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Around the Mountain West: Week 7


Photo by Jeff Bugher, PokesNews.com
Photo by Jeff Bugher, PokesNews.com

2025 Mountain West Football

Weekly Release – Week 7

 

WEEK 7 ACTION

All 12 Mountain West teams are in action in Week 7, with all five games set to appear on national television. Fresno State visits Colorado State on CBSSN on Friday. On Saturday, a CBSSN tripleheader sees UNLV hosts Air Force, San José State visit Wyoming and Nevada welcome San Diego State. Boise State hosts New Mexico on FS1 and Hawai‘i entertains Utah State on Spectrum Sports and the MW App.

 

BOWL ELIGIBILITY

Both Fresno State (5-1) and UNLV (5-0) can become bowl eligible this week. The Bulldogs are seeking their fifth straight bowl berth, while the Rebels are looking to clinch their third in a row.

 

AZTECS’ STIFLING DEFENSE

San Diego State is one of seven FBS teams with more wins this season than in 2024. SDSU is allowing an average of 160.5 yards per game fewer than it did last season (260.8, down from 421.3), the third-largest decrease in the FBS. … SDSU is one of just two FBS teams to hold an opponent to three or fewer points in three different games this season. The other is Oklahoma. The only season in which any MW team had more such games was when the Aztecs did so four times in 2016.

 

SZARKA’S HOT STREAK

Air Force quarterback Liam Szarka is the first Mountain West player to have at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in three straight games. The last FBS player to reach those marks in at least three consecutive games was Louisville’s Lamar Jackson between 2015-16 (four straight).

 

BRONCOS LIKE THE LOBOS

Boise State has won seven straight games against New Mexico, all by 14 or more points. That is tied for the longest streak of wins by 14+ points by one Mountain West team against another, alongside TCU’s seven-game run against UNLV from 2005 to 2011.

 

HOME (BLUE) FIELD ADVANTAGE

Over the last 26 seasons, Boise State is 143-15 (.905) at home. The 15 losses are tied with Oklahoma for the fewest over that time among teams that have been in the FBS every season since 2000. The Broncos have won 14 straight games at Albertsons Stadium.

 

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BEST IN THE CLUTCH

The Mountain West combined to go 13-for-19 (68.4%) on fourth downs in Week 6. That was the highest among all FBS conferences for the week.

 

BLOCKED PUNTS RETURNED FOR TDS

UNLV returned two blocked punts for touchdowns in the first half against Wyoming in Week 6, becoming the first MW team to return two blocked punts for scores in the same half since Boise State in 2020. It marked just the sixth time since 2001 that it had happened in the FBS but the second time this season, as Rutgers did so in Week 3.

 

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE

UNLV has forced 2.60 turnovers per game this season, tied for the most in the FBS with Louisiana Tech. The only other Mountain West teams to finish first in the nation in that category are Utah State (2018), Wyoming (2017) and TCU (2005).

 

THE TOKYO TOE

Hawai‘i kicker Kansei Matsuzawa’s six straight games with multiple field-goal attempts and zero misses makes for the longest such streak in Mountain West history. The only FBS player to have a longer streak within a single season over the last 30 seasons was Tulane’s Cairo Santos in 2012 (seven straight). … Matsuzawa is currently 16-for-16 on field-goal attempts this year, setting program and MW records for consecutive made field goals to start a season. He has hit 17 in a row dating back to last season.

 

PLASCENCIA NEARING MW MARK

San Diego State kicker Gabe Plascencia is 7-for-7 on field goals this season and has hit 19 straight dating back to last season, the longest streak in program history. That’s tied for the second-longest streak in MW history, three back of Air Force’s Luke Strebel‘s record of 22 from 2015-16.

 

EGET’S EFFICIENCY

In a Week 6 win over New Mexico, San José State quarterback Walker Eget threw for 334 yards while having an 86.7 completion percentage (26-for-30). The only other two players in conference history to hit both those marks in the same game are Fresno State’s Derek Carr (11/24/2012) and Boise State’s Kellen Moore (10/15/2011), both of whom went on to win MW Offensive Player of the Year in those respective seasons.

