Week 10 of the 2026 season is in the books, and it was another relatively quiet week for the Mountain West. A couple of spread favorites lost, but there weren’t many exciting games until the nightcap, when we were treated to one of the craziest football games in the history of the Mountain West. Let’s get right into the action from the Mountain West in Week 10.
No. 22 New Mexico 31, Nevada 3
The Scoop: I greatly underestimated just how trash Nevada is at the game of football. Marking their program’s debut as an AP Top 25 team,
New Mexico walked into a place they had never won on Friday night, hardly did anything all that special, and still decimated the Wolf Pack in front of a third-full stadium in a game that felt nowhere near as close as the final score would indicate. This was a pathetic performance by the Wolf Pack, one worthy of the brutally ugly uniforms that they brought back for this game.
The Lobos held the Wolf Pack to just six first downs and 97 total yards of offense. Nevada’s so-called “Air Raid run game” was held to a truly abominable -9 yards on the night, partially thanks to New Mexico’s four sacks. Meanwhile, a still visibly injured AJ Bianco was held to 106 yards on an atrocious 3.4 yards per attempt, that stat being heavily buoyed by a single 46-yard catch by Marshaun Brown near the end of the first half that led to the Wolf Pack’s only points of the game. Remove that pass and Bianco averaged exactly two yards per attempt.
Meanwhile, Nevada’s defense played admirably in the first half, shutting out the Lobos in the second quarter and forcing four UNM punts. However, with their own offense having an unbelievable 10 possessions result in four or fewer plays, they eventually were worn down by Scottre Humphrey and Toa Fa’avae, the latter having easily his best game of the season leading the offense. There is just no way around this performance for Nevada. They are an absolutely terrible football team that plays as such against every single team that has a pulse. Nevada is now on the verge of their fifth straight losing season, which is something the program has never done in its over 100-year history. Jeff Choate keeps on blaming his players, assistants, and sometimes even the fans after every loss, but perhaps in his quest to blame every single person on the planet for why his team keeps losing, he should seek answers from his household mirror.
New Mexico (8-1, 5-0 MW) heads back to University Stadium next week, hosting the other side of the Fremont Cannon series: the UNLV Rebels (5-4, 3-2 MW), taking place on Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. MST on The CW. Unlike Nevada, the Rebels are a very talented and well-coached football team that just can’t seem to get out of their own way defensively this year. I think New Mexico will be able to take the Rebels down, but unlike the Wolf Pack, the Lobos should not take UNLV lightly. A certain group of bison could tell the Lobos exactly what happens when you do that.
Nevada (3-6, 2-3 MW) will continue their descent into the pits of agony and despair next week when they go on the road to play the NIU Huskies (0-9, 0-5 MW) on Nov. 14 at 12:30 p.m. PST on MW+. Northern Illinois may be one of the worst teams in the country, but each of their last two games have resulted in competitive defeats on the road against UNLV and San Jose State. The Huskies are dying for a win, all while the Wolf Pack are still in the throws of a season with more injured/terrible quarterbacks than wins to this point. I’ll spare you the wait for the preview article, I think this game will give the Huskies their first—perhaps only—win of the year, which would be easily the darkest, most embarrassing moment in the history of Nevada Wolf Pack football.
San Jose State 30, NIU 19
The Scoop: I nearly hit the nail on the head with what would happen here. San Jose State decided to resume the QB carousel by starting Daniel Rolovich once again against the Huskies, but ended up using a 17-0 run in the second half to pull away from NIU and secure their fifth victory of the season, putting them just one win away from a return to a bowl game. Meanwhile, NIU’s march to a winless season rolls on with just three games left to go.
SJSU score 13 straight points to start the game, then the Huskies countered with two touchdowns and one failed PAT that left the game tied at 13-13. The Spartans ended up kicking a field goal before halftime to go up 16-13 at the half, then continued their run with two touchdowns in the third quarter that all but put the game away. What ended up being the Huskies’ undoing was their second half drive results. Thanks to a muffed punt that led to a Spartan touchdown, the Huskies had just five possessions in the second half. One resulted in a touchdown, and each of the other four resulted in a turnover on downs. I personally cannot remember the last time I have seen a team fail on fourth down four times in a half, especially considering they only had five possessions to do so.
The Huskies outgained the Spartans 400-316, and once their two turnovers are added to the mix, the realization must be sinking in for Huskies fans that this was yet another winnable game that they let slip away. The Spartans only ran for 85 yards against the worst run defense in the conference, although Viliami Teu did end up rumbling in for two touchdowns. This left Daniel Rolovich to try and carry his team to victory, and he performed surprisingly well, throwing for 231 yards, a touchdown and no picks. SJSU’s defense forced two turnovers, five sacks and eight TFLs, in what was yet another great game for one of the most underrated defenses in the conference.
