2026 Mountain West Football Week 3 Recap

Week 3 of the 2026 season is in the books, and it was a lot milder for the Mountain West as a whole. The limited slate of games saw just two one-score contests, one of which saw a known contender assert themselves as a national threat, and the other seeing a hopeful contender sinking straight back into being an embarrassment to their fans. Without further ado, let's get into the MW slate in Week 3.

The Scoop: There is but one takeaway from a performance like this: Jay Sawvel is as good as gone in Laramie. Entering this game, Central Michigan had just narrowly beaten FCS team Colgate by scoring just 13 points, serving up the second worst offense in the country in terms of yardage. The Chips proceeded to have their best game of the season by far against the Cowboys, beating Wyoming by 14 in a game that was nowhere near as close as the final score would indicate.

Central Michigan had their way with Wyoming on the ground, carrying the ball 59 times for a whopping 339 yards and three touchdowns. QB Angel Flores, while completing just four passes for 32 yards, was still the engine of the offense, racking up 28 carries for 163 yards and two of those touchdowns. Flores' counterpart, Tyler Hughes, was absolutely abhorrent on the day, completing just 14 of 30 passes for 173 yards and two interceptions.

Wyoming was able to somewhat get the run game going, averaging 5.8 YPC on their 28 carries, but a sizeable portion of that production came after the Cowboys went down 24-3 at the end of the third quarter. To be precise, 193 of Wyoming's 342 total yards came in the fourth quarter, once the Chippewas were simply playing to close the game out. There is no way to spin this outcome that is not a complete embarrassment for Wyoming, which now looks like it will be one of the worst teams in the country this season.

Wyoming (1-2) will travel back home to Laramie for their conference opener next week, hosting the equally struggling Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (1-2, 0-1 MW) on Sept. 26 at 1:00 p.m. MDT. Hawaii was on a bye this week, but had finally gotten their season back on track somewhat with a win over New Mexico State the week before. This will be a battle of who wants to lose more, which by the looks of things will end up being the Cowboys. There will almost certainly be a coaching change before the end of the season here.

The Scoop: This game ended up being a tale of two halves. In the first half, UTEP took it to Michigan in the Big House, consistently exposing the Wolverines ' many flaws. The Miners capitalized on two Michigan fumbles to put themselves up 14-7 midway through the second quarter, sparking dreams of a miracle upset, shades of 2007 Appalachian State. Unfortunately, after that, the Miners had just 32 yards of offense the rest of the way, all while Michigan scored on every single remaining drive, save for kneeling out the end of the game. UTEP played admirably for a while, but once Michigan started taking the game somewhat seriously, there was very little the Miners could actually do.

UTEP (1-2) will travel back to El Paso for an important nonconference contest next week, hosting the Oregon State Beavers (1-2) on Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. MDT. Oregon State started their season off with two straight losses, albeit both competitive contests against top-25 teams. OSU is led by an explosive offense, highlighted by the nation's leading receiver, freshman Jesse Legree. UTEP likely won't keep this one very close, but it is an important contest nonetheless.

The Scoop: Turns out the Western Kentucky game was nothing more than an enormous fluke after all. Jeff Choke made his triumphant return, as the Wolf Pack blew a fourth-quarter lead with a cavalcade of bad play-calling and stupid mistakes, losing to Middle Tennessee by one score for the second year in a row. This game went the exact way I expected, the only difference was the fact that MTSU got one more field goal than I expected them to.

Carter Jones made his return from his dubious injury, accounting for 212 yards of offense, a rushing TD, and a terrible interception at the Blue Raiders' 11-yard line that killed a potential scoring drive in the third quarter. Nevada also fumbled twice inside their own 30-yard line, both of which led to Blue Raider touchdowns. In addition, the Pack had a Gerick Robinson punt return TD overturned due to an unnecessary holding penalty away from the ball. To be frank, however, Nevada would have never been in this game at all if not for several MTSU penalties, the vast majority of which were on third down.

