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What We Learned After Week 8 Of Mountain West Football
Eleven teams in action and we learned a bit more on each team.
Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire
Somethings stay the same and some change.
After Week 8 we think we’d know a lot more about each team in the Mountain West but that is not the case for every team in the league.
Air Force – Just insert anyone at quarterback for the Falcons and they will be fine. That was the case when the Falcons went to backup Mike Schmidt who came in for an injured Donald Hammond III. This adds another capable signal-caller as he was 5 of 6 for 147 yards with a touchdown. in the air and had command of the option offense by rushing for 120 yards on and three touchdowns.
Also, the Falcons seemingly are now magic as is the case with this interception.
Boise State – Hank Bachmeier is the clear starting quarterback and Boise State needs him to win games. Chase Cord just didn’t seem ready in this game more often than not. He had some good stretches like the first drive but he made too many bad throws that resulted in BYU scoring points. Also, the defense getting fooled by a number of trick plays and not being disciplined.
Fresno State – The defense is back? Well, maybe. The Bulldogs did force five turnovers but it was against a UNLV team that does not have a great offense. This is a sign that the Bulldogs are at the very least average overall in the league and well ahead of the bottom third of the conference.
Hawaii – Defense lets them down again for the second straight week. This week it was Air Force’s option attack that beat them in the air and on the ground. The Warriors were sucked in on the ground game by allowing 6.9 yards and that led to 24.1 yards in the air against the Falcons backup quarterback.
Nevada – Malik Reed‘s second start at quarterback did not go as well as his first one. His two interceptions led to a pair of Utah State touchdowns, but it also doesn’t show well when the offense was 4 of 18 on third downs. Playing a good Utah State defense was always going to be a struggle with Reed making his first road start of his career.
New Mexico – Lobos went back to playing two quarterbacks this week with Sheriron Jones and Tevaka Tuioti. Combined they did fine with 203 yards and a touchdown. The problem is that the Lobos could not finish drives. The yards were there but New Mexico was just 4 of 12 on third downs.
San Jose State – Once again the Spartans were close but not close enough in the 10-point deficit against San Diego State. The Spartans defense held the Aztecs defense down and allowed just 88 yards in the air and if not for a 50-yard touchdown run that unit would have had an exceptional game. The difference in this game was a handful of plays, including allowing an Aztecs special team’s touchdown.
San Diego State – Big plays defined the win over San Jose State. Chase Jasmin had a 50-yard touchdown run and Kaegun Williams had a 95-yard touchdown run. The ground attack was a bit better and Juwan Washington showed a slight improvement from the past few weeks with 78 yards on 16 attempts to boost his average. Quarterback play went back to inconsistent with 88 yards thrown by Ryan Agnew.
Wyoming – For the first time all year quarterback Sean Chambers not only passed 50 percent for a game but he ended up completing 9 of 15 passes which comes out to 60 percent. The yardage was not there with just 86 yards but he was more efficient and had a touchdown. It is baby steps but getting above 50 percent is the next step.
Utah State – Defense turned opportunities into points. Two turnovers forced by the Aggies against Nevada led to a pair of touchdowns and the unit also got a safety. The running game saw the return of Jaylen Warren and he and Gerold Bright had a big game as the duo rushed for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns by Bright. That running game running on all cylinders is what this Aggie teams need.
UNLV – Offensive woes continue to hurt the Rebels. UNLV was close throughout against Fresno State and it was just a 28-20 game but then three straight turnovers happened and it led to 21 points for the game to be a blowout.
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