2024 MW Football Weekly Release - Week 12

MW TEAMS IN THE RANKINGS
Boise State debuted at No. 12 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. That’s the highest CFP ranking ever for a MW team or for BSU, surpassing the No. 19 achieved by the Broncos twice in 2019 and once in 2016 and by San Diego State in twice in 2021.

Boise State is No. 13 in both the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches (AFCA) polls this week. The Broncos are 119-21 (.850) all-time while being ranked in the AP Top 25. That’s the best record of any team while ranked over the last 40 seasons (min. 50 games as ranked team). UNLV entered the national rankings for the first time in school history this season, spending three weeks in the AFCA poll and one week in the AP poll. The Rebels are receiving votes in both polls this week.

GOING BOWLING
Four MW teams are going bowling so far. UNLV topped Oregon State for its sixth win of the season in Week 8 and will be going bowling in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Boise State downed UNLV in Week 9 to become bowl eligible for the 27th consecutive season, the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Georgia’s current 28-season run. Colorado State defeated Nevada 38-21 in Week 10 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. San José State dropped Oregon State in Week 11 to become bowl eligible for the third straight season.

JEANTY FOR HEI2MAN
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty‘s Heisman campaign rolls on. The junior is either first or second in the FBS in several categories:

• all-purpose yards per game (203.0, 1st)
• rushing touchdowns (23, 1st)
• rushing yards (1,734, 1st)
• rushing yards per game (192.7, 1st)
• scoring (16.0, 1st)
• total points scored (144, 1st)
• total touchdowns (24, 1st)
• rush yards per carry (7.74, 2nd)

Jeanty has rushed for at least 125 yards in all nine games this season and is the first FBS player to have 125-plus rushing yards in his first nine games of a season since Iowa State’s Troy Davis in 1996 (first 11).

Jeanty has two games this season with at least 250 rushing yards and four-plus rushing TDs, while no other FBS player has a single such game this season. He has three games with at least 200 rushing yards and three rushing TDs, tied for the most in a season in MW history with Colorado State’s Kapri Bibbs (2013). Since 1996, only two FBS players have done that four times in a season: Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor in 2018 and the Badgers’ Ron Dayne in 1996.

Jeanty has four TD runs of at least 70 yards this year, the most in a season in MW history. His eight TD runs of 50 yards or more this season lead the FBS and are one shy of the MW record for a season, set by San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny in 2017.

MW OWNS THE RUN GAME
It’s not just Jeanty. The Mountain West on the whole has dominated the run game across the FBS this season. Three MW squads are in the top 10 in the FBS in rushing, led by Boise State at No. 2 with 268.6 yards per game. UNLV is sixth at 248.7 per contest and New Mexico is eighth at 237.8.

Boise State ranks first in the FBS this season in yards per rush (6.73), while New Mexico (6.65) ranks second. Those would be the fifth- and ninth-highest marks in a single season by any FBS teams since 1996. Individually, Lobo quarterback Devon Dampier leads the FBS in yards per carry at 7.93.

Colorado State is averaging 180.7 rushing yards per game this season compared to 92.8 per game in 2023, the sixth-largest increase by any FBS team and largest by any MW team. The Rams have also gone from 10 rushing touchdowns last season to 15 already in 2024.

There have been 19 200-yard individual rushing efforts this season, and seven of them have come from MW players, including four by Jeanty. No other league has produced more than two.

Dampier and Eli Sanders are one of three FBS teammate duos with 800-plus rushing yards each this season (Army’s Bryson Daily and Kanye Udoh, Jacksonville State’s Tre Stewart and Tyler Huff). Dampier’s 858 rushing yards are the most by a MW quarterback in a season since Nevada’s Cody Fajardo in 2014 (1,046).

DALMAS NEARING FBS RECORDS
Boise State kicker Jonah Dalmas has 90 career field goals to his credit, good for fourth in FBS history and just seven back of the FBS record of 97, held by NC State’s Christopher Dunn (2018-22). With a career field-goal percentage of 89.1 (90-for-101), Dalmas is second in FBS history in that category, trailing only Nebraska’s Alex Henery, who converted at an 89.5-percent clip (68-for-76) from 2007-10.

ROAD REBS
UNLV has won a school-record seven straight road games dating back to last season. The Rebels are 5-0 on the road this year for the first time in school history and have outscored their opponents 162-113 in those contests. UNLV has one more road game on its schedule, a Week 13 battle at San José State.

