Nevada Appeal
Not much went as planned last Friday night for the Nevada Wolf Pack.
"It was a team loss," Wolf Pack coach Jeff Choate said (on nevadawolfpack.com) after a narrow 24-21 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs at Mackay Stadium.
The Wolf Pack, now 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West, fell to No. 6 in this week's Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings while Fresno State (4-3, 2-1) climbed to No. 4.
"They (Fresno State) had an edge, and we didn't match that," said Choate, still looking for his first winning streak as well as Mountain West victory in his first season as Nevada's coach. "They came in with a chip on their shoulder."
"We wanted it to be a physical game," Fresno State coach Tim Skipper said on gobulldogs.com. "We called it a fist fight."
Fresno State's defense shut out the Wolf Pack in the second half and allowed just 295 yards. Nevada had scored 91 points combined in its last two home games going into Friday night.
"We've been through a lot of adversity," Skipper said. "They (Fresno's players) didn't listen to the noise on social media. They just kept being together, playing together, having one heartbeat and being Bulldogs."
Fresno State won the game with special teams (Nevada lost 22 yards combined on two botched punts) and a conservative game plan after they took a 24-21 lead in the third quarter.
"We had a scheme (on the punt return team) that we felt would work against those guys," Skipper said. "We didn't practice any returns (last week). Just blocks."
The Bulldogs didn't block any punts but did force Nevada punter Guy Gillespie to run with the ball twice (he lost 12 and 10 yards).
"We made it so the punter couldn't punt it," Skipper said.
Nevada, which needs to win four of its last five games to qualify for a bowl, is at No. 9 Hawaii this Saturday night. Fresno State hosts No. 4 San Jose State in a pivotal Mountain West matchup and Northern California rivalry game.
No. 1 Boise State (5-1, 2-0) was idle last week in preparation for this Friday night's crucial Mountain West showdown at UNLV against the No. 2 Rebels (6-1, 2-0). UNLV got past Oregon State, 33-25, this past Saturday in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State lost to both Nevada teams the past two weeks, also falling at Nevada, 42-37, a week earlier.
UNLV has now qualified for a bowl game for two years in a row for the first time in its program's history.
"We took a step forward today as a program," UNLV coach Barry Odom said on unlvrebels.com. "We've built a program that is sustainable (UNLV is 15-6 the last two years under Odom) that's got a really strong foundation."
UNLV trailed the Beavers 17-6 in the second quarter but rallied behind quarterback Hajj Malik-Williams (196 yards, one touchdown passing and 65 yards two touchdowns rushing). The Rebels also sacked Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy six times, though McCoy did pass for 231 yards and run for 81 and two scores.
UNLV wide receiver Ricky White caught nine passes for 88 yards and a touchdown and also blocked a punt for the third time this season. UNLV, which has won nine of its last 11 conference games dating back to the final game of the 2022 season, has been looking at this Friday's game against Boise State since losing to the Broncos, 44-20, in last year's Mountain West championship game.
"It's a race against time to get to Friday night so we'll get back to work quickly," Odom said.
No. 3 Colorado State (4-3, 2-0) survived a scare from No. 12 Air Force (1-6, 0-4) on Saturday, winning 21-13. The Rams took a 21-0 lead going into the fourth quarter on an 85-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to Caleb Goodie. Colorado State running back Avery Morrow had 132 yards on 20 carries but did fumble the ball away on the Air Force 2-yard line just three minutes into the first quarter.
"This is not an easy place to come and win at," Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said on csurams.com of the Rams' first win at Air Force since 2002 (they had lost nine in a row at Colorado Springs). "It wasn't a perfect game, but it was a game we needed to win and we got it done."
Colorado State is one of just four 2-0 Mountain West teams, along with Boise State, UNLV and San Diego State.
"I can feel our team getting closer all the time," Norvell said. "I'm excited about what we can do in the future."
No. 4 San Jose State (5-2,3-1) beat No. 11 Wyoming (1-6, 1-2), 24-14, at home. Walker Eget, making his first career start at quarterback, was 20-of-38 for 318 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. San Jose State receiver Nick Nash caught nine passes for 98 yards and a touchdown and leads the NCAA with 72 catches and 11 touchdowns. His 904 receiving yards are second.
"We didn't get everything we wanted to get done," Nash said on sjsuspartans.com, "but it's a win and you take those and run. But there's still a lot we need to fix. We're so close. There's just a mistake here and a mistake there we need to correct."
No. 8 New Mexico (3-4, 2-1) outscored No. 10 Utah State (1-6, 0-3) in a shootout, 50-45, on the road at Logan, Utah. Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Utah State led 45-36 before New Mexico scored twice to steal the victory.
Utah State quarterback Spencer Petras was 32-of-47 for 360 yards and two touchdowns. Aggies wide receiver Jalen Royals caught 11 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown.
"We are getting better, but the problem is we have so long to go to catch up to everyone else," Utah State coach Nate Dreiling told the Deseret News.
New Mexico has scored 50 or more points in each of its last three games, victories over New Mexico State (50-40), Air Force (52-37) and Utah State (50-45). The Lobos started the season 0-4 after going 19-60 from 2017-23.
"It's hard to find one word but probably the most honest word is relief," New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall told the Deseret News. "But that went to elation pretty fast. I wanted our players to come back and steal a game on the road from that kind of deficit and see what that felt like."
The Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings for the week of Oct. 21:
1. BOISE STATE (5-1, 2-0): Last week: Bye. This week: Boise State at UNLV (Friday).
2. UNLV (6-1, 2-0): Last week: UNLV 33, Oregon State 25. This week: Boise State at UNLV (Friday).
3. COLORADO STATE (4-3, 2-0): Last week: Colorado State 21, Air Force 13. This week: New Mexico at Colorado State (Saturday).
4. SAN JOSE STATE (5-2, 3-1): Last week: San Jose State 24, Wyoming 14. This week: San Jose State at Fresno State (Saturday).
5. FRESNO STATE (4-3, 2-1): Last week: Fresno State 24, Nevada 21. This week: San Jose State at Fresno State (Saturday).
6. NEVADA (3-5, 0-2): Last week: Fresno State 24, Nevada 21. This week: Nevada at Hawaii (Saturday).
7. SAN DIEGO STATE (3-3, 2-0): Last week: Bye. This week: Washington State at San Diego State (Saturday).
8. NEW MEXICO (3-4, 2-1): Last week: New Mexico 52, Utah State 45. This week: New Mexico at Colorado State (Saturday).
9. HAWAII (2-5, 0-2): Last week: Washington State 42, Hawaii 10. This week: Nevada at Hawaii (Saturday).
10. UTAH STATE (1-6, 0-3): Last week: New Mexico 50, Utah State 45. This week: Utah State at Wyoming (Saturday).
11. WYOMING (1-6, 1-2): Last week: San Jose State 24, Wyoming 14. This week: Utah State at Wyoming (Saturday).
12. AIR FORCE (1-6, 0-4): Last week: Colorado State 21, Air Force 13. This week: Bye.