MWC Week Five Outcomes & Game of the Week

A quick recap of the MWC action from Week Five:

Game 1 - Nevada 28, Air Force 25

The Wolf Pack did a lot of good things in this game and never trailed. At one point, Nevada held a 28 to 10 lead mid-way through the 3rd quarter. Nevada showed good balance on offense, finishing with 33 pass attempts (259 yds) and 34 rushes (177 yds). Defensively, the Wolf Pack did a lot of good things for a unit that had been struggling this season. Air Force only ran for 154 yards on 51 carries (3 yds/carry). The Falcons had a chance late in the game to complete a comeback, but Air Force failed to convert a 4th and 8 from deep inside Nevada territory with 1:30 left in the game.

Game 2 - Liberty 52, New Mexico 43

This game was not really that close for much of the game. At the half, Liberty led 42 to 10. Turnovers really hurt the Lobos as Liberty won the turnover battle, 4 to 1. Beyond that, the Liberty passing attack torched the Lobos secondary for 472 yards and 3 TD’s. New Mexico moved the ball well on offense with 211 yds rushing and 369 yds passing. Still, the Lobos dug themselves too big of a hole in the first half for the offense to overcome. The Lobos cut the score to 49 to 43 late in the 4th, but Liberty ran out most of what was left of the clock before icing the game with a field goal to regain a two possession lead with a minute left.

Game 3 - Boise State 34, Wyoming 14

The Broncos never trailed in this one as the Cowboys were unable to put up much of fight. Brett Rypien threw for 342 yards and 2 TD’s. The Boise State special teams redeemed themselves from their Oklahoma State performance by blocking a punt and recovering a fumble from the Wyoming punter. One of the few bright spots for Wyoming was Nico Evans who finished with 141 yds and a TD rushing on just 12 carries.

Game 4 - Hawaii 44, San Jose State 41

An evenly-matched game that took 5 overtimes. Hawaii did some things to keep San Jose State in this game, losing the turnover battle, 2 to 0. That said, San Jose State did their part to not run away, including missing 4 field goals. Tons of passing yards in this shootout. Josh Love threw for 451 yds and 3 TD’s. McDonald threw for 341 yds and 4 TD’s. Overall, 475 yards of offense for Hawaii and 490 yards for San Jose State.

Game 5 - Toledo 27, Fresno State 49

Fresno State easily beat Toledo, leading 49 to 13 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Fresno State put up 554 yards of offense led by a career day passing from Marcus McMaryion. McMaryion threw for 368 yds and 4 TD’s. Toledo was coming off of putting up 63 points against Nevada. In this game, Toledo’s starting QB, Mitchell Guadagni, was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the first half. Fresno State completely held the Rockets explosive offense in check both before and after Guadagni left the game.

Game of the Week - Hawaii at San Jose State

It was a 5 OT thriller. San Jose State led most of the game, so it looked like a potential upset for much of the game. Lots of offense. It came down to a field goal. For me, an easy pick this week.

Let us know which game you thought was the Game of the Week in Week Five.