Another week down and another edition of Mountain West Watch, complete with my latest power rankings and the top performers of the week according to Pro Football Focus.
Let’s start with our updated look at the standings.
Mountain West Football Standings (post-Week 5, 2025)
| Rk | Team | Record | MW Record | AP Poll |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fresno State | 4-1 | 1-0 | — |
| 2 | Boise State | 3-1 | 1-0 | — |
| 3 | Utah State | 3-1 | 1-0 | — |
| 4 | Hawaii | 4-2 | 1-1 | RV (35th) |
| 5 | UNLV | 4-0 | 0-0 | — |
| 6 | New Mexico | 3-1 | 0-0 | — |
| 7 | San Diego State | 3-1 | 0-0 | — |
| 8 | Wyoming | 2-2 | 0-0 | — |
| 9 | Colorado State | 1-3 | 0-0 | — |
| 10 | Nevada | 1-3 | 0-0 | — |
| 11 | San Jose State | 1-3 | 0-1 | — |
| 12 | Air Force | 1-3 | 0-3 | — |
The Rebels stood mostly still in the AP Poll as the same handful of believing voters kept them on their ballots. And in the standings, the tie for first place among the host of 1-0 teams got a bit bigger. That tie ought to be broken this week if Fresno State take care of business as the Bulldogs can become the first team to be 2-0 in Mountain West play for 2025.
Risers and Fallers
Here are this week’s biggest winners and losers, or risers and fallers as I’ve taken to calling them.
RISER — Micah Alejado
Micah Alejado returned to his top form on Saturday in a high-scoring duel with Air Force. After missing two games and then struggling against Fresno State where he had his first-ever mult-interception game, Alejado led what’s been a fairly potenti Hawaii offense with 457 yards (12 off his career high) and three touchdowns.
FALLER — Utah State’s defense
Things were supposed to be getting better for the Aggies on the defensive side of the ball. And while there are some signs, results matter. They’ve given up 30-plus points in three of their five games, including the 55 allowed to Vanderbilt which marked the second-most allowed by USU to any team since 2019. Yes, the Aggies have played some elite defenses, but they also did so in years past and didn’t give up eight straight scoring drives. There’s a little too much that needs to be worked on with their defense in the upcoming bye week.
RISER — Boise State
The Broncos are roaring back after the embarrassing season opener. They’ve averaged 49 points and 567 total yards of offense in their last three games while allowing just 327 yards and just under 22 points. The caliber of opponent can be put into some question. The caliber of Boise State should not. They’re coming for one last final Mountain West title and they’re looking like the best team in the league yet again.
Walker’s MW Power Rankings
1. Boise State
- Last Week: 1
- Week 5 game: 47-14 win vs App State
- Next Week: at #21 Notre Dame
A lot of my thoughts on Boise State can be found above, but one key point for the Broncos is the rebound Maddux Madsen had from his Week 1 performance. Against South Florida, he looked like a QB incapable of leading the offense down the field. Three games later and he’s thrown for at least 275 yards in each of those three games and topped 300 yards twice. He’s also thrown nine total touchdowns with just one interception. It’s a massive improvement for him and a massive boon to Boise State’s offense, especially with how the run game has also progressed in the past month.
All of this momentum is about to be on the line with an crucial prove-it game against Notre Dame this weekend.
2. UNLV
- Last Week: 2
- Week 5 game: Bye
- Next Week: at Wyoming
I retain doubts about UNLV given its strength of schedule combined with low margins of victory. The Rebels’ opponents remain a combined 3-14 overall and 0-13 against FBS teams (0-9 when subtracting those teams’ games against UNLV). Undefeated is still undefeated though…
3. Fresno State
- Last Week: 3
- Week 5 Game: Bye
- Next Week: vs Nevada
The Bulldogs have made a pretty good case to be the next-best team in the Mountain West behind Boise State. I’m mainly waiting for UNLV to slip up, or for Fresno State to really showcase the growing optimism I have for this squad. Not sure if beating Nevada is going to be the tipping point, but it’s still a game where the Bulldogs can earn some style points by setting a large margin of victory.
4. San Diego State
- Last Week: 5
- Week 5 Game: 6-3 win at Northern Illinois
- Next Week: vs Colorado State
The field-goal-fest win over Northern Illinois showed everything that is good, but also a little worrying about San Diego State. On the one hand, the Aztecs have given up more than three points in a game just once this year, pitching two shutouts. On the other hand, their offense has averaged 13.0 points scored per game against FBS opponents. That’s something to keep an eye one and might lose the Aztecs a game or two down the line. But what we do know is that their defense is going to keep them in any game they play this year.
