On Saturday, the Fresno State Bulldogs won their matchup against the Cal Poly Mustangs. This win made them the only undefeated team in the Mountain West Conference (MWC).
Week 2 in the MWC had only one conference matchup: the Utah State Aggies visited the Air Force Falcons in Colorado Springs, Colo. Other than that, there were games against members of various conferences, from the Pac-12 (Arizona) to the Big Sky conferences (Cal Poly).
Boise State Broncos 63, UT Martin Skyhawks 14
After an embarrassing defeat by the Washington Huskies, Boise State sought to recover and prove that it was worthy of the MWC Championship.
Opening up its notorious blue turf for the 2013 season, it hosted the Skyhawks from the University of Tennessee at Martin. The Skyhawks, members of the Ohio Valley Conference, were coming off a victory from fellow Tennessee school University of Chattanooga.
The Broncos decided to waste as little time as possible in erasing their defeat from memory. However, an early lost fumble by Broncos quarterback Joe Southwick didn’t help their cause. Soon after, the Broncos would get the ball back as Skyhawks quarterback Dylan Favre (the nephew of ex-NFL great Brett Favre) threw an interception.
The Broncos scored the first touchdown of the game after nearly seven minutes. The Skyhawks tried to keep the game exciting, as Favre completed a touchdown pass to wide receiver Trent Garland to tie the game 7-7.
That would be the only activity the Skyhawks’ offense would see in the end zone for more than 34 minutes. The Broncos, on the other hand, kept the offense coming. Southwick would end the day throwing for 234 yards and five touchdowns. Shane Williams-Rhodes, the sophomore wide receiver, would catch two of those touchdowns out of seven receptions.
The Broncos would defeat the Skyhawks 63-14. They are now 1-1 in the season. Their first conference matchup will be on Saturday against the Air Force Falcons.
Utah State Aggies 52, Air Force Falcons 20
In the only intraconference game of the week, the Aggies traveled southeast to battle the Falcons.
After the Falcons were rejuvenated by a victory against Colgate University, the Aggies used a combination of passing and containment by the defense to get a victory. Aggie quarterback Chuckie Keeton threw for 360 yards and five touchdowns.
Falcon running back Jaleel Awini led the game in rushing. He had 11 carries for 48 yards and one touchdown.
The Aggies will return home to face Weber State University on Saturday. The Falcons will hit the road for the first time this season when they head to Boise, Idaho.
Wyoming Cowboys 42, Idaho Vandals 10
Despite a lack of scoring in the first quarter, the Cowboys had an offensive outburst during the second and third frames. Outscoring the Vandals 42-0 by the end of the third quarter, it was an easy game for Wyoming. The Vandals would score twice (a field goal and a 1-yard touchdown run) to put themselves on the board, but it was not enough.
Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns in the game. The Cowboys will head to Greeley, Colo., to face the University of Northern Colorado Bears.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane 30, Colorado State Rams 27
By the end of the third quarter, it looked as if the Rams would get their first victory of the season. They led 27-17 in a defensively dominated game.
But the Golden Hurricane refused to quell, and they rallied in the fourth quarter — outscoring the Rams 13-0 — to steal a victory at home.
Nearly seven minutes remained in the game when Tulsa quarterback Cody Green tied the score with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Derek Patterson. After two failed drives from the Rams, the Golden Hurricane had to move quickly – there was only about one minute left in the contest.
With the clock ticking down, Green made two clutch completions to Keyarris Garrett. A hefty rush by Trey Watts put the Golden Hurricane in field-goal range. The Rams used all of their timeouts late in an attempt to ice kicker Carl Salazar, but it didn’t work. The 34-yard field goal was good, and Tulsa slipped away with the victory as the clock struck zero.
The Rams will return to Denver 0-2 to face the Cal Poly Mustangs.
New Mexico Lobos 42, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners 35 OT
It was a game of “keep-away,” and it took some extra time to decide a winner.
The Lobos (1-1) began the scoring; making the only touchdown in the first quarter when running back Kasey Carrier made a 2-yard run. UTEP battled back early in the second quarter, tying the game 7-7. Afterward, there was back-and-forth scoring and by the half, the game was knotted at 21-21.
UTEP, symmetrically, scored the only touchdown in the third quarter to lead 28-21. The fourth quarter saw offensive production again. New Mexico scored twice in the fourth to take the lead, but UTEP’s Aaron Jones made the crucial, game-tying touchdown to tie the game at 35-35 and send it into overtime.
In overtime, Carrier scored the first – and most important – touchdown, running the ball 21 yards into the end zone to win the game, 42-35 for New Mexico. The Lobos will head to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh to face the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday.
Nevada Wolf Pack 36, UC Davis Aggies 7
After a tough loss to No. 21 UCLA, the Wolf Pack hosted the Aggies and played efficiently.
Wolf Pack quarterback Cody Fajardo threw for 239 yards and two scores, and the defense only allowed one touchdown by the Aggies to seal the victory.
Coming up next for the Wolf Pack is an even higher-ranked team: No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.
Oregon State Beavers 33, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 14
The Rainbow Warriors didn’t find their first victory in Eugene, Ore., as the Beavers took advantage of offensive blunders by Hawaii to hand the Warriors their second loss.
Third-down conversions were a weak point for Hawaii. It only converted one out of 11 attempts to get a first down. The Beavers led in all three offensive categories (passing, rushing and receiving); the highlight being a 372-yard performance by Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion.
Hawaii will have a bye week before visiting Nevada on Sept. 21.
Arizona Wildcats 51, UNLV Rebels 13
In their home opener of the season, the Rebels had a difficult time stopping the running Wildcats.
Despite trailing in offense and receiving (the Wildcats’ B.J. Denker only threw for 81 yards), the Wildcats kept the ball on the ground. A corps of six rushers carried the ball for 397 yards and five touchdowns, easily enough to defeat the Rebels.
Rebel quarterback Nick Sherry threw for 111 yards and a touchdown in the loss. He threw a costly interception in the second quarter, which increased Arizona’s lead to 38-6 at that point.
UNLV will face Central Michigan on Saturday.
No. 5 Stanford Cardinal 34, San Jose State Spartans 13
The Spartans, who won their first game of the season, did all they could not to let the game get out of hand.
They did score in the first three quarters, albeit only one of those scores was a touchdown. Stanford forced the Spartans to settle for field goals during their remaining drives inside the 20.
In the end, the Cardinal scored enough to come away with the victory. They scored one touchdown in each quarter and added field goals in the second and third quarters to seal the deal.
San Jose State will have a bye week before facing the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sept. 21.
No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes 42, San Diego State Aztecs 7
San Diego State faced its toughest opponent of the season. The Aztecs traveled to Columbus, Ohio, where they did all they could to prevent the game from getting out of hand.
In front of 104,984 Buckeye fans, Ohio State wasted no time, scoring a touchdown on its first possession of the game.
However, things went sour for the Buckeyes, as quarterback Braxton Miller left the game with a leg injury. Miller’s absence didn’t affect the game, as backup Kenny Guiton excelled in both the passing and running game. He threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns and had nine carries for 83 yards.
The Aztecs scored their only touchdown at the end of the third quarter. Wide receiver Chad Young caught a 2-yard pass from quarterback Quinn Kaehler for the score.
San Diego State will return to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to face the Oregon State Beavers.