Mountain West Power Rankings Week Two : The Steele Stocks

Boise State Broncos : A bit of some Quarterback drama never hurt the entertainment side of things, right? Well, even for the production side of football when it comes to wins and losses, as the Broncos beat The Air Force Falcons, 49 - 30. This quarterback swap does not affect the Broncos enough for them to show too many weaknesses. Hank Bachmeier was out in last Saturday's game against Air Force, go ahead and plug in Jack Sears who was 17 for 20, 280 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Sears had a field day throwing to CT Thomas, who averaged a whopping 50.5 yard per reception, 101 yards total and two touchdowns. Boise State stays at number one in my rankings and this coming game against ninth ranked nationally BYU, will be one of their bigger challenges in the entire season. 

Nevada Wolf Pack : Fremont canon is now blue, the Nevada WolfPack spoiled a home opener for the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. Carson Strong, is the best quarterback in this conference, Strong was 21 for 27, 350 yards and two touchdowns in the 37 - 19 win. Romeo Doubs was the most valued target in this game, as he torched a UNLV secondary for 211 yards off six catches and a touchdown. Nevada’s offense is well put together, no movement up or down in these rankings for the Pack and probably won’t be into week three as they take on Utah State on Thursday night.

Wyoming Cowboys : Wyoming’s defense held one of the best rushing attacks in the conference to only a touchdown in the 31-7 win over Hawaii. Wyoming slides on up in this week's rankings, as I was extremely impressed with the hard hitting, ultra aggressive defense that they displayed in this ball game. Wyoming, also features Mountain West’s defensive player of the week, Charles Hicks, who had two sacks, four tackles and an interception in a dominant win for the Cowboys. The main target in this Cowboys offense is Xazavian Valladay, who on the ground put together a two touchdown, 163 yard performance, they also handed it to him, 32 times. Wyoming, looks to be back on the right track as being one of the more competitive teams in the conference. 

San Diego State Aztecs : The Aztecs will move up a spot in these rankings, as another display of dominance on the defensive side of the ball in yet another blow out win. San Diego State defeated Utah State, 38-7 and have a defense that only an elite offense from the conference will be able to beat. San Diego State held the Aggies to 327 yards total, forced three turnovers and on offense put up an insane 570 total yards. With a disturbing amount of 407 rushing yards. The Bell boy’s, Chance and Greg with a combined 255 and two touchdowns helped to that effort, as the Aztecs will look on to San Jose State in one of my favorite games of the week. 

San Jose State Spartans : Up one spot after a really tough team win last Saturday against New Mexico. San Jose found themselves in a closer fight than they might have thought that they would be in, nevertheless they won 38 - 21 behind a breakout game from quarterback Nick Starkles. Starkles was Mountain West offensive player of the week, rightfully so, his 467 yard, five touchdown performance put him on the map and the Mountain West on notice. I had thought he could build off of the week one win, but not like this. San Jose State is 2-0 for the first time since 1986, they will play San Diego State next in a game that may shape up these rankings. 

Fresno State Bulldogs : Three spots up for Fresno State. I thought that this was a great team win and the Bulldogs built off of how well they played in the first half of last week's game. They stuck to their gameplan and limited the turnovers, in fact Jake Haener did not turn it over at all in this game, throwing for 311 and three touchdowns as well. Fresno’s offense was effiecent and looked together and much better than in week one. Now, they did beat Colorado State who played their first game of the season but I am not going to discredit the Bulldogs, they dominated the football game from start to finish. Bulldogs, find themselves in Las Vegas on Saturday to take on the Rebs. 

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors : Huge drop off for Hawaii, from number three to number seven. Call me crazy but I am selling some of that Hawaii stock right now. No run game, plus turnovers, will equal disaster for this one dimensional football team. Fresno State, who is above them in these rankings is the team they beat last week but after week two, the Bulldogs clearly played a better game holistically. Rainbow Warriors had an opportunity to prove that they are more than real by defeating the Cowboys. In fact I picked them to do so, but an extremely poor effort in a game that would have been a huge win on the season. When Chevan Corderio’s run was taken away he only passed for 112 yards, need to throw when you are down large and that is something that they did not prove they could do. Now granted I think they will be back in the win column on Saturday as they play New Mexico. 

The Air Force Falcons : Back to back eight spots for the Falcons and I think this is just about right. It becomes very awkward down here, due to the fact that New Mexico has only played one game and lost, Colorado has only played one game and lost but Air Force lost this game, so how does this all come together? Well, Air Force did not quit in their loss to the Broncos, quite frankly I feel as if when they meet with a team on their level, they can win. Air Force still rushed for 419 yards and when they play agaisnt  Army Saturday night, I would expect the same and a win. 

New Mexico Lobos : Debut game for the Lobos, I have them ranking in at number nine. The passing defense got shredded by Nick Starkles for 467 yards, but they played hard enough to stay in the game and it was relatively close until some fourth quarter points from the Spartans. Tevaka Tuioti, did a lot in this game and showed plenty of poise as he tried to lead the Lobos back. Throwing for 294 and two touchdowns with a pick, while also running for 69 yards and a touchdown, showed a valiant effort. Lobos, probably won’t be at nine after next week but who knows, a heavy blitzing defense is what it takes to defeat a one dimensional Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. 

UNLV Runnin Rebels : Up two spots and I am not being biased. I had the Rebels ranked last in the week one power rankings. I feel as if the game against Nevada was more of the game that head coach Marcus Arroyo would have liked to see in week one, rather than week two. Instead, the Rebels are working out the kinks each game and find themselves in an 0-2 hole. Now it is obvious that the Rebels have their quarterback, Max Gilliam who proved he can run the offense with pace and get the ball out quick. The only true issue with the offense is in the red zone and the penalties. UNLV was the most penalized team in the Mountain West in week two. The flags and the passing defense hurt the Rebels in the loss to the Wolfpack but in this first year under Marcus Arroyo, he now has something he can work with on film and most likely put together a game plan against Fresno State that gives the Rebs a chance. 

Colorado State Rams : They made their season debut in Fresno and truth be told I had picked them to win. I was wrong and this Rams team seemed a little bit discombobulated. A QB issue right now between Patrick O’Brien or Todd Centeio, both play the game in a different style, O’Brien more of the gunslinger and Centeio a runner. Nevertheless, they lost in Fresno and did not show much outside of Centeio’s run game. It may be 0-2 before their first win, as they play Wyoming on Thursday. 

Utah State Aggies : A new team at the 12 spot and this is a large five slot slip. You can not allow 570 total yards in a football game, at any level. I had believed that the week one game against Boise State would be expected, but not only did the Aztec defense dominae as usual, they also malued the Aggies defense. Utah State, did not make the most out of their few possessions and turned the ball over three times. The Aggies may have the toughest schedule in the conference, as they play the Wolfpack on Thursday after two losses to Boise State and San Diego.