Nevada averaged just 2.2 YPC on their 34 rush attempts, weighed down heavily by several disastrous jet sweeps, as well as a 4th and 2 run up the gut in the fourth quarter that sealed Nevada's long-obvious fate. Even without those terrible plays, the Wolf Pack would have still wound up stifled by MTSU's defense, which racked up four TFLs and a sack-fumble on Jones. I haven't even mentioned Nevada's defense being destroyed by MTSU's backfield, which racked up 157 rushing yards and just one play for negative yards all night long.

Nevada is now a disgusting 3-10 in one-score games in the last three seasons. This was simply a performance going back to classic Nevada under Jeff Choate, whose seat would be flaming-hot if not for the fact that the university already has a massive buyout to pay out due to their last failure of a head coaching hire. Just another day in Reno, I guess.

Nevada (1-2) will travel back to Northern Nevada to host Air Force (1-1, 0-1 MW) for their conference opener on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. PDT. The Pack have not beaten the Falcons since 2018, and Air Force was blown out by North Dakota State in their conference opener, but given Coach Choate's previous comments about revenge games, Nevada will be playing with zero extra passion, execution, or urgency in this contest. Air Force has shown typically excellent ability to run the ball with their triple-option offense, which does not bode well for Nevada, given how they were ripped apart on the ground last night. No matter what, this game will result in yet another one-score loss

The Scoop: I predicted New Mexico would keep it very close with Oklahoma in this one, and they did exactly that. On a night dominated by defense, the Lobos trailed just 7-6 at halftime, forcing John Mateer into mistake after mistake while completely shutting down OU's run game. Unfortunately, UNM's offense never got going in this one, going scoreless in the second half to walk away with a hard-fought, yet ultimately disappointing 14-6 loss. The Lobos' defense is going to be a problem this season, and they deserve a medal for how they shut down the Sooners' offense in this game. They forced four puntes, three turnovers, a sack, and six TFLs on the night, keeping the OU offense in check all night.

New Mexico's biggest problem was their cycle of quarterback hokey-pokey continuing in this match, as Teo Fa'avae and Luke Moga each completed four passes for a combined 116 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. This allowed OU's defense to focus on the run, averaging just 1.6 YPC on the Lobos' 38 attempts. One of New Mexico's offensive lapses was particularly painful, as the Lobos got the ball at Oklahoma's 39-yard line after a muffed punt, only to go three-and-out with -1 yards on the drive. Get something on that drive and maybe UNM's game-ending turnover on downs looks a little bit different. Nonetheless, the Lobos have arrived in the national spotlight. They are frontrunners for the CFP in 2026, especially if they can get their offense sorted out.

New Mexico (2-1) will travel back to the Land of Enchantment next weekend, only they won't be going to Albuquerque. Instead, they will be heading down south to take on loathed in-state rivals New Mexico State (1-2) on Sept. 26 at 1:30 p.m. MDT. NMSU was on a bye this week, with their previous game being a 10-point loss at Hawaii. The Aggies should be no threat to the Lobos given the latter's level of performance this season, but that doesn't mean that they will be shown any mercy in this contest.

The Scoop: I'll give the Huskies some credit here, they played much better than I expected they would. NIU was clearly playing mad early in this one, jumping out to a 10-0 lead while outgaining the Wildcats 106 to minus-five. After that, the Wildcats went on a 42-0 run that involved QB Noah Fifita breaking Arizona's all-time passing record, going 31-of-34 for 325 yards with four TDs and no INTs. In his first start as a Huskie, Taron Dickens completed 25 passes for 228 yards and a TD with no turnovers, so there is certainly potential offensively. I will need to see more from the Huskies' defense to truly believe in their ability to win in the Mountain West, but games like this where they actually show some life give me far more hope than their blowout loss to Iowa. Good game, NIU. You're getting there.

