Consider 2 Mountain West tilts this weekend:
Fresno State at Boise State.
5 weeks ago, this game would have been considered the marquee game on the season’s conference slate. Boise’s last non-conference game was a 27-10 clunker at UTEP which triggered the firing of the offensive coordinator and the transfer of their starting QB, Hank Bachmeier. Boise went into El Paso as a 16-point favorite.
Fresno State was even more heavily favored last Saturday at woeful Connecticut. Neither 3,000 miles of jet lag or the absence of star QB, Jake Haener, can fully explain their 19-14 faceplant against a team that had not had an FBS victory since 2019.
While neither has yet suffered a loss in conference play, Saturday’s victor will not have great reason to pound their chest.
UNLV at San Jose State
Last year, the Rebels went 2-10 but it was a deceptive 2-10 with promise for the future as Marcus Arroyo’s squad lost 6 games by 8 points or less. Through the first month, UNLV has been the class of the Mountain West with its only blemish a 20-14 loss at Cal.
After an opening scare against Portland State, San Jose State has impressed in its next 3 games. Last week, the Spartans travelled to 7,260 feet and throttled Wyoming, 33-16. San Jose’s only loss was a very respectable 24-16 defeat at Auburn. We expect Brian Brennan to be in contention for one of the Power 5 jobs that have opened up. Rare is the Group of 5 team that has a kick ass defensive line.
Maybe Fresno State will reemerge once Haener gets healthy. Maybe Boise’s dual threat QB, Taylen Green, will be the tonic the Broncos badly need (Early returns were quite positive in the Broncos’ 38-13 rout of toothless San Diego State last Friday). But if you are interested in the Mountain West game this weekend that features the teams that have been playing the best, do not look toward potato country. Do you know the way to San Jose? As Gomer Pyle often said, “Surprise, surprise.”