By Henry Rawn

Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship Notes

• Boise State (11-1, 7-0 MW) will host UNLV (10-2, 6-1) for the 2024 Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship on Friday on FOX.
• Host Boise State is appearing in the title game for the third straight season and eighth time overall. The Broncos will host the game for the sixth time and first since 2022 and are looking for their fifth title. Boise State is 4-3 overall in the MW Championship.
• UNLV is in the championship game for the second straight season and second time overall. The Rebels are seeking their first MW title and are 0-1 in the MW Championship.
• The 2024 edition will feature a rematch of the 2023 game, which saw the Broncos top the Rebels 44-20 in Las Vegas. The rematch will be just the second in the history of the MW Championship game, which dates to 2013. Boise State and Fresno State squared off in consecutive years, with the Broncos winning in 2017 and the Bulldogs in 2018.
• Since its first MW Championship appearance in 2014, Boise State’s eight conference championship appearances are tied with Clemson for the most of any FBS team in that span. The only other FBS teams with at least seven conference championship appearances in that span are Alabama and Georgia.
• Last season’s title game drew a Championship-record 31,473 fans at Allegiant Stadium. Boise State has sold out all six of its home games this season and is averaging 37,190 at Albertsons Stadium this year.
• Coming into the contest, Boise State has won 11 straight contests at home. UNLV has won eight straight on the road.
• Boise State downed UNLV 29-24 on Oct. 25 in Las Vegas. Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen threw for 209 yards and a touchdown and ran for 58 yards and a score, while running back Ashton Jeanty ran for 128 yards and a TD. UNLV QB Hajj-Malik Williams passed for 179 yards and two TDs and ran for 105 yards and a touchdown.
• This will be the eighth time the MW Championship game will be a rematch of a regular-season meeting. The winner of the regular-season game is 3-4 in the Championship game but Boise State won two of those Championships (2014 vs. Fresno State and 2019 vs. Hawai‘i).
• Boise State and UNLV combined to sweep the five individual MW postseason award winners. Jeanty was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, Spencer Danielson earned his first MW Coach of the Year honor in his first full season at the helm. UNLV senior linebacker Jackson Woodard was named the MW Defensive Player of the Year, senior wide receiver Ricky White III was named the Special Teams Player of the Year and placekicker Caden Chittenden was named the Freshman of the Year.
• Jeanty has a chance to do what just one MW player has done before him – sweep Offensive Player of the Year and MW Championship Offensive MVP honors. The previous instance was in 2013, the first year of the Championship, when Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr claimed both awards. On the other side of the ball, Woodard could become the fourth player to sweep Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive MVP honors. The most recent instance was by San José State’s Cade Hall in 2020.

MW Talking Points

• Boise State is No. 10 and UNLV is No. 20 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. If the Broncos win the Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship, they would be projected as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed and would get a first-round bye. Should UNLV win, the Rebels would be in position for an automatic bid as one of five highest-ranked conference champions.
• The Broncos are No. 10 in the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches (AFCA) polls this week, while UNLV is No. 19 in both of those polls.
• 2024 All-Mountain West honors were announced Tuesday. For the full list, see page 3 of these notes.
• Five MW teams are bowl eligible in 2024. UNLV is bowling in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Boise State is bowl eligible for the 27th consecutive season, the second-longest active streak behind Georgia’s current 28-season run. Colorado State is bowl eligible for the first time since 2017, Fresno State is bowl eligible for the fourth year in a year and San José State is bowl eligible for the third straight season.
• The Mountain West has the strongest nonconference schedule in the FBS. MW teams played 35 nonconference games against Autonomous 4 opponents, the most of any FBS league (counting Notre Dame, Oregon State and Washington State as A4 teams), with the next-closest totaling 27.
• MW teams have played 15 one-possession games against A4 opponents this season, with four of those games settled in overtime or on the final play of regulation.
• The MW has 11 wins against A4 opponents this season, more than twice the combined total of its four peer conferences (five).
• Since 2018, the MW has the best winning percentage over Autonomous 5 teams (30.08) among its peer conferences. MW teams have collected 40 wins over such teams in that span, also the most among its peer conferences.
• Mountain West squads have played 21 nonconference games this season against teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the US LBM Coaches (AFCA) and/or AP top-25 polls, including eight at home.

Notes Around the MW

MW TEAMS IN THE RANKINGS
Boise State is No. 10 and UNLV is No. 20 in the Dec. 3 College Football Playoff rankings. The Broncos are projected as the No. 4 seed in the CFP field. This marks the eighth time that two MW schools have been ranked by the CFP in the same week.

Boise State is No. 10 in the Associated Press and US LBM Coaches (AFCA) polls this week, while UNLV is No. 19 in both polls. The Broncos are 122-21 (.853) 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 and Boise State are two of nine teams in the FBS that are undefeated this season against teams currently ranked outside the AP Top 25. The only other conferences with multiple such teams are the Big Ten (Oregon, Indiana and Penn State) and the SEC (Georgia and Texas).

NATIONAL HONORS
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who leads the country in nearly every rushing category, is one of three finalists the Maxwell Award, the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Award. He is also a semifinalist for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award and was named the Walter Camp Award FBS National Offensive Player of the Week after rushingfor 226 yards and a touchdown in a Week 14 win over Oregon State.

San José State wide receiver Nick Nash is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award. Nash leads the FBS in receptions, receptions per game, receiving touchdowns, receiving  yards and receiving yards per game.

Boise State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dirk Koetter is a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, presented annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. Utah State junior safety Ike Larsen is one of 12 semifinalists for the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Several MW quarterbacks earned national weekly honors for their Week 14 play. Colorado State’s Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Hawai’i’s Micah Alejado and San José  State’s Walker Eget each earned spots in the Davey O’Brien Great 8 and were Manning Award Stars of the Week. Alejado was additionally named the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Week.

