Mountain West football: Air Force, San Diego State set for title game
Nick Stevens passed for 264 yards and a touchdown, and Kevin Pierre-Louis’s interception late in the fourth quarter sealed Colorado State’s 28-21 win over New Mexico on Saturday night. Izzy Matthews’ 1-yard TD run with 8:41 left broke a 21-21 tie and capped off a 12-play, 87-yard drive for Colorado State (6-5, 4-3).
The loss knocked New Mexico out of contention for the Mountain Division championship and gives the title to Air Force outright. The Falcons (8-3, 6-1) put themselves in position to clinch after a 37-30 victory over Boise State on Friday night that eliminated the Broncos (7-4, 4-3) from contention.
UTAH ST. 31, NEVADA 27
LOGAN, Utah — Devante Mays ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and Kyler Fackrell recovered a fumble in the end zone in the fourth quarter as the Aggies (6-5, 5-3) scored the final 24 points. Nevada’s loss clinched the West Division title for San Diego State (7-3, 6-0), which played UNLV in a late game.
BYU 52, FRESNO ST. 10
PROVO, Utah — Tanner Mangum (Eagle High) threw for 336 yards on 24-of-37 passing as the Cougars (8-3) dominated the Bulldogs (3-8) for their sixth win in seven games. Kai Nacua intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown.
SAN DIEGO ST. 52, UNLV 14
LAS VEGAS — Donnel Pumphrey ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and the defense forced four turnovers as the Aztecs rolled over UNLV.
Rashad Penny added 81 yards rushing and a score for San Diego State (8-3, 7-0). The Aztecs clinched berth into the Mountain West Championship game and opened the season 7-0 in conference play for the first time in school history.
San Diego State has won five-straight games by at least 23 points, the longest active streak in FBS.
UNLV (3-8, 2-5) had nearly as many turnovers (five) as first downs (seven) in the first half and went into the break trailing 31-0. The Rebels were held to a season-low 80 yards rushing.
SAN JOSE ST. AT HAWAII
Late game in progress at press time
This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 12:16 AM with the headline "Mountain West football: Air Force, San Diego State set for title game."