2020 Mountain West Conference football season explained

2020 Mountain West Conference football season
League:	NCAA Division I FBS
Sport:	Football
Pixels:	150px
Duration:	October 24-December 19
No Of Teams:	12
Tv:	CBS Sports Family (CBS, CBSSN, CBS All Access), Fox Sports Family (Fox, FS1, FS2), Stadium, ATTSN
Draft:	2021 NFL Draft
Draft Link:	2021 NFL Draft
Top Pick:	CB Darren Hall, San Diego State
Picked By:	Atlanta Falcons, 108th overall
Season:	Regular season
Season Champs:	San Jose State
Second Place:	Boise State
Conf1:	Mountain Division
Conf2:	West Division
Finals:	Championship Game
Finals Link:	2020 Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game
Finals Champ:	San Jose State
Finals Runner Up:	Boise State
Prevseason Year:	2019
Nextseason Year:	2021

The 2020 Mountain West Conference football season, part of that year's NCAA Division I FBS football season, is the 22nd season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). Since 2012, 12 teams have competed in the MW football conference.

On August 10, 2020, the conference suspended all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]

The season was scheduled to begin on September 3, 2020 and end on November 28, 2020. The Mountain West football Conference Championship Game was to be played on December 5, 2020. The entire schedule was released on February 27, 2020.^[2]

On September 24, 2020, the conference resumed Football,^[3] and is working on resuming other fall sports competitions.^[4] The Conference's amended regular-season schedule will begin on Saturday, Oct. 24, with the intent to play eight games. The MW Football Championship Game is slated for Saturday, Dec. 19. The new Mountain West schedule was released October 1.^[5]

Previous season

See main article: 2019 Mountain West Conference football season. In 2019 Boise State won the Mountain Division with perfect a 8–0 Conference record conference record while Hawaii won the West Division with a 5–3 Conference record. Boise State defeated Hawaii 31–10 in the 2019 Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game which was held At Albertson's Stadium in Boise, Idaho

Preseason

Potential COVID-19 disruption

On May 12, 2020, California State University system chancellor Timothy White announced that all of its 23 campuses would hold essentially all classes in the 2020 fall term online. This in turn raised serious questions whether its member campuses—three of which (Fresno State, San Diego State, and San Jose State) are MW members—would be able to field teams in fall sports, including football, in light of statements by NCAA president Mark Emmert made on that organization's Twitter account on May 8:^[6]

No decision on football at any of the CSU institutions has been made. However, on the same day that the CSU chancellor made his remarks, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), an NCAA Division II non-football league whose members are all CSU campuses, publicly announced that it had canceled its 2020 fall sports season.^[6]

Mountain West Media

The Mountain West Media days will be held at the Cosmopolitan July 28 and 29.

Preseason Poll

The Preseason Poll will be released in August 2020.

Rankings

See main article: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.

	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
Air Force	AP	RV	RV			RV	RV	RV
	C	RV		RV		RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Boise State	AP	RV							25	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
	C	RV				RV	RV	RV	RV	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
Colorado State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Fresno State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Hawaii	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Nevada	AP										RV	RV	RV		RV
	C									RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
	CFP	Not released
New Mexico	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
San Diego State	AP								RV	RV
	C									RV
	CFP	Not released
San Jose State	AP											RV	RV	RV	RV	25	19
	C										RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	20
	CFP	Not released														24	22
UNLV	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Utah State	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released
Wyoming	AP
	C
	CFP	Not released

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Coaches

Coaching changes

There were six coaching changes for Mountain West football programs for the 2020 season. New Mexico head coach Bob Davie resigned on November 25 and was replaced by Arizona State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales on December 17. Later that same day UNLV head coach Tony Sanchez also resigned and he was replaced by Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo On December 11. Colorado State's Mike Bobo resigned on December 4 and was replaced by former Boston College head coach Steve Addazio. Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford resigned on December 5 and was replaced on December 17 by Indiana offensive coordinator and former Fresno State assistant Kalen DeBoer. On January 8, San Diego State head coach Rocky Long announced his retirement from coaching and was replaced that same day by Aztecs defensive line coach and former head coach Brady Hoke. The final coaching change took place on January 14, when Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich resigned to accept the head coaching position at Washington State and was replaced by ex-Arizona State head coach Todd Graham On January 21.

