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Mountain West Football: Week 7 Winners and Losers
Who came out ahead and who left something to be desired in Week 7 of Mountain West football?
Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire
Some encouragement and some letdowns from the week that was.
Despite a weekend projected with six double-digit favorites, Week 7 of Mountain West football play provided a lot of intrigue even without a lot of surprises. Let’s get to all of the winners and losers.
Winners
1. Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. The Aggies got off to a slow start on Saturday afternoon, but Love might have put together his best performance yet in torching poor UNLV. He was 15-of-20 for 287 yards and four touchdowns by halftime, by which point USU owned a 42-7 lead, and finished 17-of-23 for 322 yards and five scores.
2. Boise State cornerback Tyler Horton. The Broncos will continue to battle the injury bug in weeks to come, but Horton’s return to form proved critical in Boise State surviving its trip to Reno. The senior defender upped the difficulty level on his second-quarter pick-six, returning the pass 99 yards, and kept the visitors afloat against Nevada when the offense sputtered in the first half.
3. Everyone who stuck it out through the lightning delay in San Diego. Things tend to get weird when Air Force and San Diego State meet up and Friday night was no exception. The game after the delay wasn’t exactly pretty, but the home fans were treated to another taut Aztecs victory. Parker Baldwin’s game-sealing interception proved the defense will keep them afloat under pretty much any circumstances.
Losers
1. San Jose State quarterback Michael Carrillo. The Spartans did not have a very good Saturday afternoon as a team, but it’s hard to beat the brief stretch that Carrillo replaced Montel Aaron under center. Down 24-3 in the third quarter, Carrillo sandwiched two fumbles, both of which were recovered by Army, around a 17-yard completion to Tre Walker. Oh, and the Black Knights turned both of those turnovers into touchdowns.
2. UNLV head coach Tony Sanchez. After getting humiliated at home by New Mexico, Sanchez didn’t mince words in calling out Lexington Thomas for a supposed lack of toughness. Then, down 35 a week later against Utah State, he decided calling multiple draw plays was an ideal offensive gameplan, which led to this:
https://twitter.com/Bischoff_Tyler/status/1051230634448891904
The Rebels averaged just 4.08 yards per play in the first three quarters against the Aggies. Good job, coach.
3. Wyoming quarterback Tyler Vander Waal. The Cowboys don’t have much choice when it comes to their QB situation, but Vander Waal’s continued struggles is almost certain to sink Wyoming’s fading bowl hopes. He now owns the fourth-worst passer rating among FBS quarterbacks with at least 15 attempts per game and an appearance in 75% of a team’s games. When only Rutgers, UTSA and UTEP are looking up at you, there’s a serious problem.
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