Mountain West Football: Week 6 Winners And Losers
Who came out ahead and who left something to be desired across the Mountain West in Week 6 of the college football season?
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Encouragements and letdowns from the week that was.
You might have believed there wouldn’t be a lot of high drama with just three conference games on the schedule this past Saturday, but between ranked teams succumbing on the road and two more epic rallies, well, you should have known better than to think that.
Here are the winners and losers from Week 6 of Mountain West football.
Winners
1. Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley
Peasley has been the focus of a lot of consternation over the last couple of seasons, but his performance on Saturday night justifies what Cowboys head coach Craig Bohl saw in old “Boot Leather” the entire time.
The graduate quarterback from La Grande, Oregon had what was arguably the best overall game of his career in a 24-19 win over #24 Fresno State on Saturday night, completing 19-of-27 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for two second-quarter first downs on three carries. There’s still plenty for the 5-1 Cowboys left to do, especially with a titanic road game against undefeated Air Force next week, but for one week Peasley has earned every plaudit.
2. Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals, Terrell Vaughn, and Micah Davis
Once again, the Aggies got off to a painfully slow start in the first quarter against Colorado State, but the trio of Royals, Vaughn, and Davis made sure the Utah State offense would generate yet another explosive turnaround in a 44-24 decision against the Rams.
Besides being the only Aggies pass catchers with a reception in the game, all three went for over 100 yards. They became the first Utah State triplet to do so since 1996, but the bigger accomplishment may be the 387 receiving yards and four touchdowns for which they combined on just 19 total receptions. All of a sudden, USU is one of just ten FBS offenses with at least 30 plays of 20-plus yards through the air at this juncture of the season, one more reason why they remain the conference’s ultimate wild card.
3. Boise State wide receiver Eric McAlister
Ashton Jeanty put up his usual big numbers for the Broncos in their season-saving rally against San Jose State, but the home team might not have been able to complete their 35-27 comeback against the Spartans if their young star receiver hadn’t helped to start it in the first place.
Down 17-0 in the early second quarter, McAlister slipped a tackle for a pivotal 83-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception and would eventually finish the game with a team-high five catches for 170 yards. That included a key 44-yard grab at the end of the third quarter which would set up Taylen Green’s scoring keeper two plays later and give Boise State the lead for good.
Losers
1. Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi
Entering Week 6, the young Rams signal-caller led the nation by the Sickos Committee’s DETMER metric. After Saturday night, he might still be #1 in DETMER but not for reasons anyone in Fort Collins enjoyed.
Fowler-Nicolosi had what was easily the worst game of his young career against Utah State, completing 26-of-57 throws for 225 yards and three interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, it could have been a lot worse since the sophomore tallied eight turnover-worthy throws in those 57 dropbacks (though he also had to deal with five drops, as well). In any case, BFN now owns a 5% interception rate on 199 attempts, a rate that is simply far too high if CSU has any hope of rallying to clinch bowl eligibility.
2. San Jose State
The Spartans simply do not have any juice in 2023. If that wasn’t apparent before Week 6, it certainly was after SJSU blew a 27-7 second-quarter lead and allowed 28 straight Boise State points in an eight-point road loss.
There’s really no one culprit for the collapse, either. This isn’t the first time that quarterback Chevan Cordeiro has failed to raise his game when the chips are down, for instance, as he completed 14 of his first 19 passes but finished 9-of-19 with an interception down the stretch. Somehow, running back Kairee Robinson didn’t have a single carry in the fourth quarter. The defense managed to create some early headaches for the Broncos’ unusual two-quarterback approach, but they finished the evening having allowed 319 yards on 11 chunk plays and lost Tre Smith to an easy targeting call that will keep him out of the first half of their contest next week.
In all, it was a terribly disappointing performance in a season where that has become uncomfortably common.
3. Fresno State
Jeff Tedford’s Bulldogs don’t really have anyone to blame but themselves for their “close, but no cigar” showing against Wyoming on Saturday. The offensive line did not have a particularly good time against the Cowboys’ defensive front, coughing up three sacks while running backs Malik Sherrod and Elijah Gilliam managed a combined 3.93 yards per carry (and that’s to say nothing of Mikey Keene’s injury).
Meanwhile, the Fresno State defense was uncharacteristically penalty-prone, racking up seven flags which totaled 86 yards. The Bulldogs deserve credit for battling back to give themselves a chance to steal the win on their final drive, but they no longer control their own destiny in the race to the Mountain West’s top two spots and, much like everyone else in the conference, are vulnerable to getting upended again if they can’t resolve the concerns that reared their ugly heads in Laramie.
