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What We Learned After Week 2 Of Mountain West Football
Some good and not so good things happened this week.
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A few teams are in trouble.
Week 2 is in the books so not it is time to make our snap judgment for the teams this week.
Boise State – A win is a win but Boise State looked a lot more human against Marshall, at least on offense. There were multiple mistakes with missed passes, turnover on downs, and a pair of turnovers.
The offense was not all bad because freshman George Holani had 103 yards and appears to be the lead back. Also, the defense came up huge by allowing only 56 passing yards and the game-sealing interception by Kekoa Nawahine.
Colorado State – The Rams did what they needed to do by taking care of Western Illinois winning 38-13. The offense moved the ball well with 364 passing yards and a rushing game was found with Marvin Kinsey, Jr. rushing for 89 yards. Next week we will know more when they face Arkansas.
Fresno State – The 0-2 start is not as bad as it seems. The Bulldogs two losses have come within one possession against USC and Minnesota. A common theme in both is that Bulldogs quarterback Jorge Reyna has thrown a pair of late-game interceptions that has sealed the fate of this team.
Also, a little bit of bad luck, just look at the game-timing touchdown in regulation for Minnesota that was a one in a million type of catch in the back of the end zone and it was on a 4th and 13.
Hawaii – Just win. Hawaii looked a bit shaky in the first half with a defense that could not stop Oregon State at all. The second was a different story as the Warriors shut out the Beavers en route to a 31-28 win. There were a pair of fourth-down stops by the defense.
Also, special teams could come back to bite the Warriors as they missed three field goals in the game.
Nevada – The Wolf Pack are not ready to compete with the best in the country is not shocking, but losing 77-6 to Oregon was extremely shocking. The game was so bad that it hard to learn anything from this except that the team is not elite and they also need to learn to not give up and that is what can be taken away from allowing 77 points.
Also, maybe don’t overreact to this type of loss.
UNLV – There is a quarterback problem in Las Vegas and defensive back issues as well. The Rebels were routed against Arkansas State, losing 43-17. Armani Rogers does give UNLV the best chance to win but not if Tony Sanchez has him throw the ball so much.
If the idea is to pass more then maybe Rogers isn’t the guy.
San Diego State – A real nice bounce back for the Aztecs to get its first win over UCLA in school history. What the most shocking and encouraging part of the win is how Ryan Agnew played at quarterback. He moved the pocked with his legs to extend plays and ended up with 293 passing yards on 23 of 31 to go with a touchdown.
Get the running game healthy and this team has the chance to be really dangerous.
San Jose State – As Jimmy Durkin said of The Athletic, going 2-0 is tough for the Spartans. The Spartans need to make plays. They had plenty of chances to get in this game with the offense and the defense. The offense had the ball inside Tulsa’s 10-yard line but settled for a field goal on its first drive so that was a missed four points.
Another blown chance was at the end of the half when an errant snap pushed the Spartans out of field goal range at the end of the half. Those missed points could have tied the game at 17 at the half and made this outcome possibly different.
Wyoming – The passing game is still not there for the Cowboys with Sean Chambers was just 8 of 18 for 103 yards and a pick. That has to get better as does the slow starts which will come back to haunt them when playing a better team. The defense is still the star of this team.
Utah State – What was elevated a bit was that this Aggies team is going to have a really good offense. That was a concern with the new staff and while it was an FCS team the Aggies crushed, 62-7 over Stony Brook.
One item that has yet to be determined is who is the starting running back between Gerold Bright or Jaylen Warren. Warren did have the most yards with 105 and two scores, including a 54 yarder on nine carries. Bright also had nine carries with a score and 67 rushing yards. More will be known on the ground game once they take on San Diego State next week.
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