Welcome to another edition of “Friday Five”. Fall camp has arrived and the Pac-12 and Mountain West have reached a settlement on the lawsuit. We can finally just focus on ball.
The “departing five” have left to reform the Pac-12. The Mountain West has added the likes of North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, and UTEP to fill the gaps. We at the Mountain West Connection intend to cover both conferences going forward. “Friday Five” will feature the five best of, well, anything leading into football
season, alternating between each conference week-to-week. Best quarterbacks, stadiums, mascots, who knows. We’re open to your ideas! This week, we start off with Friday Five running backs in the Mountain West Conference.
5. Scottre Humphrey, New Mexico
Humphrey arrived to New Mexico from the Big Sky Conference, rushing for 1,386 yards and sixteen touchdowns for Montana State in 2024. A potential breakout candidate, Damon Bankston ended up leading the team in rushing followed by now Tulsa Golden Hurricane D.J. McKinney. Humphrey tallied 349 rushing yards and five touchdowns, and at 5’10” 209 lbs he profiles as the next lead back for a New Mexico offense that should thrive. Expect a breakout season from Humphrey.
4. DJ Scott, North Dakota State
You can expect this to be a common theme on this list: the teams that run the ball tend to be the ones with effective running backs. Barika Kpeenu rushed for 1,005 yards last season, leading the way for the Bison. Quarterback Cole Payton absorbed a lot of the rushing totals as well, but that didn’t stop DJ Scott from rushing for 502 yards on only 92 carries. This isn’t a difficult projection. Barring an injury, with Kpeenu and Payton gone, Scott is next in line to command a carry total that will have him chasing the postseason all-conference lists. Expect a 1,000+ yard season from the running back from Florida.
3. Samuel Harris, Wyoming
There will be a lot of parallels between North Dakota State and Wyoming going forward. The programs tied by Craig Bohl and the various coaches that have been a part of both programs, you can expect one constant: an emphasis on running the ball. In truth, Wyoming has had a bit of a rough time on offense under Jay Sawvel, but if the rushing attack is to lead the way to better times, look for Samuel Harris to be the focal point. Harris rushed for 558 yards as a freshman last fall and added 184 receiving yards too. The new offense is expected to throw to the running backs more often this season. If healthy, Harris could rack up a bunch of yardage on the ground and through the air.
2. Owen Allen, Air Force
Again, you can expect certain teams to run the ball a lot. Air Force seems to be forgotten in the debates of conference contenders, but fade them at your own risk. With quarterback Liam Szarka sure to stress out defenses, expect running back Owen Allen to have ample running room. Allen rushed for 750 yards on 132 carries in 2025 and will command an even larger carry total this upcoming season. I’m projecting a big season for the running back from Southlake, Texas.
1. Jai’Den Thomas, UNLV
I’m guessing readers didn’t have to see the article picture to guess who was going to be number one on this list. Credit to UNLV football and support system, hanging onto Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas is no easy task in this era of Power Four portal shopping. Thomas returns to Vegas having rushed for 1,036 yards on only 148 carries, an astonishing 7 yards per carry. Thomas also added 237 receiving yards to the mix. Scoring twelve times, Thomas is as good a bet as any to win offensive player of the year in the conference. Expect him to dominate and threaten for All-America honors.
Others in consideration: There weren’t a ton of great producers returning within the Mountain West, but I think Northern Illinois’ Telly Johnson, Nevada’s Herschel Turner (the Utah State transfer), UTEP’s Tavorus Jones (coming from the SEC’s Missouri) and Hawaii’s Cam Barfield all warrant some respect going into this fall. As usual, apologies if I missed anyone.
