Week 4 Mountain West Watch — USU, SDSN, UNM rising | Sports

I took an unintended week off from Mountain West Watch but with half the team off in Week 3, that wasn’t the worst time for it. So, let’s dive back into the Mountain West after Week 4, with the full complement of standings, power rankings, and the biggest risers and fallers following the first full week of college football in the west.

This is the part of the season where the standings look a bit odd since some of the teams have played conference games and others haven’t. Utah State, Boise State and Fresno State all sit at the top at 1-0 with Hawaii down near the bottom, and poor Air Force as the only 0-2 team at the very bottom.

UNLV is currently the only team getting votes in the AP Top 25 poll from the MW, though it actually gained a point from last week. The Week 4 rankings saw two voters put the Rebels at 25th on their ballot but for Week 5 there was one voter with them at 25th and one at 24th.

Risers and Fallers

We’re switching up the order in which the sections are presented. Let’s look at the biggest winners and losers from this past week, the teams and players whose stock has gone way up or way down relative to where it was a week ago. 

RISER — The preseason downtrodden

San Diego State, Utah State and New Mexico were picked eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Mountain West preseason poll. But as things sit right now, computer rankings suggest these three are fourth (USU), fifth (SDSU) and sixth (New Mexico) in the conference. They’ve made absolutely MASSIVE jumps relative to their preseason expectations and rankings.

There’s some room for skepticism with each of these teams as the list of teams the trio of beaten isn’t exactly robust. The Aztecs have the only win against an FBS team with a winning record, having beaten previously undefeated Cal (now 3-1) just this past week. But even with that caveat thrown in there, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that expected Utah State, San Diego State and New Mexico to be a combined 7-3 at this stage of the season.

What’s unfortunate is that we’re not going to get a full round-robin of these three teams against each other. San Diego State and Utah State will not face each other in the regular season, though New Mexico will face both.

FALLER — Nevada

Nevada is currently looking at another season spiraling out of control. The loss to Western Kentucky wasn’t the worst thing, especially since the Wolf Pack were competitive for a lot of that game. The issue is that in what will likely be the easiest three-game stretch of the season, Nevada went 1-2 (and probably should have gone 0-3). There remain winnable games on the schedule, but Jeff Choate might have a hard time reaching even the low bar of a 3-10 season he had in year one of his tenure.

RISER — Liam Szarka (and Cade Harris)

Air Force has had a bit of a quarterback battle these first few weeks between Liam Szarka and Josh Johnson. Szarka seems to have won the job, especially after his performance against Boise State. The sophomore ran for 110 yards and a TD and had a rare (for Air Force) volume passing game, going 13 of 18 for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Szarka is the first Falcons QB to throw for that many yards in four years. And, as you’ll see further down, Szarka is currently ranked as the second-best QB by PFF’s subjective grading metric.

RISER — Dylan Riley

The sophomore running back entered the season in a crowded backfield that included veteran transfer Malik Sherrod and promising youngster Sire Gaines. But in the last two weeks, Riley has amassed 383 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns. He paced the Broncos in their win over Air Force with 171 rushing yards and four touchdowns along with 84 receiving yards and a fifth total TD. Boise State is a factory of star running backs and Riley may very well be the next one up.

Walker’s MW Power Rankings

1. Boise State

• Last Week: 2
• Week 4 game: 49-37 win at Air Force
• Next Week: vs Appalachian State

I’ve moved Boise State back up to number one, a bit grudgingly since there’s an undefeated team left in the conference. I’ll stand by this decision for now since the Broncos have shown the improvements necessary to begin buying back into them being at the top of the league. Although the win over Air Force wasn’t super impressive, it showcased Boise State’s ability to move the ball, which was the biggest concern after the season-opening loss to South Florida. Now that the Broncos have put up 100 points in the last two weeks, concerns over their offense can go away and they can focus on tuning up their defense as well.

2. UNLV

• Last Week: 1
• Week 4 game: 41-38 win at Miami (OH)
• Next Week: Bye

I stuck with UNLV at number one in my rankings for a while, but the Rebels refusing to actually flex their muscles and just beat a team flat-out without needing to squeak by in the fourth quarter is going to take its toll this week. UNLV ranks dead last in strength of schedule per Sports Reference and yet has won by more than a touchdown in just one of its three game so far. There have been incredibly thin margins between wins and losses against the likes of Idaho State and Miami (OH), which shouldn’t really be happening to a team of UNLV’s supposed caliber. Wins are wins, though, which is why the Rebels remain in the top tier for now.

3. Fresno State

• Last Week: 3
• Week 4 Game: 23-21 win at Hawaii
• Next Week: Bye

Had the Bulldogs won more handily against Hawaii I probably would have put them up at number two. Fresno State seems to be a sneaky-good team, often hidden in the contenders race behind preseason favorite Boise State and the currently undefeated UNLV. Outside of the loss to Kansas, the Bulldogs have looked hardly anything but solid, this past week being a slight exception.

4. Utah State

• Last Week: 4
• Week 4 Game: 48-7 win vs McNeese
• Next Week: at #18 Vanderbilt

Two weeks ago I was not a fan or ranking the Aggies this high. Now, there’s no problem. After a 19-point win over Air Force and a thorough lashing of McNeese, the Mountain West is on a path toward having to respect Utah State again. At the very least, they’ll need to watch out for Bryson Barnes, especially if he maintains his blistering statistical pace.