 

MW AGAINST THE A4 AT HOME

MW teams went 3-1 against A4 opponents at home this season. Hawai‘i earned the MW’s first A4 win of the 2025 season with its 23-20 win over Stanford in Week 0. UNLV made it 2-0 with a 30-23 win over UCLA in Week 2. San Diego State picked up a third MW home win over an A4 when it throttled California 34-0 in Week 4.

 

MW AGAINST THE A4, PART II

New Mexico outscored UCLA, 21-0, in the fourth quarter of its 35-10 win in Week 3. The 21 points were the most scored by a Mountain West team in the fourth quarter of a win against an ACC/Big Ten/Big 12/SEC opponent since BYU scored 21 at Virginia in a 38-35 overtime win on Sept. 2, 2000. … San Diego State’s 34-0 victory over Cal in Week 4 was the second-largest shutout win ever by a MW team against an autonomous conference school. The only larger such win was BYU’s 59-0 win versus UCLA in 2008.

 

MW AGAINST THE A4, PART III

MW teams has played 16 autonomous conference opponents in 2025, including three of the four CFP semifinalists from last season (Nevada at Penn State on Aug. 30, San José State at Texas on Sept. 6 and Boise State at Notre Dame on Oct. 4). … Since 2018, the MW has the best winning percentage over Autonomous 5 teams (30.0) among its peer conferences. MW teams have collected 45 wins over such teams in that span, also the most among its peer conferences (the American is second with 39).

 

CENTURY-MARK STREAKS

The two longest active streaks for games with at least 100 rushing yards by an FBS team are both by Mountain West teams. Air Force has done so in 90 consecutive games and Boise State is on a 43-game run.

 

CONSISTENT RECEIVING CORPS

Both Hawai‘i and Utah State have had at least one player with five or more receptions in 22 consecutive games, dating back to November 2023. That’s the longest active streak in the FBS.

 

FBS LEADERS

Wyoming shares the FBS lead with four blocked kicks, including two by Aneesh Vyas, who shares the individual lead. … Air Force leads the nation with 21.37 passing yards per completion. … Hawai‘i’s Kansei Matsuzawa, New Mexico’s Luke Drzewiecki and San Diego State’s Gabe Plascencia are among 15 kickers still perfect on field goals this season with Matsuzawa leading the FBS with 16 field goals made and 2.67 per game. … UNLV’s Aamaris Brown leads the FBS with 1.0 interceptions per game. … San José State’s Danny Scudero leads the FBS with 133.0 receiving yards per game and 665 total receiving yards. … Colorado State’s Owen Long leads in tackles per game with 13.6 and Nevada’s Dylan Labarbera leads in tackles for loss per game with 2.00. … San Diego State (17-for-17) is one of nine FBS programs still perfect in the red zone and one of 10 without a fumble lost. … UNLV shares the FBS lead with 13 turnovers gained and is one of 15 FBS programs without a loss.

 

INTERCEPTIONS GALORE

Since the beginning of 2022, UNLV’s defense has an FBS-best 58 interceptions. Fresno State, Texas and Notre Dame have the next-highest total with 53 each. The Rebels and Bulldogs both have nine picks this season, tied for second in the FBS.

 

BROWN’S INT STREAK

With interceptions in UNLV’s first four games this season, Aamaris Brown is the sixth player in MW history with interceptions in four straight team games and the first since Utah State’s Frank Sutera in 2014. Boise State’s Dont’e Deayon also had interceptions in four straight personal games in 2014 but missed a team game in that span. Brown did not play in Week 6 against Wyoming, which means his personal streak of consecutive games with an interception is still active entering Week 7’s matchup with Air Force.

 

KEEP IT OVER 20

UNLV has scored at least 20 points in each of its last 27 regular-season games (excluding MW championship games), marking the second-longest active such streak in the FBS, behind only Memphis (42 straight). The Rebels are 23-4 over that stretch.


Files Courtesy of the Mountain West Conference:



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