UNLV 3-1 AGAINST A4 COMPETITION
UNLV has beaten Big 12 teams Houston (27-7) and Kansas (23-20) this season, becoming the first nonconference team ever to have multiple road wins against Big 12 competition in the same season. UNLV’s 27-7 win at Houston in Week 1 was the largest for a MW school against a Big 12 opponent since Utah’s 68-27 win at Iowa State in 2010. Those are the only two times a Mountain West team has won a road game against a Big 12 school by 20-plus points. The Rebels fell in overtime to Syracuse in Week 6 before beating Oregon State in Week 8, 33-25.

NASH RECEIVING PRAISE
This season, San José State receiver Nick Nash leads all FBS players in receptions (86), receptions per game (9.6), receiving touchdowns (13), receiving yards (1,156) and receiving yards per game (128.4).

He is just two TD catches away from entering the MW’s single-season top five and is also on pace to finish inside the top five in catches and yards.

Nash has a receiving TD in nine consecutive games, the longest active streak in the FBS and tied for the second-longest in MW history. It’s also the longest such streak to start a season in MW history. Nash is the first Mountain West player to have at least 10 receiving touchdowns and two passing touchdowns in a season.

SACK CENTRAL
Boise State is second in the FBS in sacks with 4.44 per game, while San Diego State is sixth at 3.22. Of the 16 FBS teams this season with multiple games having at least six sacks, three play in the MW in Boise State, San Diego State and UNLV, with the Broncos and Rebels sharing the national lead with Duke and Ole Miss with three such games. The Aztecs’ Trey White is third in the FBS this season in sacks per game (1.28) and total sacks (11.5) and second in tackles for loss (16.5) and TFLs per game (1.8).

OTHER NATIONAL LEADERS
UNLV leads the FBS this season in blocked punts (5), with Rebel All-American wide receiver Ricky White III leading the FBS with four blocked kicks (all punts). UNLV freshman placekicker Caden Chittenden leads the nation in total made field goals (20) and field goals per game (2.22) and is just two field goals shy of the MW freshman record of 22 held by San Diego State’s Matt Araiza (2019). Nevada cornerback Michael Coats Jr. paces the FBS with 17 passes defended and 1.5 per game.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
San José State (16) is second, UNLV (14) is sixth and Fresno State (13) is 11th in the FBS in passes intercepted, with the Spartans third with 22 turnovers gained and UNLV third in turnover margin at 1.33.

San José State’s defense has had at least one interception in each of its last nine games, the third-longest active streak in FBS (Iowa and BYU, 10 each). The last longer streak by a MW team was an 11-game stretch by Boise State spanning 2014 and 2015.

UNLV has committed just five turnovers and Boise State just six to rank third and fifth, respectively, in the FBS. The Rebels have committed no more than one turnover in any of their nine games this season. The only MW team to ever have a longer such streak to begin a season was San José State in 2022 (11).

Fresno State’s Cam Lockridge is tied for second in the FBS with five interceptions, while Nevada’s Michael Coats Jr., SJSU’s Robert Rahimi and UNLV’s Jalen Catalon and Jackson Woodard are tied for fifth with four INTs apiece. Boise State’s Andrew Simpson, Fresno State’s Korey Foreman, SDSU’s Chris Johnson and Utah State’s DJ Graham II are tied for seventh with three forced fumbles each.

ONE-MAN SHOW
San Diego State’s Marquez Cooper is the only player in the FBS this season to have scored 100 percent of his team’s rushing touchdowns (9/9). The only player in MW history to score all of his team’s rushing TDs in a single season was Avery Morrow for Colorado State in 2022 (4/4). Cooper is the active career rushing leader in the FBS with 4,821 yards.

DUAL THREATS
New Mexico’s Devon Dampier has three games this season with 175-plus passing yards and 100-plus rushing yards, matching the MW record in a season held by Wyoming’s Brett Smith (2013), Nevada’s Cody Fajardo (2012) and Colorado State’s Bradlee Van Pelt (2003). UNLV’s Hajj-Malik Williams has two such games this season.

Hawai‘i’s Brayden Schager is one of just seven FBS QBs with more than 15 passing touchdowns and more than five rushing touchdowns this season.

SCHOOL RECORDS
Air Force senior kicker Matthew Dapore scored 12 points in the Falcons’ 36-28 win over Fresno State in Week 11, becoming the program’s career scoring leader. His third field goal of the day pushed his career total to 257 points.

Wyoming senior kicker John Hoyland scored seven points in a 49-45 win over New Mexico in Week 10, pushing his career total to 346 points to become the Cowboys’ career leader, passing Cooper Rothe, who had 342 from 2016-19. In Week 2, Hoyland booted a pair of field goals to pass Rothe for the Cowboys’ career record in that category. Now with 67 in his career, Hoyland is third in MW history.