Bilo's College Football PASS/FAIL Reports Week 8: Mountain West

PASS: Boise State, San Diego State. Hawaii, Colorado State, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah State

Boise State's win over BYU (28-27) was as ugly as they get, but winning is everything for a group of five program bent on getting to a NY6 bowl right now.  Boise State was awful with turnovers, got breaks based on inane coaching decisions by BYU, and somehow found enough magic at the end to remain unefeated and climbing in the polls.
San Diego State remains on a collision course with Boise State in the MWC title game after blowing out hapless San Jose State 42-3 at home this weekend. The Aztecs are n control of the West once again, and have won 11 straight conference games dating back to last season. Nothing is a given for Boise State's conference title aspirations. If only for that loss to South Alabama...
Nick Rolovich is doing one hell of a job at Hawaii this season, and after beating Air Force on the road, the Rainbow Warriors are now 4-4 overall, and are just a half game back in the West to San Diego State. Hawaii and SDSU meet in 2 weeks, but Hawaii must get by New Mexico next week first.
Speaking of the Lobos, they had a non con tilt this week, and rolled by UL-Monroe 59-17 on the back of a 28-0 1st quarter run over the Warhawks. UNM is red hot right now coming off this win, and a win over Air Force last week, and this showdown with Hawaii looms large next week, with UNM just one game out in the Mountain Division.
Wyoming is finally turning the corner in 2016 with Craig Bohl at the helm, and the Cowboys are tied with Boise State for the Mountain lead at 3-0 after beating Nevada 42-34. Wyoming does not have to wait long to break that deadlock, as Boise State comes to Laromie next weekend for the lead.
Utah State needed a big win after what has been a long season. Luckily, the Aggies got Fresno State on the bill, and took care of business, winning 38-20. It was their first win in MWC play, and just their 3rd win overall.

FAIL: San Jose State, UNLV, Air Force, Nevada, Fresno State
Ron Caragher's hole deepens this week coming off a 42-3 loss at San Diego State. Caragher has not built a team worthy of competing in the MWC this season, and the wheels fell off this week. I don't really see any solid winnable games left on the schedule for the now 2-6 Spartans.
UNLV was in a must win position this week against Colorado State, but the Rebels were not up to it in a 42-23 loss that saw the Rebs down as much as 35-10 at one point. Winning a bowl bid now seems daunting, at best.
Air Force has fallen off the rails the last two weeks, and the Falcons now find themselves tied for last in the Mountain coming off a home loss to Hawaii. Troy Calhoun was being considered for other gigs a week and a half ago, but those rumors are dead silent now.
Brian Polian is in real trouble at Nevada. The offense is putrid, and the defense is shutting down after a 42 point give away to Wyoming. In their defense, they did score 34 in the loss, but nothing has gone right for a team picked to finish second in the West. Nevada is now just 3-5 overall.
Fresno State lost their 7th game, will not be eligible for a bowl, and they had enough today. Tim DeRuyter was fired by the Bulldogs after a 1-7 start this fall, and now rumors are swirling that they could target Mark Helfrich if Oregon does indeed fire him, which seems likely.