The Year of Living Unpredictably
The Mountain West is no exception to college football's craziness
We’re seeing unpredictable power shifts in college football at the moment.
Indiana – yes, Indiana – is undefeated, Vanderbilt beat Alabama and USC is going to have to come up with some Trojan Horse type trickery to turn its season around.
The Mountain West isn’t immune either.
Who would have predicted that Air Force would be mired in a six-game losing streak or that New Mexico would win three in a row, scoring 50 or more points in each of those victories?
Even Boise State and UNLV – who meet this coming weekend for the conference lead – have had a couple of surprises along the way.
Most people figured USC transfer Malachi Nelson would be the starting quarterback in Boise, but 5’10” sophomore Maddux Madsen had other ideas. UNLV started 3-0 behind Holy Cross transfer Matt Sluka, who then quit over a NIL disagreement. His replacement, Hajj-Malik Williams has engineered three wins and a narrow loss to Syracuse.
Losing Streaks
The misery continues at Air Force where the Falcons dropped their sixth in a row. The 21-13 loss to Colorado State ended a seven-game Rams’ losing streak to the AFA.
Utah State has also lost six straight and check out these numbers: in its last three games, the Aggies have given up 50, 50 and 62 points.
Hawaii has lost three in a row and five of its last six.
Winning Streaks
New Mexico has won three straight, 50-40 over New Mexico State, 52-37 over Air Force and 50-45 over Utah State.
Boise State has won four in a row heading into the weekend’s big game at UNLV.
Colorado State, San Diego State and UNLV have won two in a row.
Believe It or Not
In New Mexico’s 50-45 win over Utah State, the two teams combined for 1,053 yards of total offense, 13 touchdowns and 6 turnovers.
Week 9
Boise State (5-1, 2-0) at UNLV (6-1, 2-0): Expect a big crowd at Allegiant for this one. UNLV hasn’t beaten Boise State since – ready for this? – 1977. The Broncos have won the last six by an average of 24 points. Last meeting was the 2023 Mountain West title game (a 44-20 BSU win).
New Mexico (3-4, 2-1) at Colorado State (4-3, 2-0): Colorado State has won 12 in a row over New Mexico and hasn’t lost in Fort Collins since 2006. But Devon Dampier and the Lobos can put up some serious numbers: an average of 516 total yards in the past three games.
Utah State (1-6, 0-3) at Wyoming (1-6, 1-2): The conference’s two most disappointing teams go head-to-head in Laramie. Wyoming is averaging a meagre 17 points per game on offense, while the Aggies are surrendering a ridiculous 44 points per game on defense.
San Jose State (5-2, 3-1) at Fresno State (4-3, 2-1): Battle for the Valley Trophy. Fresno has won four of the last six, but the Spartans blew them out last year 42-18.
Washington State (6-1) at San Diego State (3-3, 2-0): Only played three times before, the last in 2011 when the Aztecs won 42-24.
Nevada (3-5, 0-2) at Hawaii (2-5, 0-2): Warriors have won four of the last five in this series, all as underdogs. Bowl aspirations are on the line here for both teams.