Mountain West football round-up: Week 0

By Gio Gaxiola — Reporter

Fresno State (1-0, 0-0 MW) 45, UCONN (0-1, 0-0 Big East) 0

Senior quarterback Jack Haener lit up the score sheet on Saturday, completing 20 of his 26 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns. It was a big contribution to the 538 total yards

Fresno State was able to put up.  The Bulldog’s defense was able to stand stout and shut down the UCONN offense – especially on third down where the Huskies struggled going 2/16. Senior running back Kevin Mensah had 11 carries for only 31 yards. UCONN goes home to play host to Holy Cross University while Fresno State hits the road to face the University of Oregon.

UCLA (1-0, 0-0 PAC-12) 44, Hawaii (0-1, 0-0 MW) 10

The Rainbow Warriors offense was not ready for the Bruins defense on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore quarterback Chevan Cordeiro completed just 25 of his 47 pass attempts for 220 yards to go along with one touchdown and two interceptions.  The UCLA run game was a huge factor early on in the game. Junior running back Zach Charbonnet had six carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Brittain Brown also had a nice rushing day having 13 carries for 78 yards and one touchdown. UCLA will look to keep the strong running game alive when they play host to LSU on Saturday. Hawaii will head back home and play Portland State.

UTEP (1-0,  0-0 C-USA) 30, New Mexico State (0-1, 0-0 MW) 3

Sophomore kicker Ethan Albertson was the lone Aggie who was able to score on Saturday. Connecting on a 27-yard field goal. The rest of the scoring came from the Miners. Junior running back Ronald Awatt rushed the ball 11 times for 74 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Gavin Hardison completed 11 of his 16 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown and interception a piece. Junior kicker Gavin Baechle was also able to get in on the scoring, going a perfect three for three on field goals. UTEP will play host to Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. New Mexico State will hit the road and play conference foe San Diego State University. 

San Jose State (1-0, 0-0 MW) 45, Southern Utah (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky) 14

The reigning champions of the Mountain West picked up right where they left off on Saturday night. Graduate student quarterback Nick Starkel completed 16 of his 27 passes for 394 yards, four touchdowns and one interception – each touchdown caught by a different receiver. Senior running back Tyler Nevens also had a nice game carrying the ball 12 times for 91 yards and one touchdown. Senior linebacker Kyle Harmon once again led the team with nine tackles – four of those being solo tackles. The Thunderbirds had no answer for the Spartans, only mustering up 250 total yards of offense. Freshman cornerback Kobe Singleton had an interception that resulted in a touchdown. Southern Utah has a short week as they hit the road to face Arizona State on Thursday. SJSU will also hit the road to play No. 15 USC on Saturday. 

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