MW rankings: Boise State, UNLV score big wins

Ashton Jeanty simply couldn't resist posing for a few pictures last Saturday.

"You knew I was going to pull that out," smiled Jeanty, who did a Heisman Trophy pose in the end zone after scoring on a 77-yard run to open the scoring early in the first quarter of a 56-45 victory at Georgia Southern.

The victory put the Broncos on top of the Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings this week.

Some likely argued that Jeanty was being a big premature by posing for the Heisman less than five minutes into the first game of the season. But hardly anyone was saying that by the end of the game after Jeanty finished with six touchdowns and 267 yards on 20 carries. His touchdowns came on runs of, in order, 77, 26, 1, 5, 1 and 75 yards.

Jeanty's performance, without question, puts the 2023 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 at least in the conversation for the Heisman this season.

"I just told myself whenever I made a big play, some type of play that I'm that (a Heisman hopeful) caliber of player, I would do that," Jeanty said.

The six rushing touchdowns set a Boise State school record and matched the Mountain West record set by Stefphon Jefferson of Nevada (2012) and Kapri Gibbs of Colorado State (2013). Boise State running back Sire Gaines also had 110 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries as the Broncos shredded Georgia Southern for 377 rushing yards and 651 total yards.

Georgia Southern plays at Nevada this weekend.

"This young man (Jeanty) is a 10 out of 10 in everything he does," Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said. "He's a generational-type kid in all facets."

The No. 2 UNLV Rebels, who lost 44-20 to Boise State in the Mountain West championship game last season, also opened the season with an impressive victory, whipping Houston 27-7.

The Rebels, though, were after perfection on Saturday, at least on defense.

"We wanted it," Rebels head coach Barry Odom said. "I wanted it, and I wanted the defense and the team to embrace that."

The overmatched Cougars scored on a 2-yard pass with just a minute to play to spoil the shutout. The dominating victory on the road against a Big 12 team, though, served notice that UNLV's nine-victory season a year ago might be a sign of things to come once again this year.

"We don't want anybody scoring on us," said UNLV linebacker Marsel McDuffie, who had one of the Rebels' six sacks. "We don't even want anybody to get past the 50-yard line."

Rebel linebacker Jackson Woodard was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after he had 11 tackles, four for a loss, and three sacks against Houston. Rebel safety Jalen Catalon intercepted two passes and returned one 36 yards for a touchdown and a 24-0 lead in the third quarter.

The Rebel defense held Houston to just 247 yards and 14 first downs. UNLV's offense, though, also didn't light up the scoreboard, scoring just two touchdowns and picking up 308 yards and 14 first downs. Matthew Sluka, a transfer from Holy Cross, was making his UNLV debut at quarterback and was just 6-of-13 through the air for 71 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Sluka also ran for 59 yards on 11 carries.

"He managed the game well," Odom said. "He made good decisions. The thing we need the quarterback to do is to be a playmaker but also to distribute the ball and be efficient with it."

No. 3 Fresno State was impressive on Saturday in a 30-10 loss in front of 110,665 fans at Ann Arbor, Mich. against the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines. Fresno State trailed just 16-10 late in the fourth quarter before surrendering two touchdowns (one on defense) in the final five-plus minutes. Michigan's offense managed just two touchdowns the entire game against Fresno State's defense.

"I'm proud of our guys but no moral victories," first-year Bulldogs' head coach Tim Skipper said. "We've got to bounce back."

Fresno State quarterback Mikey Keene was 22-of-36 for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Bulldogs, though, struggled to run the ball, getting just nine total yards on 22 carries. Both teams had 18 first downs and Michigan outgained Fresno State just 269-244 overall.

"We kept fighting," Skipper said. "We stuck to the plan. We were playing the defending national champions, so we had to stick to the plan. We wanted to make the game a little dirty and slow it down. Michigan makes you prepare like a (NFL) game. They're getting all these personnel groupings and it's big people."

No. 4 Air Force got past Merrimack, an FCS school, 21-6 on Saturday. The Falcons, though, only outgained Merrimack 237-217 overall and had just 160 yards rushing on 55 carries (3.0 a carry) with their normally more efficient triple-option offense.

