Mountain West Football: Bowl Season Winners And Losers

Mountain West football's seven bowl games this month have been won and lost.

The Mountain West football season ended with the seven bowl games. There is still a playoff to play. The next season starts next August.

Brad Roberts is the nation's leading rusher with 1,728 yards on a FBS-high 345 carries. Air Force beat Baylor 30-15 in the Armed Forces Bowl. Roberts carried the ball on all but one offensive play and finished with 37 for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Boise State beat Baylor 35-32 in Frisco Bowl. Ashton Jeanty had a career-best 178 yards and a touchdown on 28 rushing attempts. Eric McAlister's one reception went for a 24-yard touchdown. Latrell Caples led the team with six catches for 87 yards. Gabe Hunter had 1.5 tackles for loss and pass breakups.

Jordan Mims is the third most prolific rusher in Fresno State history. He scored twice and had 236 yards of total offense in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.

The Aztecs lost to Middle Tennessee State in the Hawaii Bowl 25-23. Their defensive front created 7 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Michael Shawcroft led the way with eight tackles. Keshawn Banks had a career-best four tackles and two sacks. Jonah and Justus Tavai combined for 2.5 sacks in their team's final game.

The Mountain West finished the season with a 3-4 record. Some puzzling decisions by losing teams played a role in that. San Jose State gave Elijah Cooks a chance to throw in the second quarter of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and his pass got intercepted. Wyoming's head coach Craig Bohl icing Bobcats kicker Nathaniel Vakos just before a miss in final seconds of fourth quarter and sent the game to overtime.

The Arizona Bowl was streamed exclusively on Campus Insiders and broadcast on the now-defunct American Sports Network. The same strategy didn't work again on Friday afternoon. Viewers were more interested in the Gator Bowl between Notre Dame and South Carolina. Ball State/San Jose State drew 1.77 million when CBS gave the same platform back in 2020.

Utah State lost 38-10 to Memphis in the First Responder Bowl. The team's performance was disappointing. Several players have already entered the transfer portal. Head coach Blake Anderson will need to shore up the roster in order to keep the competitive window open.

The special teams were San Jose State's Achilles heel during the season. They finished the year with a poor special team performance. It was especially noticeable in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl loss to Eastern Michigan.