Air Force (five). Fresno State (two) and Wyoming (one) also received votes in the Associated Press Top 25.
