MWC Week Two Outcomes & Game of the Week

A quick recap of the MWC action from Week Two:

Game 1 - New Mexico 14, Wisconsin 45

At the half, this game was 10 to 7, Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin completely dominated the 2nd half. The Lobos did not account for a lot of yardage. However, New Mexico did throw for 2 TD’s as the Lobos continue to throw the ball more than in the past. Wisconsin ran the ball for 417 yards and 4 TD’s.

Game 2 - Nevada 10, Vanderbilt 41

Nevada scored their only TD of the game right before half, trailing 17 to 10. Unfortunately, that was also the last time Nevada would score as Vanderbilt outscored Nevada 24 to 0 in the 2nd half. The Wolf Pack struggled to move the ball against the Commodores, finishing with only 250 yards of offense to Vanderbilt’s 468 yards.

Game 3 - Air Force 27, Florida Atlantic 33

The Falcons played hard but could not pull out the win on the road. While Air Force ran for 209 yards and 2 TD’s, the Owls did a good job of limiting big plays. On the other side, the Falcons did a great job stopping the run, but they could not stop the passing game of Florida Atlantic. Chris Robison went 33 of 40 for 471 yards and 3 TD’s for the Owls.

Game 4 - Wyoming 13, Missouri 40

The Cowboys could not move the football. Wyoming finished with 88 yards rushing and a TD. The Wyoming passing attack did not add much more as Tyler Vander Waal finished 13 of 28 for 160 yards. For the second week in a row, the passing attack hurt the Cowboys defense as Missouri threw for 398 yards and 4 TD’s.

Game 5 - Arkansas 27, Colorado State 34

The Rams fell behind 27 to 9 in the 3rd quarter. From there, Colorado State scored 25 points unanswered to come back and win. Overall, it was a game of opposites. Arkansas ran the ball for 299 yards and a TD, but struggled to throw the ball for much success. Colorado State threw the ball for 389 yards and 2 TD’s, but managed only 40 yards rushing all game.

Game 6 - Fresno State 14, Minnesota 21

These two teams were evenly matched. Fresno State finished with 299 yards. Minnesota finished with 307 yards. The key difference was the turnover margin, 2 to 1 in favor of Minnesota. That second turnover from the Bulldogs loomed large when Josh Hokit threw an interception in the end zone with 1:24 remaining, effectively ending the game.

Game 7 - New Mexico State 13, Utah State 60

Utah State decisively won the rematch of last seasons Arizona Bowl. Utah State won the turnover margin, 5 to 2. Utah State limited New Mexico State to 2.4 yds/run and 4.6 yds/pass. On offense, Utah State ran for 274 yards and 3 TD’s. In addition, Utah State had 6 field goals, a kick return for TD and an INT returned for TD.

Game 8 - Sacramento State 14, San Diego State 28

In one of the bigger surprises of the weekend, San Diego State trailed 14 to 13 going into the 4th quarter of this game. Sacramento State stayed in this game mostly due to winning the turnover margin, 2 to 0. Still, San Diego State managed to do enough to win as the Aztecs ran for 158 yards and 3 TD’s.

Game 9 - UTEP 24, UNLV 52

The Rebels took care of the Miners early, leading 38 to 10 at the half. UNLV continued to run for big yardage early in the season, finishing the game with 414 yards and 4 TD’s on the ground. The one area of concern for UNLV may be the run defense. UTEP is not very good, yet the Miners ran for 265 yards and 3 TD’s in the game.

Game 10 - UConn 7, Boise State 62

The Broncos absolutely destroyed the Huskies. In one of the crazier stat lines that you’ll see, Boise State out-gained UConn 818 yards to 193 yards. Boise State threw for 418 yards and 4 TD’s. The Broncos also ran for 400 yards and 4 TD’s. Those are crazy stats. Boise State looks like they are ready for a Week 3 trip to Oklahoma State. UConn looks ready to head home to play Rhode Island.

Game 11 - San Jose State 0, Washington State 31

The Cougars dominated the Spartans throughout the game. The game would have been worse if not for San Jose State winning the turnover margin, 3 to 1. Overall, Washington State out-gained San Jose State 544 yards to 109 yards. Washington State threw for 420 yards and 3 TD’s. Offensively, the Spartans only averaged 3.6 yds/pass and 0.4 yds/run.

Game 12 - Rice 29, Hawaii 43

This was the third week in a row to start the season that Hawaii scored over 40 points. The Warriors will win quite a few game doing that. Back to the game, Rice and Hawaii both moved the ball very well. Rice finished with 446 yards while Hawaii finished with 481 yards. This game was decided by the turnover margin which the Rainbow Warriors won, 2 to 0.

Game of the Week - Arkansas at Colorado State

I’ve got to give it to the Rams this week. Not only did the Rams come back from being down 18 points to win by scoring 25 unanswered points to end the game, but Colorado State also took down a Power 5 team in doing so. In fact, it’s the first and only (so far) win against the Power 5 for the Mountain West this season. This makes two years in a row that Colorado State gets the first win over a Power 5 for the conference as the Rams beat Oregon State 58 to 27 to start the 2017 season.

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