NIU (0-3) will complete their nonconference schedule with a trip to Atlanta, GA to take on the Georgia State Panthers (2-1) on Sept. 26 at 1:00 p.m. CDT. Whereas the Panthers would normally be a total pushover, they are off to a hot start this season, taking down reigning C-USA champion Kennesaw State on the road and giving UCF more than their fair share this weekend. This would be a big win for the Huskies if they can pull it off.

The Scoop: A great bounceback win here for UTEP, who took their frustrations out on poor Texas Southern, destroying them for the game's last 35 minutes. After the Tigers took the lead, 10-7 in the second quarter, the Miners scored the game's final 44 points for a convincing win via rout. E.J. Colson threw for 239 yards and four touchdowns, while the Miners' 33 carries resulted in 252 yards and three touchdowns. Tiger QBs were held to just 99 passing yards and an interception, and Texas Southern's offense was held to just 34 yards after taking their 10-7 lead. This was a typical FCS win, but an impressive one for the Miners nonetheless.

UTEP (1-1) will travel next week to Ann Arbor, MI to take on the Michigan Wolverines at 1:30 p.m. MDT on Big Ten Network. Michigan's official record is 2-0, but the college football world, AP voters, and basic logic and reason state that they lost their home opener to Western Michigan before taking down a struggling Oklahoma the next week. UTEP already was blown out by the Sooners, so playing the Wolverines will likely not bring better results to the fans in El Paso.

The Scoop: One may look at the 21-point margin of victory here and say that Sac State performed better against the Bison than expected, but I'd say this has more to do with NDSU offensive sluggishness in the second half than anything the Hornets pulled on the field. Nathan Hayes completed just 14 of 24 passes, and the Bison only had 362 yards of offense, but one must also consider the fact that the Bison led 28-0 with 11:24 left in the second quarter and ask whether NDSU was even trying after that. This was a thorough beatdown, but NDSU never pulled their starters so I supposed the Hornets have earned a slight pat on the back for that. The Bison, meanwhile, look just as imposing a threat to the Mountain West as they have all season. The CFP is a real possibility now.

North Dakota State finally has their first bye week of the season this week, returning when they host their first home conference game against Wyoming (1-2) on Oct. 3 at 2:30 p.m. CDT. Wyoming is a terrible team on the verge of firing their coach, so I have no problem believing that this will be an utter rout with the Bison having a full week to prepare.

The Scoop: Finally, we have the game that you can't help but wish had been better than it was. The first 50 minutes of this game were a defensive showcase, with neither team's quarterback ever looking comfortable. The Bulldogs led 6-3 at the half, and the game was 13-10 after a SJSU touchdown in the fourth quarter. After that, however, the Spartans had two interceptions and two turnovers on downs on their last four drives, making the final score look far worse than it actually was.

The two teams were evenly matched in nearly every statistical category, save for turnovers, where the Spartans lost the battle (and the game) 4-0. Luke Weaver threw for 244 yards and a TD, but had a dreadful four interceptions against a 'Dogs defense that had just one on the season prior to this game. Worse yet, three of the four picks were on deep balls thrown inside Fresno State's 40-yard line, killing all momentum SJSU had at the worst possible times. Probably the more alarming stat was Jabari Bates going for just 94 yards on 19 carries, showcasing the main way the Bulldogs found to beat the Spartans: you beat Bates, you beat San Jose State. At least Anthony Ivey (7-for-150) starred at wideout, but that's about as comforting as a blanket made out of a cactus at this point. This was nothing short of total deflation for San Jose State, which is a bad thing to happen at the outset of conference play.

San Jose State (2-2) will have their first bye week of the season this week, preparing for a trip to Honolulu to face Hawaii (1-2, 0-1 MW) on Oct. 3 at 9:00 p.m. PDT. Hawaii has had their fair share of struggles as of late, so perhaps a trip for Luke Weaver to face the freshman that beat him out for the starting job a year ago will motivate this team to come out swinging. Hopefully for Spartan fans' sakes, those swings don't lead to a high turnover count this time.