San Diego State hands UNLV 4th straight loss

Aidan Robbins knew what to expect from the San Diego State Aztecs last Saturday.

“Physically, you know it is going to be a dogfight,” the UNLV running back said. “So my body is maimed up now. But if your body is not maimed up after one of these games, then you didn’t play hard enough.”

Robbins earned his bumps and bruises on Saturday, rushing for 115 yards on 21 carries. But the Aztecs kept him out of the end zone and held off the Rebels for a 14-10 victory in front of 28,854 fans at San Diego State’s Snapdragon Stadium.

The West Division victory put San Diego State (5-4, 3-2) at No. 6 in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West victory, just ahead of No. 7 UNLV (4-5, 2-3).

“The thing I liked about our team is we finished,” Aztecs coach Brady Hoke said. “Last weekend (a 32-28 loss to Fresno State that saw the Aztecs waste a 28-10 second-half lead) was tough and heartbreaking. If you were involved in it and had some skin in the game you’ll understand that.”

The Aztecs got two touchdown passes from quarterback Jalen Mayden and clearly finished off the Rebels. San Diego State held the ball for the final 5:41, protecting its 14-10 lead as running back Jaylon Armstead carried five times on the final drive for 56 yards. Armstead, who led the Aztecs with 72 yards on 14 carries, had not carried the ball at all since Sept. 24 against Toledo.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” UNLV defensive end Adam Plant said after the Rebels’ fourth consecutive loss. “But you have to face adversity in life and it’s about how you respond.”

Rebels quarterback Doug Brumfield completed 17-of-27 passes for 207 yards, a touchdown and two costly interceptions in his return to the field for the first time in a month.

“There was obviously some rust,” said UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo of Brumfield’s performance. “I anticipated some rust but the decision-making was just unfortunate. We’ve got to get that fixed. That was uncharacteristic of him.”

UNLV needs a victory over Fresno State this Friday night to keep its West Division title hopes alive. The Rebels also need to win two of their final three games (against Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada) to become bowl eligible.

The Rebels scored on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Brumfield to Nick Williams and a 29-yard field goal by Daniel Gutierrez in the second half. Gutierrez’s field goal with 10:40 to play, cutting the deficit to 14-10, came after the Rebels took over the ball at the San Diego State 14-yard line after an Aztec turnover. UNLV outgained the Aztecs, 325-315, and sacked Mayden five times.

“Playing harder for longer than the other team was our goal,” said Aztec linebacker Caden McDonald, who had one of the three sacks on Brumfield.

San Diego State will host the No. 4 San Jose State Spartans (6-2, 4-1) this Saturday in another key West Division game. San Jose State outlasted No. 9 Colorado State (2-7, 2-3) on Saturday, 28-16.

“I feel great where we’re at,” said head coach Brent Brennan, whose Spartans became bowl eligible with the victory. “It’s been a long time since our program has been in this position. The last time was (2020) but it was during COVID-19 and it felt nothing like this. We had games with no fans (in 2020). We had no parents after the game. Our families couldn’t see our kids play. This is a whole different world for us.”

San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro completed 27-of-42 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns, including a 35-yard scoring strike to Elijah Cooks early in the fourth quarter. Spartans’ running back Kairee Robinson picked up 64 yards and two touchdown on 12 carries.

“Chevan was brilliant,” Brennan said. “He’s a crazy competitor.”

The Spartans, though, trailed 10-7 at halftime and allowed the Rams’ Air Raid offense to pick up 333 yards through the air for the game. Rams’ quarterback Clay Millen was 15-of-24 for 261 yards before getting injured in the fourth quarter. Backup Jackson Stratton, though, completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tory Horton (nine catches, 196 yards) to keep the game close.

“They (Colorado State) had too many situations when it was third-and-forever and fourth-and-forever and they got it (the first down),” Brennan said. “That won’t be good enough against San Diego State (this Saturday).”

Colorado State, which was eliminated from bowl consideration with the loss, outgained San Jose State, 468-355, and had more first downs (23-20) and controlled the ball for 33:22. Running back Avery Morrow had 124 yards on just 17 carries, including a 56-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.

San Jose State, though, sacked Millen nine times and outscored the Rams 21-6 in the second half. Two weeks ago, in a 35-28 win over Nevada, the Spartans outscored the Wolf Pack 28-7 over the final 28 minutes.

“I feel for our players,” said Colorado State coach Jay Norvell, whose six-year head coaching record (five at Nevada) fell to just 35-33. “A lot of kids poured their heart out in this game. As a coach I feel I need to do a better job to help them. That’s a tough thing to swallow.”

No. 1 Boise State (6-3, 5-0) fell to BYU, 31-28 at home, snapping its four-game winning streak. BYU, which ended a four-game losing streak, had more yards (532-324), more first downs (27-16) and had the ball for 36 minutes.

“We didn’t play four quarters of our best football,” said head coach Andy Avalos, whose Broncos will meet No. 11 Nevada (idle last week) at Mackay Stadium this Saturday night.

Boise State led 14-7 in the third quarter and also took a 28-24 lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by George Holani with 6:28 to play. BYU won the game on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jaren Hall to Puka Nacua with 1:46 to play.

Hall was 29-of-42 through the air for 377 yards and three touchdowns and also ran the ball 12 times for 82 yards and another score. Nacua had 14 catches (19 targets) for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

“There are no moral victories,” Avalos said. “We set out to protect the Blue (Boise’s home turf) and we didn’t get it done.”

No. 5 Fresno State (5-4, 4-1) whipped No. 10 Hawaii, 55-13, last Saturday night for its fourth consecutive victory. Quarterback Jake Haener was nearly perfect, completing 24-of-29 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns and was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week. Jordan Mims carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Fresno State has beaten San Jose State, San Diego State, New Mexico and Hawaii during its winning streak by a combined score of 145-60. The Bulldogs haven’t lost a game since falling 40-20 at Boise State on Oct. 8.

“Last year (a 27-24 loss at Hawaii) didn’t go so well so the guys were real focused this week,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said.

“It was one of our most complete team wins all season long,” said Haener, who missed Fresno State’s loss at Boise State because of an ankle injury.

No. 8 Utah State (4-5, 3-2) scored a touchdown on a fake field goal to help beat No. 12 New Mexico, 27-10. Kicker Connor Coles ran six yards for the touchdown on the fake field goal for a 14-10 lead in the third quarter. He also had field goals of 49 and 27 yards and was named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week.

“When the coaches told me they were installing (the fake field goal) this week in practice and said I was the guy running it, I was excited,” Coles said. “It worked all week in practice. I asked (special teams coordinator Nick Paremski), ‘The hole is not going to be that big on game day, right?’ He said, ‘No. I think it is.’ I just caught the pitch and looked up and there was the end zone.”

“What a win,” Utah State coach Blake Anderson said, “Do what you have to do. Whatever bullet you got.”

This weekend is the first time all six Mountain West teams will play each other since the weekend of Oct 7 and 8.

The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West football rankings for the week of Nov. 7:

1. BOISE STATE (6-3, 5-0). Last week: BYU 31, Boise State 28. This week: Boise State at Nevada, Saturday.

2. WYOMING (6-3, 4-1). Last week: Idle. This week: Wyoming at Colorado State, Saturday.

3. AIR FORCE (6-3, 2-3). Last week: Air Force 13, Army 7. This week: New Mexico at Air Force, Saturday.

4. SAN JOSE STATE (6-2, 4-1). Last week: San Jose State 28, Colorado State 16. This week: San Jose State at San Diego State, Saturday.

5. FRESNO STATE (5-4, 4-1). Last week: Fresno State 55, Hawaii 13. This week: Fresno State at UNLV, Friday.

6. SAN DIEGO STATE (5-4, 3-2). Last week: San Diego State 14, UNLV 10. This week: San Jose State at San Diego State, Saturday.

7. UNLV (4-5, 2-3). Last week: San Diego State 14, UNLV 10. This week: Fresno State at UNLV, Friday.

8. UTAH STATE (4-5, 3-2). Last week: Utah State 27, New Mexico 10. This week: Utah State at Hawaii, Saturday.

9. COLORADO STATE (2-7, 2-3). Last week: San Jose State 28, Colorado State 16. This week: Wyoming at Colorado State, Saturday.

10. HAWAII (2-8, 1-4). Last week: Fresno State 55, Hawaii 13. This week: Utah State at Hawaii, Saturday.

11. NEVADA (2-7, 0-5). Last week: Idle. This week: Boise State at Nevada, Saturday.

12. NEW MEXICO (2-7, 0-5). Last week: Utah State 27, New Mexico 10. This week: New Mexico at Air Force, Saturday.