Around the Mountain: Do Lobos Really Have A Shot in Las Vegas?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., -- Here's this weeks news and notes from around the Mountain West Conference.

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WEEK 10 ACTION
Nine Mountain West teams are in action in Week 10, with four of five games appearing on national television. Air Force hosts Army on CBS and Paramount+ on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT, while Boise State hosts Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. MT on FS1. Wyoming visits San Diego State and San José State welcomes Hawai‘i on CBSSN. New Mexico at UNLV will meet in Las Vegas on the MWN and SSSEN in a game that looks to have significant implications on the MW Championship race.

BOWL ELIGIBILITY
UNLV is bowl eligible for the third straight season. … Hawai‘i downed Colorado State in Week 8 to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2021. … With a win over Nevada in Week 9, Boise State become bowl eligible for the 28th consecutive season. … San Diego State became bowl eligible in Week 9 when it downed Fresno State. The Bulldogs (5-3) and New Mexico (5-3) can both become bowl eligible this Saturday.

MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Five MW players earned spots on The Associated Press Midseason All-America football teams, including a pair of first-team selections. Hawai‘i senior kicker Kansei Matsuzawa and San Diego State senior defensive back Chris Johnson earned first-team nods. San José State sophomore wide receiver Danny Scudero, Colorado State sophomore linebacker Owen Long and UNLV senior defensive back Aamaris Brown were named to the second team. The MW’s two first-team selections are as many as the other non-autonomous conferences combined, while the Conference’s five total selections surpassed the combined total of its peer leagues.

HOME (BLUE) FIELD ADVANTAGE
Over the last 26 seasons, Boise State is 145-15 (.906) at home. The 15 losses are the fewest over that time among teams that have been in the FBS every season since 2000. … The Broncos have won 16 straight games at Albertsons Stadium, tied with Alabama for the longest active streak in the FBS. The Broncos have won all 16 home games by seven or more points,
the second-longest such streak over the last eight seasons in the FBS behind Georgia (27 from 2020 to 2024).

AZTECS' STIFLING DEFENSE
San Diego State is second in the FBS in scoring defense at 10.4 points allowed per game and is ninth nationally in total defense with 255.0 yards allowed per game. The Aztecs have held four opponents to three points or fewer this season, and is the only FBS squad with a trio of shutouts. … No opposing receiver has recorded 100 or more yards in any of San Diego State’s last 24 games, dating back to October 2023. That’s the longest such streak in MW history and the longest by any FBS team since Kentucky (28 straight) from 2017 to 2019. … San Diego State has allowed just 73 points this season. That’s the second-fewest points allowed by a Mountain West team through seven games of a season, trailing only TCU in 2010 (65). … This marks the first time in SDSU’s Division I history (since 1969) with three shutouts in a single season.

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UNLV'S MAGIC NUMBER
UNLV has scored at least 20 points in each of its last 29 regular-season games (excluding MW championship games), marking the second-longest active such streak in the FBS, behind only Memphis (43 straight). The Rebels are 24-5 over that stretch.

SHUTOUT CENTRAL
Oct. 25 was the fourth day all-time to feature multiple Mountain West teams having shutouts of at least 20 points, as San Diego State blanked Fresno State 23-0 and Wyoming topped Colorado State 28-0. … When the Cowboys and Aztecs meet in Week 10, it will make the first time in MW history that two Conference teams will square off with both following shutouts. … Coincidentally, San Diego State and Wyoming also posted shutouts in Week 1 of this season.

SOLID DAY FOR THE ROOKIE
Against Utah State, New Mexico’s Cade Keith became the second MW freshman tight end ever to have at least seven receptions, 100 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in the same game. The other was BYU’s Daniel Coats on Sept. 6, 2003, against USC.

CENTURY-MARK RUSHING 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 92 consecutive games and Boise State is on a 46-game run.

SZARKA ON A ROLL
Air Force sophomore Liam Szarka has rushed for 100 or more yards in five straight games, tied for the longest active streak in the FBS. It’s also the longest 100-yard rush streak by any quarterback in Mountain West history.

INTERCEPTIONS GALORE
Since the beginning of 2022, UNLV’s defense has an FBS-best 59 interceptions. Notre Dame is next with 58, followed by Texas with 57, BYU with 56 and Michigan with 55. … The Mountain West has three different players with multiple pick-sixes this season (Boise State's A'Marion McCoy, San Diego State's Chris Johnson and UNLV's Aamaris Brown), while all other FBS conferences have combined for two such players. The only other season the MW had at least three players with two or more interception returns for touchdowns was 2017 (also three).

MW KICKING PROWESS
The Mountain West combined to go 6-for-6 on field-goal attempts and 15-for-15 on extra-point attempts this past week. The MW was the only FBS conference not to miss a field goal or extra point in Week 9.

PLASCENCIA SETS MW MARK
San Diego State kicker Gabe Plascencia is 13-for-13 on field goals this season and has hit 25 straight dating back to last season, which is the longest active streak in the FBS, the longest streak in program history and the longest streak in MW history.

THE TOKYO TOE
Hawai‘i kicker Kansei Matsuzawa is currently 20-for-20 on field-goal attempts this year, setting program and MW records for consecutive made field goals to start a season. He has hit 21 in a row dating back to last season, a program record for consecutive makes and one back Air Force's Luke Strebel, who hit 22 straight from 2015-16, for second in MW history. He currently has the fourth-longest active streak in the FBS.

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 have 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).

FBS LEADERS
Air Force leads the nation with 20.29 passing yards per completion. … Wyoming's Aneesh Vyas shares the individual lead with two blocked kicks. … Hawai‘i's Kansei Matsuzawa and San Diego State's Gabe Plascencia are among eight qualified kickers still perfect on field goals this season, with Matsuzawa leading the FBS with 20 field goals made and 2.5 field goals made per game. … Fresno State's Jahzon Jacks shares the FBS lead with three fumbles recovered. … San José State's Danny Scudero leads the FBS with 124.3 receiving yards per game and 870 total receiving yards. … Colorado State's Owen Long leads in tackles (103) and tackles per game (12.9) and Nevada's Dylan Labarbera leads in tackles for loss per game with 1.88.