NEXT UP
Thursday, September 1 TV/Digital Time
Portland State at San José State MWN/NBC Sports Bay Area 7:30 p.m. PT
Cal Poly at Fresno State FS1 7:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, September 3 TV/Digital Time
Colorado State at No. 6/8 Michigan ABC Noon ET
Northern Iowa at Air Force MWN/Altitude 11 a.m. MT
Arizona at San Diego State CBS 12:30 p.m. PT
Tulsa at Wyoming FS1 1:30 p.m. MT
Texas State at Nevada MWN/Nevada Sports Net 2:30 p.m. PT
Utah State at No. 1/1 Alabama SEC Network 6:30 p.m. CT
Maine at New Mexico MWN/My50 6 p.m. MT
Boise State at Oregon State ESPN 7:30 p.m. PT
Western Kentucky at Hawai‘i Spectrum/Team1Sports App 6 p.m. HT
AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WEST
• Dating back to the 2019 season, the Mountain West has won 18 games against autonomous-5 opponents, including 15 against the Pac-12. This is the most wins in that time span amongst all non-autonomous-5 conferences.
• In the past 18 years, the Mountain West has been the top non-autonomous-5 conference 10 times and second five times.
• The Mountain West produced the first non-automatic-qualifying FBS team into a BCS bowl game (Utah – 2005 Fiesta Bowl) and into the College Football Playoff (Boise State – 2014 Fiesta Bowl).
• Five Mountain West programs are receiving votes in the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll, including San Diego State (25), Fresno State (21), Air Force (12), Utah State (12) and Boise State (10). This is the largest number of MW teams receiving votes in a preseason poll since 2004, when seven MW programs earned votes in the coaches poll.
• The Mountain West has had at least two teams nationally ranked in each of the last six seasons.
• Wyoming hosts Tulsa on Saturday, Sept. 3, as the Cowboys look to improve the MW’s record against opponents from the AAC (15-11).
• Air Force, which opens the season on Sept. 3 vs. Northern Iowa, will enter 2022 riding a four-game win streak, which is tied as the fifth-longest active streak nationally.
• Utah State, the defending Mountain West champions, enter the season with a seven-game road win streak, tied for the third-longest active road win streak in FBS. The Aggies will put its road win streak on the line when it travels to nationally-ranked Alabama on Sept. 3. USU has not dropped a road game since Nov. 5, 2020 (at Nevada).
• Fresno State senior QB Jake Haener, who was named 2022 MW Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 19 consecutive games, beginning on Oct. 24, 2019. This is the fourth-longest stretch in Conference history. Carson Strong (Nevada) and Derek Carr (Fresno State) hold the league record with a touchdown pass in 26 straight games, while Andy Dalton (TCU) sits in third place (21).
• Air Force senior running back Brad Roberts, who earned first-team All-MW preseason recognition in July, is the nation’s active leader in rushing yards per game, averaging 106.6 yards per contest.
MW TEAMS IN SEASON OPENERS
Mountain West teams are 132-96 in season openers since the inception of the league in 1999. MW teams are 103-29 at home and 22-54 on the road. Below is an all-time breakdown of the Mountain West in season openers.
Team Overall Home Road Neutral
Air Force 19-4 19-2 0-1 0-1
Boise State 7-4 3-0 3-3 1-1
Colorado State 10-13 3-2 3-3 4-8
Fresno State 6-4 6-1 0-3 0-0
Hawai‘i 5-6 2-3 3-2 0-1
Nevada 9-2 6-0 3-2 0-0
New Mexico 10-13 10-6 0-7 0-0
San Diego State 12-11 12-6 0-5 0-0
San José State 6-3 6-2 0-1 0-0
UNLV 9-15 7-5 2-10 0-0
Utah State 4-6 3-0 1-6 0-0
Wyoming 14-10 13-1 1-8 0-1
BYU 9-3 8-1 0-1 1-1
TCU 6-1 1-0 4-1 1-0
Utah 9-3 6-1 3-2 0-0
Totals 135-98 105-30 23-55 7-13
