MW rankings: Boise State has issues; Bulldogs remain No. 1

The Boise State Broncos might have a quarterback controversy this week.

“I’m not going to make that decision right now,” Broncos head coach Andy Avalos said after a 35-32 loss to Memphis on Saturday. “We’re going to watch film and we’re going to evaluate.”

The Broncos (2-3, 1-0), ranked fourth in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings, split the quarterback position on Saturday.

Starter Taylen Green was 12-of-24 for 200 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions while redshirt freshman Maddux Madsen was an efficient 11-of-14 for 175 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Maddux found running back Ahston Jeanty for touchdowns of 15 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter. He also connected with Stefan Cobbs on a 2-point conversion pass.

Green, who also rushed for 51 yards on eight carries, played in 13 games last year, completing 166-of-271 passes for 2,042 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 588 yards and 10 touchdowns.

This year, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound sophomore is 70-of-133 for 938 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions and has rushed for 179 yards and two scores.

The 5-10, 195-pound Maddux is 22-of-32 for 319 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions this year after playing in just one game and completing 3-of-4 passes for 43 yards last year.

The Broncos, though, might have more pressing concerns than quarterback right now. This is Boise State’s third consecutive slow start after opening 2-3 in 2021 and 2-2 last year.

Boise State, though, didn’t start out slow on Saturday, jumping out to a 17-0 lead before giving up 28 unanswered points.

“This is not acceptable,” said defensive end Ahmed Hassanein. “We should have won that game.”

The Broncos were missing five starters this past weekend: Running back George Holani, linebacker DJ Schramm, safety Alexander Teubner, tight end Riley Smith and left guard Ben Dooley.

The game, though, was decided by a fluke Memphis touchdown late in the third quarter. Up 17-14 and facing a 4th-and-1 from the Memphis 7-yard line, the Broncos elected to attempt a field goal. The kick, though, was blocked and Memphis’ Geoff Cantin-Arku picked it up and went 80 yards for a touchdown.

“We wanted to go for it,” said Avalos, now 19-12 overall and 5-9 in non-conference games since getting the Broncos’ head coaching job in 2021. “We had a certain play to take advantage of a certain look and we weren’t able to get that look. The goal there was to get points on the board and we didn’t get that done.”

There was also a strange play that helped No. 1 Fresno State pull away from No. 10 Nevada, 27-9, on Saturday.

Fresno State running back Malik Sherrod was knocked down after a short gain but landed on a teammates and Pack players without touching the ground.

Sherrod put one hand on the ground, got back to his feet and waltzed into the end zone from 72 yards out to give Fresno a 14-0 halftime lead.

“We always play to the whistle,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said. “He rolled over and it was heads-up by him not to put his elbow down.”

Tedford’s Bulldogs have now won 14 games in row and are a perfect 5-0 this season.

Bulldogs’ quarterback Mikey Keene was 26-of-34 for 269 yards and two touchdowns against Nevada. Keene’s first touchdown pass was 65 yards to Jaelen Gill.

“I didn’t know he was that fast,” said Tedford of Gill, who outraced the Wolf Pack defense to the end zone.

“That touchdown I made coming out of the backfield, honestly, isn’t one I score a lot on during practice,” Gill said. “I just saw that green grass and just went for the run.”

Fresno’s defense had seven sacks as Nevada has now lost 15 games in a row (0-5 this year).

“The quarterback run was really their main effective offensive weapon,” said Tedford of Nevada’s Brendon Lewis. “So, we started getting after him pretty good.”

The Nevada defense also got after Keene fairly well, forcing the Bulldogs’ quarterback to run out of the pocket numerous times.

Nevada’s Emany Johnson intercepted two Keene passes. The sixth-year player out of Richmond, Calif., has played for the Pack since 2018. The interceptions were the first of his career (48 games).

“We got in some bad situations, giving ground,” Tedford said. “We need to learn how to throw the football away at times and not try to make big plays every single play.”

No. 2 Air Force (5-0, 3-0) rolled over No. 7 San Diego State (2-4, 0-2), 49-10. The Falcons ran the ball 52 times for 287 yards and four touchdowns.

Air Force quarterback Zac Larrier was 6-of-7 for 189 yards and two touchdowns and also ran the ball eight times for 103 yards.

San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden was 13-of-24 for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Aztecs actually took a 7-0 lead before being outscored 49-3 the rest of the game.

The highlight for San Diego State was a Mountain West-record 61-yard field goal on the final play of the first half by Jack Browning.

No. 3 Wyoming (4-1, 1-0) outlasted No. 11 New Mexico (2-3, 0-1), 35-26.

“We knew it was going to be a challenging game,” Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said. “I was really concerned. We’ve always have had a hard time matching up with these guys.”

Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley was 16-of-25 for 194 yards and a touchdown. Running back Harrison Waylee had 191 yards and a 46-yard touchdown. He also had a 66-yard run to the New Mexico 9-yard line.

“That was first time I’ve been caught from behind,” said Waylee, who ran for 1,929 yards from 2020-22 for Northern Illinois. “I promise it’s not going to happen again.”

Wyoming safety Wyett Ekeler, whose brother Austin Ekeler plays for the Los Angeles Chargers, had four tackles, two sacks and forced and recovered a fumble.