Head coaches

Team	Head coach	Years At School	Overall record	Record at school	MW record
Air Force	Troy Calhoun	14	98–69	98–69	59–45
Boise State	Bryan Harsin	7	69–22	61–15	40–8
Colorado State	Steve Addazio	1	57–55	0–0	0–0
Fresno State	Kalen DeBoer	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Hawaii	Todd Graham	1	95–61	0–0	0–0
Nevada	Jay Norvell	4	15–21	15–21	12–12
New Mexico	Danny Gonzales	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
San Diego State	Brady Hoke	3	78–72	13–13	7–9
San Jose State	Brent Brennan	4	8–29	8–29	4–21
UNLV	Marcus Arroyo	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Utah State	Gary Andersen	6	63–67	38–31	41–25
Wyoming	Craig Bohl	7	140–72	36–39	23–25

Schedule

The season began on October 3, 2020 and will end on December 19, 2020.

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
Mountain West Member won
Mountain West Member lost
Mountain West teams in bold

Championship Game

See also: 2020 Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game.

Canceled regular season games

The following non-conference games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Aug. 29

• Idaho State at New Mexico
• Hawaii at Arizona

• UC Davis at Nevada
• California at UNLV

Sep. 3

• Washington State at Utah State

Sept. 5

• Duquesne at Air Force
• Georgia Southern at Boise State
• New Mexico at Mississippi State
• UCLA at Hawaii

• Colorado at Colorado State
• Weber State at Wyoming
• Idaho State at Fresno State
• Nevada at Arkansas

• Sacramento State at San Diego State
• San Jose State at Central Michigan
• Louisiana Tech at UNLV

Sept. 12

• Arizona State at UNLV
• New Mexico at USC
• Fresno State at Colorado
• Southern Utah at Utah State

• Wyoming at Louisiana
• Fordham at Hawaii
• UTEP at Nevada

• Colorado State at Oregon State
• San Diego State at Toledo
• UC Davis at San Jose State

Sept. 19

• Air Force at Purdue
• Florida State at Boise State
• Northern Colorado at Colorado State
• UCLA at San Diego State

• New Mexico at New Mexico State
• Utah at Wyoming
• Hawaii at Oregon
• San Jose State at Penn State

• Nevada at South Florida
• Utah State at Washington
• UNLV at Iowa State

Sep. 26

• Boise State at Marshall

• Colorado State at Vanderbilt

• Wyoming at Ball State

Oct. 2

• Utah State at BYU

Oct. 3

• UMass at New Mexico

Oct. 10

• Fresno State at Texas A&M

• New Mexico State at Hawaii

Oct. 17

• New Mexico State at Fresno State

Nov. 14

• UConn at San Jose State

Postseason

Bowl Games

See also: 2020–21 NCAA football bowl games.

Legend
	Mountain West win
	Mountain West loss

Bowl game	Date	Site	Television	Time (MST)	Mountain West team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	December 22	Albertsons Stadium • Boise, ID	ESPN	1:30 p.m.	Nevada	Tulane	W 38–27	0
New Mexico Bowl	December 24	Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX	ESPN	1:30 p.m.	Hawaii	Houston	W 28–14	2,060
Arizona Bowl	December 31	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	CBS	12:00 p.m.	San Jose State	Ball State	L 13–34	0

Rankings are from AP rankings. All times Mountain Time Zone. Mountain West teams shown in bold.

Awards and honors

Player of the week Honors

Week		Offensive				Defensive				Special Teams
		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position		Player	Team	Position
Week 1 (October 26)		Carson Strong	Nevada	QB		Caden McDonald	San Diego State	LB		John Hoyland	Wyoming	K
Week 2 (November 2)		Nick Starkel	San Jose State	QB		Charles Hicks	Wyoming	LB		Avery Williams	Boise State	KR
Week 3 (November 9)		Ronnie Rivers	Fresno State	RB		Tre Jenkins	San Jose State	S		Brandon Talton	Nevada	K
Week 4 (November 16)		Jalen Cropper	Fresno State	WR		Cade Hall	San Jose State	DL		Avery Williams	Boise State	KR
Week 5 (November 23)		Brad Roberts	Air Force	FB		Dom Peterson	Nevada	DT		Julian Diaz	Nevada	P
Week 6 (November 30)		Andrew Peasley	Utah State	QB		Nick Heninger	Utah State	LB		Connor Coles	Utah State	K
Week 7 (December 7)		Carson Strong	Nevada	QB		Brandon Shook	New Mexico	LB		Jordan Byrd	San Diego State	KR
Week 8 (December 14)		Isaiah Chavez	New Mexico	QB		Darius Muasau	Hawaii	LB		Shamar Garrett	San Jose State	KR

Mountain West Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Mountain West Conference football coaches at the end of the season

Award	Player	School
Offensive Player of the Year	Carson Strong, QB	style=	Nevada
Defensive Player of the Year	Cade Hall Jr., DL	style=	San Jose State
Special Teams Player of the Year	Avery Williams, Ret.	style=	Boise State
Freshman of the Year	Kyle Williams, WR	style=	UNLV
Coach of the Year	Brent Brennan	style=	San Jose State