🔥 𝐐𝐁𝟏 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/BSvaS0RFNk

— USU Football (@USUFootball) September 23, 2025

5. San Diego State

• Last Week: 8
• Week 4 Game: 34-0 vs California
• Next Week: at Northern Illinois

The Aztecs came out of seemingly nowhere to plaster a previously undefeated Cal team, shutting them out en route to a statement win. You could be me and nitpick the fact SDSU’s offense still appears to be underwhelming, or you could recognize that, much like the Aggies, this team could very well be back. SDSU has now shut out two opponents and could build some serious momentum with games against Northern Illinois, Colorado State and Nevada upcoming. Anyone up for a rematch of the 2021 title game?

6. New Mexico

• Last Week: 10
• Week 4 Game: Bye
• Next Week: vs New Mexico State

New Mexico has outperformed expectations to a significant degree as the win over UCLA a couple weeks ago showcased. The Lobos beat the Bruins in the Rose Bowl by a better score than UNLV did when it got to host UCLA. There are some good things cooking for UNM under Jason Eck, and now he gets a first taste of the UNM-NMSU rivalry this week for another chance to prove his team’s mettle.

7. Colorado State

• Last Week: 7
• Week 4 Game: 16-17 loss vs UTSA
• Next Week: Bye

Colorado State has quietly been a big ball of “meh” this season. The controversial win over Northern Colorado made some stirs and losing by one point to UTSA is neither a moral victory kind of loss, nor a defeat to a really bad team. The next few weeks will tell us quite a lot about the Rams as they have games against Washington State, at San Diego State and home against Fresno State. If the Rams are a solid team, they could manage a 2-1 record or at least a 1-2 mark where they’re competitive in both the losses. On the wrong end of that coin could be an 0-3 run that sets CSU up with a 1-5 start to the season. And it’s worrying how likely a 1-5 or 2-4 start to the season is.

8. Hawaii

• Last Week: 9
• Week 4 Game: 21-23 loss vs Fresno State
• Next Week: at Air Force

The Warriors surprised me by how close they kept it against Fresno State. I’ve been a skeptic of theirs as I’m not sold on the strength of their wins over the likes of Stanford, Sam Houston and Portland State. Hawaii took full advantage of its home-field edge and made the Bulldogs work for the win with some solid defense. Micah Alejado throwing three picks in his return to the field was a bit worrying, though, since a big strength of his was not turning the ball over. He’s now thrown four interceptions in his last two games after not throwing a single one in three notable appearances in both 2024 and 2025.

9. Air Force

• Last Week: 5
• Week 4 Game: 37-49 loss vs Boise State
• Next Week: vs Hawaii

The Falcons were a mystery in the early season because entering Week 3 they had played one game and it was against an FCS team. But even two weeks later I’m not sure what’s up. They lost by 19 at Utah State, a team that is itself in flux as everyone figures out just how good the Aggies are, and then hung with Boise State for most of that game before ultimately losing by 12. 

10. Wyoming

• Last Week: 6
• Week 4 Game: 20-37 loss at Colorado
• Next Week: Bye

A couple of weeks ago I was pretty high on the defensive capability of the Cowboys. I don’t hold that same opinion anymore. Back-to-back games of allowing 30-plus points is not a great look. It’s not the end of the world though, especially as both of those defensive performances were against P4 teams. There’s still time to turn things back around.

11. San Jose State

• Last Week: 11
• Week 4 Game: 31-28 win vs Idaho
• Next Week: at Stanford

The Spartans joined the pile of MW teams to not perform well against FCS teams. It solidified the worrying trend that SJSU is drifting back toward the team it was for most of the 2010s. Walker Eget has seen a drop in both production and efficiency, a worrying trend for a team where one of its strengths was having one of the higher ranked preseason quarterbacks in the league.

12. Nevada

• Last Week: 12
• Week 4 Game: 16-31 loss at Western Kentucky
• Next Week: Bye

I kind of already went over this in my risers/fallers section. But things just aren’t going well for Nevada and they look to be a doormat team right now. Hopefully things won’t turn out to be that bad.

Top Players at each position (per PFF grading)

The last edition of Mountain West Watch included this and I’ll throw it in again. With two weeks since that last update, here’s a look at who PFF has as the best players in the Mountain West at each of the position groups.

Quarterback

1. Anthony Colandrea, UNLV (87.8)
2. Liam Szarka, Air Force (80.9)
3. Bryson Barnes, Utah State (77.5)

Running Back

1. Jai’Den Thomas, UNLV (85.3)
2. Rayshon Luke, Fresno State (84.9)
3. Dylan Riley, Boise State (83.4)

Wide Receiver

1. Danny Scudero, San Jose State (80.8)
2. Cade Harris, Air Force (79.2)
3. Jaden Bradley, UNLV (77.8)

Tight End

1. Dorian Thomas, New Mexico (84.1)
2. Var’keyes Gumms, UNLV (75.6)
3. Simon Mapa, New Mexico (73.3)

Offensive Line

1. Kage Casey, Boise State (86.0)
2. Aaron Karas, Colorado State (79.4)
3. Joseph Borjon, San Diego State (76.8)

Interior D-Line

1. Gafa Faga, San Jose State (81.2)
2. De’Jon Benton, Hawaii (78.7)
3. David Latu, Boise State (77.2)

Edge

1. Dylan Labarbera, Nevada (88.4)
2. Keyshawn James-Newby, New Mexico (86.7)
3. Finn Claypool, Fresno State (84.5)

Linebacker

1. Brayden Johnson, Wyoming (85.7)
2. John Miller, Utah State (83.1)
3. Owen Chambliss, San Diego State (81.6)

Defensive Back

1. Chris Johnson, San Diego State (90.5)
2. Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen, Hawaii (80.7)
3. Noah Avinger, Utah State (75.6)