In keeping with Saturday’s theme of strange Mountain West plays last weekend, Wyoming’s Jakorey Hawkins returned a blocked New Mexico extra point attempt for two points after the Lobos took a 6-0 lead.

“Our weapons and our offense (are) evolving,” said Peasley, now in his second season at Wyoming after playing 2018-2021 at Utah State. “It’s getting there. We still need to be more explosive. We had opportunities and we made some and some we didn’t make.”

New Mexico’s Dylan Hopkins was 15-of-31 for 162 yards and a touchdown.

“It is frustrating being close,” said Lobos coach Danny Gonzales, now 9-27 as head coach since 2020.

The nine-point loss was New Mexico’s closest since a 20-13 loss to UTEP in the fourth game of 2021. The Lobos have lost 20-of-25 games since then.

No. 5 Colorado State (2-2, 0-0) outscored Utah Tech, an FCS school, 41-20.

Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was 26-of-32 for 462 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Wide receiver Tory Horton caught 10 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns from 21, 76 and 6 yards out.

“He’s a confident quarterback,” Horton said of Fowler-Nicolosi, his former teammate at Nevada.

Fowler-Nicolosi, who took over as starter from Clay Millen in Week 2, has passed for at least 321 yards and two touchdowns in all three of his starts this year.

He also ran for a touchdown and had eight completions of at least 20 yards against Utah Tech.

“We just have some players who are special,” Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said. “And when they get their hands on the ball good things happen.”

One of those special players is Horton.

“I’m foolish if I don’t call his number and get him the ball,” Norvell said. “That’s what coaching is. When you have good players, you have to put them in position to do what they do well.”

No. 6 UNLV (4-1, 1-0) rolled over No. 12 Hawaii (2-4, 0-1), 44-20.

It is the first time the Rebels have ever scored 40-plus points in three consecutive games after beating UTEP, 45-28, on Sept. 23 and Vanderbilt, 40-37, on Sept. 16. They also beat Bryant, 44-14, on Sept. 2 before losing at Michigan, 35-7, on Sept. 9.

“We are learning as a team,” UNLV first-year coach Barry Odom said. “We are learning through our experiences. The days are long, but the weeks are short. For us it will be a sprint with no finish line.”

UNLV rushed for 307 yards against Hawaii, controlling the ball for 34:14.

“We’ve got a hungry football team,” said Odom, whose Rebels will come to Mackay Stadium to play Nevada on Oct. 14. “We’ve got to keep an edge about ourselves.”

No. 9 Utah State (2-3, 0-1) survived Connecticut, 34-33, in Storrs, Conn. Sophomore safety Ike Larsen blocked a Connecticut extra point with 40 seconds left to preserve the victory.

Utah State trailed 17-0 in the second quarter before stealing the non-conference victory on the road.

The comeback started with a 63-yard touchdown pass by McCae Hillstead to Colby Bowman with just 14 seconds remaining in the first half. The touchdown came 23 seconds after Connecticut took its 17-0 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Joe McFadden.

Hillstead, though, was injured on a roughing the passer penalty on Connecticut’s Eric Watts on the Aggies’ first drive of the third quarter.

Cooper Legas entered the game for Hillstead and promptly found Jalen Royals for a 15-yard touchdown on just his second play after replacing Hillstead. He also connected with Royals on a 71-yard score to break a 17-17 tie and a 52-yard score for a 31-24 lead.

Royals caught seven passes for 185 yards and three scores. The Georgia native has 26 catches this year for 382 yards and five touchdowns.

Legas was 11-of-13 for 204 yards and three touchdowns.

Six Mountain West teams (Nevada, UNLV, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State and Air Force) will have byes this week.

The Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings for the week of Oct. 2:

1. FRESNO STATE (5-0, 1-0). Last week: Fresno State 27, Nevada 9. This week: Fresno State at Wyoming, Saturday.

2. AIR FORCE (5-0, 3-0). Last week: Air Force 49, San Diego State 10. This week: Bye.

3. WYOMING (4-1, 1-0). Last week: Wyoming 35, New Mexico 26. This week: Fresno State at Wyoming, Saturday.

4. BOISE STATE (2-3, 1-0). Last week: Memphis 35, Boise State 32. This week: San Jose State at Boise State, Saturday.

5. COLORADO STATE (2-2, 0-0). Last week: Colorado State 41, Utah Tech 20. This week: Colorado State at Utah State, Saturday.

6. UNLV (4-1, 1-0). Last week: UNLV 44, Hawaii 20. This week: Bye.

7. SAN DIEGO STATE (2-4, 0-2). Last week: Air Force 49, San Diego State 10. This week: Bye.

8. SAN JOSE STATE (1-4, 0-1). Last week: Bye. This week: San Jose State at Boise State, Saturday.

9. UTAH STATE (2-3, 0-1). Last week: Utah State 34, Connecticut 33. This week: Colorado State at Utah State, Saturday.

10. NEVADA (0-5, 0-1). Last week: Fresno State 27, Nevada 9. This week: Bye.

11. NEW MEXICO (2-3, 0-1). Last week: Wyoming 35, New Mexico 26. This week: Bye.

12. HAWAII (2-4, 0-1). Last week: UNLV 44, Hawaii 20. This week: Bye.