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

• all-purpose yards per game (199.17, 1st)
• rushing touchdowns (28, 1st)
• rushing yards (2,288, 1st)
• rushing yards per game (190.7, 1st)
• total points scored (174, 1st)
• total touchdowns (29, 1st)
• rush yards per carry (7.33, 2nd)
• scoring (14.5, 2nd)

With a MW-record 2,288 yards this season, Jeanty is the third MW player to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season, joining San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey (2,133 in 2016) and Rashaad Penny (2,248 in 2017). Jeanty is currently fifth in FBS history for rushing yards in a season, trailing just USC’s Marcus Allen (2,342 in 1981), UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567 in 2007), Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon (2,587 in 2014) and Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders (2,628 in 1988).

Jeanty has rushed for 2,288 yards this season for an average of 190.7 rushing yards per game. The only two FBS players ever to hit both of those marks in the same season are Marcus Allen (1981) and Barry Sanders (1988), both of whom won the Heisman Trophy in those seasons.

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 (2018) and Ron Dayne (1996).

Jeanty has four TD runs of at least 70 yards this year, the most in a season in MW history, and seven of at least 60 yards, matching the MW record set by San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny in 2017. His nine TD runs of 50 yards or more this season lead the FBS and match the MW record set by 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 UNLV in fourth at 254.1. New Mexico is fifth at 253.6 per contest and Boise State is No. 6 with 253.5. The MW has had three teams finish in the top 10 in the category twice, in 2012 and 2016. Air Force is just outside the top 10 at No. 11 with 224.0 per game.

Boise State has outrushed its opponent in 11 games this season, with Tennessee (12) the only FBS team to do so more.

There have been 24 200-yard individual rushing efforts this season, and eight of them have come from MW players, including five by Jeanty.

DALMAS NEARING FBS RECORDS
Boise State kicker Jonah Dalmas has 93 career field goals to his credit, good for third in FBS history and just four back of the FBS record of 97, held by NC State’s Christopher Dunn (2018-22). He is second in FBS history in kicking points with 503, behind Alabama’s Will Reichard 547 (2019-23). He is fifth in FBS history with a field-goal percentage of 87.7.

HOME (BLUE) FIELD ADVANTAGE
Over the last 25 seasons, Boise State is 140-15 (.903) 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 11 straight games at Albertsons Stadium entering the 2024 Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship.

ROAD REBS
UNLV is currently riding a school-record eight-game winning streak and is 6-0 on the road this season.

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.

SCORING IN BUNCHES
Boise State ranks third in the FBS in points per game this season (40.6), while UNLV is seventh at 38.7. The Broncos have won six games this season by 20-plus points, with just six teams – Ohio State (8), Oregon (8), Indiana (7), Miami (7), Notre Dame (7) and SMU (7) – the only FBS teams with more this season.

BALANCED ATTACK
Boise State has earned 133 first downs on rushing plays and 133 on passing plays this season. The only other FBS teams to hit both of those marks in 2024 are Arkansas and Texas State.

STINGY DEFENSE
UNLV held San José State to just 112 total yards in its 27-16 win in Week 13, the third-fewest ever allowed by a MW team in a road conference game. That mark trails only Colorado State’s 79 yards allowed at New Mexico in 2021 and Wyoming’s 83 allowed in 2018, also at New Mexico.

SACK CENTRAL
Boise State is second in the FBS in sacks with 3.75. San Diego State’s Trey White is fourth in the FBS this season in sacks per game (1.04) and total sacks (12.5).

REBEL SPECIAL TEAMS
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 is second in the nation in made field goals (25) and field goals per game (2.08). His 25 makes are a MW freshman record and just four back of the overall MW single-season record of 29 set by New Mexico’s John Sullivan in 2007.

White, the MW Special Teams Player of the Year, became the first player in MW history to have a season with more than 10 receiving touchdowns and at least one return TD.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
San José State (20) and UNLV (17) rank first and fourth, respectively, in the FBS in passes intercepted, with the Spartans second with 27 turnovers gained and the Rebels fifth in turnover margin at 1.17.

UNLV and Boise State have both committed just eight turnovers to rank third in the FBS. The Rebels have committed no more than one turnover in any of their 12 games this season. That is five games longer than the next-longest active such streak by any FBS team and is tied for the longest streak in MW history (Air Force, Nov. 15, 2022 to Sept, 30, 2023).

Six MW players rank in the top 15 in interceptions, paced by Fresno State’s Cam Lockridge, San José State’s Robert Rahimi and UNLV’s Jalen Catalon tied for third with five each. Boise State’s Andrew Simpson and Fresno State’s Korey Foreman, San Diego State’s Chris Johnson and Utah State’s DJ Graham II are tied for 10th with three forced fumbles.

DUAL THREATS
New Mexico’s Devon Dampier has four games this season with 175-plus passing yards and 100-plus rushing yards, the most such games in a season in MW history. UNLV’s Hajj-Malik Williams has two such games this season.

NASH RECEIVING PRAISE
This season, San José State receiver Nick Nash leads all FBS players in receptions (a school-record 104), receptions per game (8.7), receiving touchdowns (16), receiving yards (1,382) and receiving yards per game (115.2).

He is tied for third in MW history in single-season TD catches and fifth in single-season receptions. Nash had a receiving TD in 10 consecutive games to open the season, the second-longest streak in MW history and the longest such streak to start a season in league history. Nash is the first Mountain West player to have at least 10 receiving touchdowns and two passing touchdowns in a season.

Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship

COURTESY MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE