Week 1 of the 2026 season is in the books, and the Mountain West is already starting to kick into high gear. After this week, we already have a relatively clear idea of who the contenders, mid-pack, and bottom-feeders of this conference will be. Let’s take a look at this teams, how this week went, and what their immediate outlook seems to be heading into Week 2.
San Jose State 27, Eastern Michigan 21
The Scoop: I found myself perplexed as to why Eastern Michigan was favored entering this game, and their performance against the Spartans
was exactly what I expected. Trailing by four entering the fourth quarter, SJSU held Noah Kim and the EMU offense scoreless the rest of the way, holding on for a 27-21 victory. The Spartans looked like the better team for the most part, with the only reason for the tight final score being their own persistent errors.
SJSU lost the turnover battle, went sack-less on defense, and had a staggering 100 penalty yards throughout the game. Outside of that, the Spartans were great. Luke Weaver went 23-of-39 for 316 yards and three touchdowns, while Jabari Bates had 20 carries for 119 yards, outpacing the Eagles’ team rushing total single-handedly. If not for the mistakes the Spartans seem to have an affinity for making, this game would not have been close whatsoever. This style will allow them to beat a bad MAC team like Eastern Michigan, but it definitely will not fly against the elites of their schedule down the stretch.
San Jose State (1-1) will travel back home this week, hosting their home opener on Sept. 12 at 6:00 p.m. PDT on MW+. Their opponent will be the Cal Poly Mustangs (1-0), who won their season opener against Idaho in thrilling fashion,
#10 Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0
The Scoop: Let’s make this one quick. Apparently, my prediction of 41-3 being the final of this game gave far too much credit to the Miners. UTEP was at least able to move the ball somewhat, with their 189 yards of offense being only slightly dwarfed by Oklahoma’s 401, led by John Mateer’s 225 yards on just 11 completions. UTEP’s 13 offensive drives resulted in five punts, two fumbles, a turnover on downs, both end of halves, and a kicker whose days with the Miners are numbered. Carlos Arreola missed all three of his field goal attempts, going wide on kicks from 33, 51 and 40 yards, respectively. In other words, UTEP looked good in precisely zero phases of the game, a fact which does not bode well for any sort of success this season.
UTEP (0-1) travels back to the RGV for their home opener on Sept. 12 at 7:00 p.m. MDT, also on MW+. They will be hosting the Texas Southern Tigers (1-0), who defeated NC Central in their first game of the season,
Air Force 34, Duquesne 0
The Scoop: Air Force moved to 30-0 all-time against FCS opponents on Saturday, defeating Duquesne 34-0 in a game that never felt even remotely close. The Dukes were held to 107 yards and two turnovers by the Falcon front, being harassed all day on that side of the ball. Offensively, Air Force looked even better. Despite Liam Szarka’s 19 total passing yards, the Falcons obliterated the Duke defense on the ground, racking up 431 yards and four touchdowns rushing despite no player having more than 74 yards. This was classic mastery of the triple option that we have come to expect from Troy Calhoun’s AFA squad over the years.
Air Force (1-0) will be staying home this week, having the honor of hosting North Dakota State (2-0) on Sept. 12 at 8:00 p.m. MDT for the Bison’s first Mountain West Conference game. The Bison roll into this game off the back of two dominant victories against Jacksonville State and Fordham, but have yet to play a game on the road as an FBS team so far. This is a massive opportunity for the Falcons to assert themselves as a Mountain West contender in 2026.
North Dakota State 38, Fordham 0
The Scoop: Not much to go over here once again, NDSU looked about as good this week as they did in Week 0. After an admittedly slow start, the Bison scored 35 points in the second and third quarters before cruising to an easy shutout win. NDSU forced Fordham into four turnovers and just 135 total yards of offense. Just for good measure, the Bison also went 3/4 on third down, proving that they can dominate a game at any given time.
North Dakota State (2-0) will go on the road for the first time as an FBS team next week, doing so in their first-ever Mountain West Conference game on Sept. 12 at 9:00 p.m. CDT against the Air Force Falcons (1-0). AFA is coming off of a dominant win over Duquesne, and will be itching to take the Bison down a peg in their MW debut.
#22 Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0
The Scoop: NIU’s first game as a member of the Mountain West literally could not have gone any worse. Playing against a tough team, NIU looked like they outright did not belong on the same field as the Hawkeyes, getting blown out in humiliating fashion. Huskies fans may have had some hope with regards to how their team would perform entering this season, but that has long since passed after a performance like this. Iowa is known for phenomenal defense, but even they are susceptable to giving up some points to the right opponent. It didn’t look that way here, as it took a Hawkeye pass interference penalty with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter for the Huskies to get their first first down of the game.
The Huskies wound up with just 120 yards of offense, with a pitiful seven coming on the ground. That’s already horrific, but the real issue was in how the Huskies’ defense made the Hawkeyes look like 2019 LSU on offense, racking up a ridiculous 33 points and 377 total yards by halftime. Iowa was 0/3 on fourth down and had just 129 passing yards, but still were able to rack up points and yards like they were going out of style. There’s just no getting around it. Considering everything about this game, Northern Illinois was far and away the worst Mountain West team of the week, without question.
NIU (0-1) will attempt to rebound on Sept. 12 at 6:00 p.m. CDT when they host FCS team Illinois State (2-0) for their debut on MW+. The Redbirds are the No. 4 ranked FCS team in the nation, and have outscored their two opponents by a combined 117-10, so I think it’s more than safe to say the Huskies are on upset alert next week.
Colorado State 35, Wyoming 13
The Scoop: I predicted this would be a close, low-scoring affair, and I was correct in that assessment for a while, with the score sitting at 14-13 CSU in the third quarter. However, Jim Mora’s Rams went on a 21-0 run to end the game, taking a massive victory for their program and handing their hated rival Cowboys yet another humiliating loss.
New Cowboy QB Tyler Hughes had a rough outing, throwing for just 130 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions. The Cowboys’ defense did the offense no favors, failing to record a sack and allowing Ram QB Hauss Hejny to throw for five touchdowns. At least Wyoming’s ground game recorded 34 carries for 143 yards, but even that was surpassed by the Rams’ 33-for-152 statline on the ground. There really is just not a way you can spin this game to where it was not a complete embarrassment for Wyoming, and where Jay Sawvel’s seat did not get much hotter.
Wyoming (0-1) will now play their home opener on Sept. 12 at 2:00 p.m. MDT, hosting FCS team Northern Colorado (0-2), a team who, ironically, nearly took out the Rams in their last FBS game. The Bears are coming off of back-to-back home losses of a combined 16 points. With how Wyoming looked in this game, I could easily see a world where they take an even bigger tumble against UNC.
UNLV 21, Hawaii 6
The Scoop: Now here’s a surprise. UNLV winning is not the surprise, since I’m used to my predictions blowing up in my face. The surprise is how the Rebels won. UNLV used their defense and ground game, both of which looked awful in Week 0, to run over the Warriors while Jackson Arnold completed just eight passes. This game revealed that the Rebels can compete in games in a variety of ways, which is a scary prospect for the rest of the conference.
Arnold and Jai’Den Thomas combined for 36 carries for 232 yards and all three of the Rebels’ touchdowns, dominating a Hawaii run defense that allowed 173 yards on the ground in their loss to Stanford a week ago. Micah Alejado completed just 17 of his 41 passes with no touchdowns and an interception, while Hawaii’s 33 carries resulted in just 118 yards. UNLV sacked Alejado five times while Arnold was only sacked once. This was pure domination from the Rebels in all phases of the game outside of the passing game, which will surely be fine going forward. As for Hawaii, their CFP hopes are flat-out over, since they do not have any more resume-building games on their schedule. What a disappointing two weeks it has been for the ‘Bows.