No. 5 Utah State beat Robert Morris despite trailing 14-10 at halftime. Utah State used two quarterbacks as Bryson Barnes was 11-of-21 for 198 yards and two touchdowns and Spencer Petras was 10-of-15 for 145 yards and a score.

No. 6 San Diego State pounded Texas A&M-Commerce, 45-14. The Aztecs erupted for 21 points in each of the third and fourth quarters after trailing 6-3 at halftime. Marquez Cooper had 223 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

No. 7 San Jose State rolled over Sacramento State, 42-24, last Thursday behind quarterback Emmett Brown (20-of-34, 298 yards, three touchdowns), running back Floyd Chalk (87 yards, two touchdowns) and wide receiver Nick Nash (10 catches, 172 yards, two touchdowns).

No. 8 Hawaii (1-1) lost at home to UCLA, 16-13, on a last-minute field goal. Hawaii led 10-0 at halftime and 13-10 going into the fourth quarter. UCLA sacked Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager five times.

No. 9 Nevada got its first victory in the Jeff Choate era, winning at Troy 28-26. Nevada rushed for 214 yards and two touchdowns, rallying from a 14-0 deficit late in the second quarter to lead 28-17 early in the fourth quarter.

Troy failed to convert a 2-point game-tying conversion with 21 seconds to go in the game.

"It's all about red zone defense," Choate said. "That's critical for us. That last play, you could see the max effort. They gave everything they had."

"The game is not over until the fat lady sings," Nevada linebacker Drue Watts said. "We (the defense) love it when the game is on our shoulders."

No. 10 Colorado State was dominated at Texas, 52-0. Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi was just 10-of-18 for 59 yards and an interception. The Rams' Air Raid offense had 192 yards.

"I know everybody's not happy with the outcome, but we will be a better football team," Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell said.

No. 11 Wyoming and No. 12 New Mexico each went to the state of Arizona last Saturday and suffered one-sided defeats. Wyoming lost to Arizona State, 48-7, getting outgained 499-118, while New Mexico fell 61-39 as Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan caught 10 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns.

Mountain West teams played in front of big crowds last weekend. In addition to the 110,665 at Michigan, a crowd of 99,171 saw Texas beat Colorado State; 48,108 saw Arizona State beat Wyoming; and 44,748 witnessed Arizona's win over New Mexico. The crowd of 15,194 that saw UCLA beat Hawaii was also a record for Hawaii's nine-year-old T.C. Ching Complex.

The Nevada Appeal Mountain West football rankings for the week of Sept. 2:

1. BOISE STATE (1-0, 0-0): Last week: Boise State 56, Georgia Southern 45. This week: Boise State at Oregon (Saturday).

2. UNLV (1-0, 0-0): Last week: UNLV 27, Houston 7. This week: Utah Tech at UNLV (Saturday).

3. FRESNO STATE (0-1, 0-0): Last week: Michigan 30, Fresno State 10. This week: Sacramento State at Fresno State (Saturday).

4. AIR FORCE (1-0, 0-0): Last week: Air Force 21, Merrimack 6. This week: San Jose State at Air Force (Saturday).

5. UTAH STATE (1-0, 0-0): Last week: Utah State 36, Robert Morris 14. This week: Utah State at USC (Saturday).

6. SAN DIEGO STATE (1-0, 0-0): Last week: San Diego State 45, Texas A&M Commerce 14. This week: Oregon State at San Diego State (Saturday).

7. SAN JOSE STATE (1-0, 0-0): Last week: San Jose State 42, Sacramento State 24. This week: San Jose State at Air Force (Saturday).

8. HAWAII (1-1, 0-0): Last week: UCLA 16, Hawaii 13. This week: Bye.

9. NEVADA (1-1, 0-0): Last week: Nevada 28, Troy 26. This week: Georgia Southern at Nevada (Saturday).

10. COLORADO STATE (0-1, 0-0): Last week: Texas 52, Colorado State 0. This week: Northern Colorado at Colorado State (Saturday).

11. WYOMING (0-1, 0-0): Last week: Arizona State 48, Wyoming 7. This week: Idaho at Wyoming (Saturday).

12. NEW MEXICO (0-2, 0-0): Last week: Arizona 61, New Mexico 39. This week: Bye.