Mountaintop View 9-4-23. Bulldogs & Cowboys pull off upsets, Aztecs win ugly, Rebels win Odom’s debut. Plus, conference realignment.

It’s Monday, and we are back at it. We are fresh off the first full weekend of the season and have many more weekends of football to go! Through it all, the content keeps going. Check out our original coverage and what we can find from the World Wide Web below.

It seems like the last conference realignment move is inevitable.

And then there were two. Washington State and Oregon State are the last two PAC teams without a home and on Friday, the American Athletic Conference announced they would not be pursuing them. The obvious choice is joining the Mountain West, but it seems like the two schools are still trying to figure out if they can salvage the PAC by adding teams from the MW and maybe the American. The biggest holdup is seeing if the two teams are entitled to all the PAC12 money from the NCAA Tournament and CFP revenue, although they also have liabilities, notable the Comcast debacle. The ridiculous but actually viable option may be for the two schools to use the two-year grace period the NCAA allows for being below the conference member threshold and operate as a two-team conference while all of the legal things are sorted out.

Fresno State takes care of business against Purdue.

Transfer quarterback Mikey Keane made a tremendous first impression in his Fresno State debut. He tossed four touchdowns in the season-opener and although his one interception almost turned the tide in the game, his positive contributions made the difference. There were a lot of questions surrounding the offense, but they answered most of them while upsetting a Big Ten team who was good last year. However, it is worth keeping an eye on the defense, who gave up 35 points to start the year. Plus, the Bulldogs made money in the win.

Wyoming wins in a double overtime thriller over Texas Tech.

Speaking of upsets, the Cowboys may own the title for the biggest one in the conference this weekend. They hosted Texas Tech and beat them in a two-overtime marathon. Playing after a lightning delay, coming back from 17-0 and featuring running backs who were way down on the initial depth chart, the team did not give up and kept finding ways to put points on the board and make stops. They may have shocked the country, but not themselves as they trusted the game plan and came out with a victory.

Aztecs move to 2-0 in ugly wins.

San Diego State has made things easy in their first two weeks, but they have two wins to their name and that’s all that matters. Jalen Mayden took charge of the offense, accounting for two rushing touchdowns and making his passes count. The Aztec rushing attack was balanced, as four different players had at least forty yards. SDSU committed 14 penalties but won the time of possession battle and, ultimately the game.

Rebels win convincingly in Odom’s debut.

After months of build up, the Barry Odom era finally began on the field and it was a huge win. Sure the opponent was inferior, but a big win over a bad team is better than struggling or losing. RB Vincent Davis Jr scored on the first offensive play and the team never looked back. The offense did most of their damage on the ground, balancing their attack between a few players. The defense was bend but don’t break, giving up over 400 yards but only surrendering 14 points when the game was mostly out of hand. Next up is a tough task against Michigan.

On the horizon:

• Later today: MWCConnection Players of the Week: Week 1
• Later today: A new MWC Recruiting Roundup with the latest news, offers, and commitments. Plus, September Recruiting Rankings.
• Later today: 2023 Power Rankings Week 1
• Coming Tuesday: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Week 1
• Coming Tuesday: Hike’s Peak Podcast Episode 12: Week 1
• Coming Tuesday: Reacts Survey: Week 2
• Coming Wednesday: Peak Perspective: Initial Impressions and Small Sample Sizes
• Coming Wednesday: 2023 Bowl Projections Week 1
• Coming Wednesday: Mountain West and National Polls: Week 1