Mountain West off to poor start in 2025 college football season

The 25th-ranked Broncos were dominated in all three phases last Thursday against South Florida. The Bulls ripped off 34 unanswered points after falling behind early en route to a stunning 34-7 victory over the visiting Broncos. 

“We just didn’t execute well in the critical moments,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said after the game. “The critical moments are a third-and-long, we get a sack and we throw the quarterback on the ground. Can’t happen. Those are critical moments that are a lack of discipline. And I can go back and forth to either a penalty, a misalignment, to us not executing, to failing to win a one-on-one. Across the board, there’s critical moments that we just didn’t win. And that’s on me as a coach to look and see why.”

The Broncos will be back at it on Friday against Eastern Washington (0-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain time at Albertsons Stadium. 

UNLV (2-0), which has fallen to Boise State in the last two MWC championship games, nearly lost to FCS Idaho State during Week 0. The Rebels trailed 24-14 at halftime in Dan Mullen’s first game as head coach and held off a late Bengals charge for a 38-31 victory. 

Mullen and company looked better on Friday in a 38-21 road win over Sam Houston State, but UNLV should receive a stiffer test this week from UCLA. The Rebels need a victory over the Bruins (0-1) to boost their College Football Playoff chances. 

“Here’s the issue: I’m so pleased, because I think we’re really coming together,” Mullen said after the Sam Houston State win. “We took a huge step from last week and I think that’s a big deal for us. But as we did last week, when we’re good, on both sides of the ball, we’re really good, and then we have some errors. It’s just that focus and attention to detail for four quarters, just focusing on every individual snap.”

San Jose State (0-1) kicked off its season on Friday with a stunning 16-14 home loss to Central Michigan. The Spartans missed two game-winning field goal attempts in the final minutes and quarterback Walker Eget threw two bad interceptions in the loss. 

Colorado State (0-1), picked to finish fourth in the preseason media poll, looked mostly solid during a 38-21 loss to Washington. The Rams trailed 28-21 after three quarters before the Huskies pulled away. 

Fresno State, the No. 5 team in the preseason poll, bounced back from a blowout Week 0 loss to Kansas with a 42-14 home win over Georgia Southern on Saturday.