MW rankings: No. 5 Wolf Pack gets ‘important win’

Jeff Choate now has his first signature win as the Nevada Wolf Pack's head coach.

"This was an important win for our program," said Choate on nevadawolfpack.com after a 42-37 victory over the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday at Mackay Stadium. "This was an impactful win for us."

The Wolf Pack, No. 5 in this week's Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings, ran the ball straight at the Beavers 42 times for 353 yards and five touchdowns. It is the second-most rushing yards for the Wolf Pack against either a current or former member of the Pac-12 this century after a 49-48 loss to Arizona (403 yards) in the 2012 New Mexico Bowl.

"If you can run the ball, you can do a lot of things," said Choate, whose 3-4, 0-1 Wolf Pack will return to Mountain West play this Friday night against Fresno State.

No. 6 Fresno State (3-3, 1-1) lost to Washington State, 25-17, at home last Saturday in front of 41,031 fans. Fresno led three times, each time by one point, before a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ethan O'Connor gave Washington State the lead for good with 6:52 to play.

"This is a tough one to swallow," Fresno State coach Tim Skipper told gobulldogs.com. "It's all about playing smart and limiting the turnovers. Those are killing us."

Fresno State actually outgained Washington State, 338-295, as quarterback Mikey Keene was 24-of-36 for 220 yards, a touchdown and two costly interceptions.

No. 1 Boise State and No. 2 UNLV, both 5-1, 1-0, rolled to easy victories last weekend on the road. Boise State methodically put away Hawaii, 28-7, while UNLV crushed Utah State, 50-34.

Boise State got 217 yards and a 54-yard touchdown on the ground by Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty also caught a 5-yard scoring pass as the Broncos scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away. Boise scored points on five of its seven full drives and also had eight sacks and held Hawaii to 15 rushing yards on 24 carries on defense. No. 8 Hawaii (2-4, 0-2) got 264 yards and a touchdown from quarterback Brayden Schager.

"He's (Jeanty) the best player in the country," Boise State coach Spencer Danielson told the Associated Press. "But those were tough yards. They (Hawaii) are the No. 1 defense in our conference for a reason. Those guys flew around and had a great plan of attack."

UNLV led 41-7 at halftime and cruised past Utah State for its first Mountain West win of the season. Quarterback Hajj Malik-Williams was 13-of-20 for 233 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 65 yards on 14 carries. UNLV's Jai'Den Thomas had 139 yards on the ground and Kylin James had 105.

UNLV has scored 150 points over its last three games since Malik-Williams took over as starter. No. 9 Utah State's Spencer Petras was 41-of-59 through the air for 461 yards and three touchdowns. Two Aggies receivers each caught 10 passes and a touchdown (Jalen Royals for 155 yards and Jack Hestera for 152 yards).

"Going into this game I never felt good about any lead," UNLV coach Barry Odom told unlvrebels.com.

No. 3 Colorado State (3-3, 1-0) beat No. 4 San Jose State (4-2, 2-1), 31-24 in Colorado Springs. Colorado State's Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was 22-of-30 for 269 yards and a touchdown, running back Avery Morrow had 100 yards and two touchdowns and wide receiver Armani Winfield had six catches for 108 yards and a score.

San Jose State split its quarterback duties between Walker Eget (22-of-30, 256 yards) and Emmett Brown (8-of-14, 91 yards, one TD) again after the combination helped beat Nevada 35-31 the previous week. Spartans wide receiver Nick Nash had seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.

"We play all year for the conference games, so it was important for us to start off strong," Colorado State coach Jay Norvell told mwcconnection.com.

The victory, though, wasn't all positive for Colorado State. The Rams learned on Monday that wide receiver Tory Horton's college career is now over because of a knee injury suffered late in the first half on Saturday. The former Wolf Pack receiver, though, played in the second half and had seven catches for 75 yards.

"Tory Horton is one of the toughest guys we got," Norvell said. "You just can't keep him on the bench."

Norvell said Saturday his team paid a price to win on Saturday.

"People don't want to hear it but we play a sport where you got to bleed to win," Norvell said. "There's a lot of guys limping in that locker room that are sore and tired and beat up. But they sacrifice for their teammates to win."

No. 7 San Diego State (3-3, 2-0) got past No. 10 Wyoming (1-5, 1-1), 27-24, on the road. The Aztecs sacked Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda six times.

"It's a good position to be in at 2-0 in conference play," San Diego State coach Sean Lewis told goaztecs.com. "It was a complete team effort."

This was the second consecutive week the Aztecs won a game by a 27-24 score after beating Hawaii on Oct. 5.

No. 11 New Mexico (2-4, 1-1) outscored No. 12 Air Force (1-5, 0-3), 52-37, at Albuquerque. The Lobos led 45-17 early in the fourth quarter. Air Force has now lost nine of 11 games since it started last season 8-0.

New Mexico ran for 255 yards and five touchdowns while Air Force had 325 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Lobos, who beat New Mexico State, 50-40, last week, have now scored 50 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since they did it three times in a row in 1916 (according to golobos.com).

"Wins are hard to get," New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We are still a work in progress but, man, it is better to be working and progressing with wins than not wins."

The Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings for the week of Oct. 14:

1. BOISE STATE (5-1, 1-0): Last week: Boise State 28, Hawaii 7. This week: Bye.

2. UNLV (5-1, 2-0): Last week: UNLV 50, Utah State 34. This week: UNLV at Oregon State (Saturday).

3. COLORADO STATE (3-3, 1-0): Last week: Colorado State 31, San Jose State 24. This week: Colorado State at  Air Force (Saturday).

4. SAN JOSE STATE (4-2, 2-1): Last week: Colorado State 31, San Jose State 24. This week: Wyoming at San Jose State (Saturday).

5. NEVADA (3-4, 0-1): Last week: Nevada 42, Oregon State 37. This week: Fresno State at Nevada (Friday).

6. FRESNO STATE (3-3, 1-1): Last week: Washington State 25, Fresno State 17. This week: Fresno State at Nevada (Friday).

7. SAN DIEGO STATE (3-3, 2-0): Last week: San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24. This week: Bye.

8. HAWAII (2-4, 0-2): Last week: Boise State 28, Hawaii 7. This week: Hawaii at Washington State (Saturday).

9. UTAH STATE (1-5, 0-2): Last week: UNLV 50, Utah State 34. This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Saturday).

10. WYOMING (1-5, 1-1): Last week: San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24. This week: Wyoming at San Jose State (Saturday).

11. NEW MEXICO (2-4, 1-1): Last week: New Mexico 52, Air Force 37. This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Saturday).

12. AIR FORCE (1-5, 0-3): Last week: New Mexico 52, Air Force 37. This week:  Colorado State at Air Force (Saturday).