UNLV (1-1, 1-0 MW) will head to Denton, TX for a game against the North Texas Mean Green (0-1) on Sept. 12 at 12:45 p.m. on ESPNU. While the Mean Green were a CFP contender last year, they were raided of their roster when head coach Eric Morris was hired away by Oklahoma State, and are trying to find themselves under new coach Neal Brown. This should be a winnable game for the Rebels.
Hawaii (0-2, 0-1 MW) will stay at home for their next game, hosting the New Mexico State Aggies (1-1) at 6:00 p.m. HST on MW+. The Aggies kept things competitive with Florida State in Week 0, then dominated Mercyhurst in their home opener yesterday. Hawaii should win this game, but then again, they should have won each of their previous two games as well.
New Mexico 38, Central Michigan 7
The Scoop: Many people, myself included, figured New Mexico would struggle somewhat in Week 1, given their offensive uncertainty surrounding the loss of Jack Layne to injury. The Lobos immediately proved that thinking to be faulty, dominating Central Michigan in a game that was never even slightly competitive. New Mexico really did prove that they are a quality team capable of winning despite adversity, lending credibility to those that claim them to be true CFP frontrunners this season.
Luke Moga and Toa Fa’avae combined for 159 passing yards and a touchdown, the former seemingly cementing himself as the starter with his performance. UNM’s ground game led the way, combining for 205 yards and three TDs across 44 carries. The Lobos’ defense also deserves a ton of credit, holding the Chips to just 30 passing yards against three sacks and two turnovers. They also held CMU’s run game in check, only allowing 119 yards across 32 carries, and shutting out their opponent for the first 55 minutes of the game.
New Mexico (1-0) next will be hosting FCS team Mercyhurst (0-2) on Sept. 12 at 2:00 p.m. MDT on MW+. The Lakers have lost their two games by a combined 70 points, the latest of which came at the hands of hated Lobo in-state rival New Mexico State. This should be an easy win for New Mexico, given how thoroughly they dismantled the Chips this week.
Nevada 49, Western Kentucky 14
The Scoop: Now we reach the biggest surprise of the week. I predicted Nevada would lose yet another one-score game here, and that the Wolf Pack would need to go out there and prove me wrong for me to trust them in predictions. Well, Nevada did go out there on Saturday and shove a massive middle finger in the face of pundits, odds-makers, journalists and doubtful fans alike, beating the crap out of a solid Western Kentucky team for 60 straight minutes. Despite a few mistakes here and there, Nevada looked better than any delusional fans could have even dreamed of.
Nevada’s long-struggling offense ran like the days of prime Pistol offense Chris Ault, racking up 486 total yards of offense, 323 of them and five touchdowns coming on the ground (7.7 YPC). RB Dominic Kelly ran for 72 yards on a simple counter play on the second play of the game, setting the tone en route to a 11-for-152, 2 TD night of excellence. Carter Jones accounted for 213 yards of offense and two passing TDs, looking poised and confident outside of a terrible interception in the second quarter.
Nevada’s offensive line dominated a solid WKU defense, allowing just three TFLs and no sacks. Nevada, meanwhile, had six TFLs, two turnovers and three sacks, allowing the Tops to rack up 367 yards of offense, but still holding them to seven points up until their final drive against Nevada’s backups. This was an unexpectedly dominant showing, and Nevada may have just revealed themselves to be genuine MW contenders in 2026. However, their greatest test may still be ahead.
Nevada (1-0) stays at home next week, hosting the No. 1 team at the FCS level, the defending national champion Montana State Bobcats (2-0), at 7:30 p.m. PST on The CW. Montana State, the former employers of Nevada Head Coach Jeff Choate, have outscored their two opponents by a combined 105-24, meaning that this will be a much tougher game than most FCS opponents should be expected to be. If Nevada wins this game, they will surely be cemented among the contenders of this conference, without a doubt.
