Mountain West Mania: Takeaways From The Third Week of Mountain West College Football

We’re less than a month into the season, and two teams have already emerged in the Mountain West. To be fair, they’re the only two teams in the conference which have winning records.

The question is, will they keep playing the way they have in October and November?

Here are my top five takeaways from how Mountain West teams performed after Week 3:

North Dakota State Remains Undefeated In Dominant Fashion

I wrote for The Pool Report, my Substack, last week about who would make the College Football Playoff if both NDSU and Boise State won out from here on. Granted, Mountain West fans may not like to hear this, but I went with Boise State.

NDSU, though, certainly looks the part of a CFP contender. The Bison are 4-0 and have outscored those four opponents 140-49.

One of the reasons I had Boise State making it over NDSU is because the Bison have a weaker strength of schedule with no Power Four opponents. But the Bison are doing everything they can to show they’re a strong team after pummeling Sacramento State, which like NDSU also made the move up from the FCS to the FBS this offseason, 31-10.

I am sold on the Bison after having some trepidation this preseason to think they’ll be an immediate CFP contender. 

I knew the Bison would be strong on defense, as they forced three Sac State turnovers and didn’t allow a touchdown until garbage time in the fourth quarter. I also knew they would have a strong rushing attack, and DJ Scott led the way in this one with 80 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

But I didn’t know this passing game would be as effective as it has been. NDSU quarterback Nathan Hayes has made some incredible throws. He went 14-of-24 passing for 210 yards and a touchdown against Sac State. Jackson Williams was his main target, catching seven passes for 134 yards and a TD.

The Bison already have a conference win. They’ve won at home and on the road. They’re a complete team.

And it’s going to be exciting to watch them the rest of the year.

New Mexico Nearly Takes Down Oklahoma

New Mexico lost but arguably had the strongest performance in the Mountain West this week. 

The Lobos defense was incredible and kept them in their matchup at No. 24-ranked Oklahoma, but UNM ultimately fell 14-6 as its offense couldn’t find the end zone.

The highs: The Lobos gave up fewer than 300 total yards to a high-powered Oklahoma team, which averaged just 1.9 yards per rush. They also forced three turnovers and won the time of possession by just over eight minutes.

The lows: UNM’s offense struggled to get anything going. The Lobos had just two drives all game that went longer than 30 yards and had four that resulted in negative yardage.

Do I expect UNM to be better on that side of the ball against the Mountain West? Yes. But do they still have a lot to figure out? No question.

San Jose State Shows Some Life

The Spartans may have lost, and they may be .500 after four games. But there’s reason to think they’ll be more competitive in the Mountain West than some (including myself) expected.

The Spartans trailed by just three points in a late-night matchup with former Mountain West foe Fresno State until the Bulldogs scored 13 points in the final seven minutes to win 26-10. 

I know quarterback Luke Weaver threw four interceptions to just one touchdown. I know the Spartans averaged just 2.8 yards per rush. 

Still, this SJSU squad is scrappy. And it is going to be tougher to play this team than many of us anticipated.

So Close, Yet So Far

Granted, UNLV, Air Force and Hawaii were idle this past week. But other than NDSU, no other team in the Mountain West won in Week 3. 

Some results were more encouraging than others. 

Northern Illinois (0-3) and UTEP (1-2) both played Power Four opponents and showed some promise early. The Huskies grabbed a 10-0 lead after the first six minutes against Arizona before eventually losing 42-17. The Miners led 14-7 late in the second quarter at No. 19-ranked Michigan before the Wolverines scored 38 unanswered points to pull away and win 52-17.

Wyoming & Nevada Disappoint

Going into the season, I thought Wyoming and Nevada would be in the bottom tier of the Mountain West. And so far, they’ve proven me right as both are 1-2 overall.

Nevada squandered a fourth quarter lead and lost 27-20 at Middle Tennessee on Saturday. This is one week after Wolf Pack head coach Jeff Choate lost to his former team, FCS Montana State. Following a promising season-opening win over Western Kentucky, Nevada fans are wondering how much longer Choate will have his job. 

Meanwhile, Wyoming lost 24-10 at Central Michigan. Now, I did think CMU was a potential contender in the MAC going into the season. But the Cowboys’ offensive woes keep showing up. They scored just 13 points in the Border War at Colorado State to start the year, and after beating FCS Northern Colorado just 21-13, struggled on that side of the ball once again. Wyoming did put up 342 yards of offense and averaged 5.8 yards per rush. But CMU won time of possession by over 11 minutes and forced Wyoming into two turnovers.

I’m concerned this Wyoming offense isn’t going to be much better in league play.

Colton Pool is a Group of Six college football writer and has covered the G6 for five years. He’s the host of The Pool Report Podcast and writes for The Pool Report Substack.

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