NIU (0-9, 0-5 MW) will travel back home next week, facing off against the Nevada Wolf Pack (3-5, 2-2 MW) on Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. CST on MW+. I will be frank here, Nevada is NIU’s best chance of a victory this season. UTEP may get all the criticism for being an abysmal football team, but the Wolf Pack have been outscored 58-3 over their previous two games, playing some of the worst football in the nation entering this game. Despite NIU’s own string of terrible play this season, I believe in their ability to get it done here if they can avoid making mistakes.
San Jose State (5-5, 3-3 MW) will head on the road next week, facing off against the red-hot Air Force Falcons (7-2, 3-2 MW) on Nov. 14 at 4:00 p.m. PST on CBSSN. Unfortunately for Spartan fans, their last three games each look to be extremely difficult to win. SJSU will end up having to upset either the Falcons, UNLV or NDSU in order to reach a bowl game, which leads me to believe that this will be yet another season where the Spartans fail to reach their preseason goal. Should have beaten Nevada, I suppose.
Air Force 24, Army 21
The Scoop: The Falcons won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the first time since 2022 on Saturday, taking down rival Army 24-21 to snap a three-game losing streak to the Black Knights. It certainly was not a pretty game, but the Falcons fought through adversity to come back after blowing a big lead to accomplish a goal arguably more important for the Falcons than a conference championship.
Air Force scored on the game’s second possession, altough rather appropriately, that field goal came in the second quarter due to how much time was being wasted by the triple option duel. After an Army turnover on downs, the teams traded touchdowns on their next three possessions, going into the half with the Falcons up 17-7. Army scored 14 points in the third quarter to recapture the lead, but Air Force responded with a touchdown to open the fourth quarter and never looked back.
The Falcons outgained the Black Knights 344-220 on the game, rushing for 260 yards to Army’s 182. Over half of AFA’s yardage (176) came in the fourth quarter, which allowed them to drain 11:09 off the clock in the crucial final frame. Evan Medders actually had an efficient game passing the ball, going 6-of-8 for 84 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers. This came in stark contrast to Cade Hellums, whose 38 passing yards on 10 attempts resulted in no touchdowns and a pick. This was a massive confidence-booster for Air Force, one that should carry them through the rest of their season with an extra pep in their step.
Air Force (7-2, 3-2 MW) will finally get back to Mountain West play next week, heading back home to host San Jose State (5-5, 3-3 MW) on Nov. 14 at 5:00 p.m. MST on CBSSN. The Spartans got off their two-game skid this week with a victory over the lowly Huskies, but SJSU is playing some pretty terrible football this season. I don’t think the Falcons will really have too much trouble with their opponents in the next two weeks, which should set up a phenomenal showdown in Albuquerque in the final week of the regular season.
Hawaii 17, UTEP 14
The Scoop: In this week’s battle of bottom-feeders, Hawaii managed to narrowly escape El Paso with their third win of the year, keeping their slim bowl game hopes alive for at least one more week. Hawaii jumped out to a 10-0 lead, with the teams trading touchdowns the rest of the way. UTEP made the game 17-14 with a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors clearly took a trick or two out of the Air Force playbook with a masterful 13-play, 40 yard drive that ran out the remaining 6:57 of the clock and ensured victory for the ‘Bows.
Micah Alejado had another 300-yard game, most of that going to WR Titan Lacaden, whose 11-for-109, 1 TD line was a career high in all categories. UTEP actually found some success on the ground tonight, going for 179 yards and a touchdown, but an inconsistent 9-for-18 day by Raymond Moore III was the primary reason the Miners could not find much offensive rhythm.
There really isn’t much to talk about with regards to this game. Hawaii shouldn’t celebrate a three-point win over UTEP too much, but at this point in their absolute calamity of a season, I think they’re grateful for wins however they can get them. Meanwhile, there is little solace for UTEP outside of the now nearly-certain firing of Scotty Walden at the end of the season. The Miners look set to be one of the worst teams in the conference for a long time to come, which is a shame considering the beauty of their stadium and ferocious rivalry potential with New Mexico if they could simply get their act together.
Hawaii (3-6, 2-4 MW) will head back to the islands next week, hosting North Dakota State (7-2, 4-2 MW) on Nov. 14 at 5:00 p.m. HST on The CW. NDSU was on a bye this week, but the Bison have thus far struggled on the road in conference play. Their only win was a six-point win over Air Force that saw them lead by as much as 22 at one point, while their two losses were nail-biters against UNLV and New Mexico where their offense could not stop messing up. This is the kind of game that can make or break a tenure. Hawaii definitely has a chance in this game with the talent they possess, but I doubt they will be able to pull it off in the end.