5. New Mexico
- Last Week: 6
- Week 5 Game: 38-20 win vs New Mexico State
- Next Week: at San Jose State
In front of a sellout crowd, the Lobos held off a scrappy rival New Mexico State, pulling away in the second half to make a statement. Jason Eck’s team is here to stay. And while they’re in a tier — alongside the likes of the Aggies, Aztecs and Warriors — where true title contention may not be in the picture, the Lobos will at worst be a thorn in the side to any team they face from here on out, and are sure to pick up enough wins for their first bowl appearance in nearly a decade.
6. Utah State
- Last Week: 4
- Week 5 Game: 35-55 loss at #16 Vanderbilt
- Next Week: Bye
My concerns over Utah State’s defense are detailed above and in my Monday Cooldown article on the matter. I nearly held firm on keeping the Aggies inside the top five, but the defense and questions over the long-term availability of Bryson Barnes ended up being more than enough to drop them down a couple spots in the rankings behind some teams that deserved to move up thanks to recent wins. Losing to the now-16th ranked Commodores isn’t the worst thing in the world. The trends Utah State are setting with its defense are what’s concerning about whether it’ll pull off a rebound season.
7. Hawaii
- Last Week: 8
- Week 5 Game: 44-35 win at Air Force
- Next Week: Bye
The high-scoring win over Air Force might have been quintessential Hawaii in both the good and bad way. They’ll put up a ton of points, but in a lot of those games they’ll also give up a lot of points. But giving up 35 to Air Force isn’t exactly a shameful thing, given how much scoring the Falcons have been doing this season. And the Warriors were matching every score Air Force got in the second half to ensure the game always stayed out of reach. The momentum from this win will be perfect to help the Warriors prepare for a big game against Utah State following the upcoming bye week.
8. Colorado State
- Last Week: 7
- Week 5 Game: 3-20 loss vs Washington State
- Next Week: at San Diego State
It turns out that Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi wasn’t really the problem despite all the talk about needing to bench him. The Rams’ offense looked just as incapable as it’s been for most of the season. The one thing keeping Colorado State from being much further down is a competent defense.
9. Air Force
- Last Week: 9
- Week 5 Game: 35-44 loss vs Hawaii
- Next Week: at Navy
The Falcons’ offense continues to look very good, having scored 35-plus points in each of the last two weeks and at least 30 in all four of their games. The only downside is that Air Force’s once-stout defense is averaging 47.3 points allowed to FBS teams. If there’s one consolation to that fact, it’s that two of those three FBS teams — Utah State and Boise State — rank inside the top 40 in points per game.
10. Wyoming
- Last Week: 10
- Week 5 Game: Bye
- Next Week: vs UNLV
Wyoming has the chance to play spoiler and get a signature win by hosting UNLV. The Rebels have looked incredibly mortal in their previous games and the Cowboys really need something coming off this bye having gone into the off week riding two straight defeats.
11. San Jose State
- Last Week: 11
- Week 5 Game: 29-30 loss at Stanford
- Next Week: vs New Mexico
I’m not sure words can really describe how much San Jose State blew that game against Stanford. Now, instead of a two-game win streak, including a win over a P4 opponent (even if it was just Stanford), the Spartans have to lick their wounds and gather their shattered pride off the floor and get ready for an unexpectedly tough home game against New Mexico.
12. Nevada
- Last Week: 12
- Week 5 Game: Bye
- Next Week: at Fresno State
No game and no further notes for Nevada until things change in a significant way for the struggling Wolf Pack.
Top Performers This Week (per PFF grading)
We’re shifting this week’s look at how PFF has graded the Mountain West away from who is the best all season to who were the best overall for just this week. I’ll also include a full-season ranking, though it’ll be scaled down from previous week.
Top Performers in Week 5 (Offense)
- Maddux Madsen (QB, Boise State) – 91.7
- Liam Szarka (QB, Air Force) – 91.3
- Quin Smith (WR, Air Force) – 90.5
- Jackson Harris (WR, Hawaii) – 89.2
- Micah Alejado (QB, Hawaii) – 88.4
Top Performers in Week 5 (Defense)
- Boen Phelps (LB, Boise State) – 94.2
- Jon Johnson (CB, New Mexico) – 86.4
- Jalen Smith (LB, Hawaii) – 85.1
- Gafa Faga (DT, San Jose State) – 83.6
- A’Marion McCoy (CB, Boise State) – 81.4
Best Season Grade (Offense)
- Liam Szarka (QB, Air Force) – 90.1
- Anthony Colandrea (QB, UNLV) – 90.0
- Quin Smith (WR, Air Force) – 88.3
- Jaiden Thomas (RB, UNLV) – 86.7
- Rayshon Luke (RB, Fresno State) – 86.7
Best Season Grade (Defense)
- Chris Johnson (CB, San Diego State) – 91.1
- Dylan Labarbera (EDGE, Nevada) – 88.5
- Jonathan Maldonado (EDGE, Nevada) – 86.4
- Gafa Faga (DT, San Jose State) – 85.6
- Brayden Johnson (LB, Wyoming) – 85.5