All-conference teams

Position	Player	Team
First Team Offense
WR	Khalil Shakir	style=	Boise State
WR	Romeo Doubs	style=	Nevada
WR	Bailey Gaither	style=	San Jose State
OL	Parker Ferguson	style=	Air Force
OL	Nolan Laufenberg	style=	Air Force
OL	Kyle Spalding	style=	San Diego State
OL	Jack Snyder	style=	San Jose State
OL	Keegan Cryder	style=	Wyoming
TE	Cole Turner	style=	Nevada
QB	Carson Strong	style=	Nevada
RB	Ronnie Rivers	style=	Fresno State
RB	Xazavian Valladay	style=	Wyoming
KR	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State
PK	Brandon Talton	style=	Nevada
First Team Defense
DL	Scott Patchan	style=	Colorado State
DL	Cameron Thomas	style=	San Diego State
DL	Cade Hall	style=	San Jose State
DL	Viliami Fehoko	style=	San Jose State
LB	Darius Muasau	style=	Hawaii
LB	Caden McDonald	style=	San Diego State
LB	Kyle Harmon	style=	San Jose State
LB	Chad Muma	style=	Wyoming
DB	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State
DB	Jerrick Reed	style=	New Mexico
DB	Darren Hall	style=	San Diego State
DB	Tariq Thompson	style=	San Diego State
PR	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State
P	Ryan Stonehouse	style=	Colorado State

Position	Player	Team
Second Team Offense
WR	Dante Wright	style=	Colorado State
WR	Calvin Turner	style=	Hawaii
WR	Tre Walker	style=	San Jose State
OL	John Ojukwu	style=	Boise State
OL	Jake Stetz	style=	Boise State
OL	Syrus Tuitele	style=	Fresno State
OL	Aaron Frost	style=	Nevada
OL	Zachary Thomas	style=	San Diego State
TE	Trey McBride	style=	Colorado State
QB	Nick Starkel	style=	San Jose State
RB	Toa Taua	style=	Nevada
RB	Greg Bell	style=	San Diego State
KR	Jordan Byrd	style=	San Diego State
PK	John Hoyland	style=	Wyoming
Second Team Defense
DL	Shane Irwin	style=	Boise State
DL	David Perales	style=	Fresno State
DL	Dom Peterson	style=	Nevada
DL	Sam Hammond	style=	Nevada
LB	Riley Whimpey	style=	Boise State
LB	Dequan Jackson	style=	Colorado State
LB	Lawson Hall	style=	Nevada
LB	Brandon Shook	style=	New Mexico
DB	Kekaula Kaniho	style=	Boise State
DB	Jalen Walker	style=	Boise State
DB	Cortez Davis	style=	Hawaii
DB	Tre Jenkins	style=	San Jose State
PR	Romeo Doubs	style=	Nevada
P	Tanner Kuljian	style=	San Diego State

Ref:^[7]

All-Americans

The 2020 College Football All-America Teams are composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
First Team All-Americans
DL	Cade Hall	style=	San Jose State	TSN
AP/RS	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State	AFCA, FWAA, TSN, USAT

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Second Team All-Americans
DL	Cade Hall	style=	San Jose State	USAT
RS	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State	CBS

Position	Player	School	Selector	Unanimous	Consensus
Third Team All-Americans
AP	Avery Williams	style=	Boise State	AP

Home game attendance

TBA

NFL Draft

The following list includes all Mountain West players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL draft.

Player	Position	School	Draft Round	Round Pick	Overall Pick	Team
Darren Hall	CB	San Diego State	4	3	108	Atlanta Falcons
John Bates	TE	Boise State	4	19	124	Washington Football Team
Avery Williams	CB	Boise State	5	39	183	Atlanta Falcons

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mountain West Postpones 2020 Fall Sports . TheMW.com . August 10, 2020 . August 11, 2020.
2. Web site: Mountain West Conference Announces 2020 Football Schedule. TheMW.com. February 27, 2020. February 27, 2020.
3. Web site: 2020 Mountain West Football Season to Begin on October 24 . theMW.com . Mountain West Conference . 7 October 2020.
4. Web site: Commissioner Thompson Statement on Fall Sports . theMW.com . Mountain West Conference . 7 October 2020.
5. Web site: Mountain West Announces 2020 Football Schedule . theMW.com . Mountain West.
6. News: California State University system to stay online, leaving fall sports up in air . Kyle . Bonagura . ESPN.com . May 12, 2020 . May 18, 2020.
7. Web site: Mountain West Announces 2020 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors. December 15, 2020. December 16, 2020. themw.com. Mountain West Conference.