UTEP (1-8, 0-5 MW) will stay in the Sun Bowl next week, hosting conference contender Wyoming (6-3, 5-1 MW) on Nov. 14 at 8:00 p.m. MST on MW+. The Cowboys are coming off of a crazy win over UNLV, currently in position to control their fate in the race for a MW title game berth. I see absolutely zero chance UTEP upsets the Cowboys, this game is very likely to be another blowout.
Wyoming 41, UNLV 35
The Scoop: This game seems to have been slow-cooked in a smoker made from the pure, undistilled chaos that has been flowing from every corner of the college football world this season. Las Vegas was treated to a game like no other, one where each team had to use multiple quarterbacks and defense did not seem to exist in any meaningful fashion. Wyoming jumped out to a 24-7 lead, then played a game of scoring ping-pong with the Rebels, eventually growing their lead to 41-21. The Cowboys’ offense then began collapsing at the seams, which allowed the Rebels to get back in it, threatening to take the lead late. Unfortunately, UNLV then threw a lame-duck pick in the end zone which sealed an upset victory for the Cowboys, thus clinching Wyoming’s first bowl game since 2023 and putting them firmly in the drivers’ seat for a MW Championship Game berth.
Tyler Hughes started the game playing brilliantly, leading the Cowboys to that 24-7 lead with four consecutive scoring drives and 178 total yards against UNLV’s increasingly porous defense. Unfortunately, after a UNLV touchdown drive, Hughes suffered an injury to his throwing arm on a sack-fumble that gave the Rebels another touchdown, forcing backup QB Landon Sims into the game. Sims led the offense to two straight scoring drives before the end of the first half, leaving the score at a ludicrous 34-21 entering the break. At that point, UNLV had just 86 yards of offense despite scoring 21 points.
Jackson Arnold continued to play horrible football in the second half, eventually being benched to cap off a miserable day where he completed just seven of his 18 passes for 83 yards. Sims led another touchdown drive in the third quarter, but then was held to two three-and-outs and a four-and-out on the Cowboys’ next three drives. This allowed the UNLV offense, now led by backup QB Alex Orji, to finally wake up and score back-to-back touchdowns to cut the deficit to 41-35. The Rebels threatened again with a drive that went all the way down to Wyoming’s 11-yard line with under two minutes to play, but an ill-advised meatball sub from Orji was picked off in the end zone by Tyson Shamsid-Deen, ending the threat. It seemed like UNLV would be able to get the ball back quickly when Wyoming started with a disastrous blocking scheme on an obvious run play, but RB Samuel Harris broke tackles from four separate UNLV defenders, reversed across the field, and flew past everybody on a 49-yard backbreaker that looked like a tribute to Marcus Allen’s famous run in Super Bowl XVIII. Wyoming ran the rest of the clock out from there, securing their much-deserved victory.
To say UNLV’s defense was gashed all night is an insult to the term. The Cowboys racked up 483 yards of offense, including an absurd 351 yards and three TDs on the ground. Harris had a breakout game in addition to his game-sealing scamper, rushing 17 times for 128 yards and two TDs, being joined in the 100-yard club by fellow back Markell Holman. Meanwhile, the Rebels ran for a much less impressive 163 yards on 39 carries, most of which came from Jet Thomas’ 16-for-96, two TD line. If not for several Wyoming mistakes and the potentially devastating injury to Hughes, this game would have been a total rout. Then again, if UNLV had a real defense or quarterback, they wouldn’t be staring down the barrel of a 5-4 record with a tough two-week road trip coming up. Thankfully for Rebels fans everywhere, they get to play their pathetic excuse for a rival at home in their final game of the season, so rest assured that UNLV will reach a bowl game in 2026, though that will hardly settle the Rebel fans who expected so much more from this squad.
Wyoming (6-3, 5-1 MW) is currently in the drivers’ seat to make a storybook run to the Mountain West Championship Game entering their next game: a road trip to El Paso to face the UTEP Miners (1-8, 0-5 MW) on Nov. 14 at 8:00 p.m. MST on MW+. The Miners are coming off of a three-point loss to Hawaii, which was their first FBS game of the season with a final score margin of less than 13 points. The Miners are a truly abysmal team this season, which should absolutely make them easy pickings for the Cowboys. This will allow them to be set up nicely for their most important game of the season: a home game against New Mexico in Week 12.
UNLV (5-4, 3-2 MW) is all but out of MW title game consideration, but their march to clinch a bowl game rolls on when they head to Albuquerque for a matchup against the conference-leading No. 22 New Mexico Lobos (8-1, 5-0 MW) on Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. PST on The CW. The Lobos are coming off of a 31-3 thrashing of Nevada, and will be riding high after likely securing a spot in the CFP poll for the first time. The Lobos are a playoff contender that has shown no signs of slowing down, which sounds especially amazing against a Rebels defense that currently looks like one of the worst in the nation.
