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.
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.
On September 24, 2020, the conference resumed Football, and is working on resuming other fall sports competitions. 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.
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:
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.
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
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 FinalAir 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 recordAir Force Troy Calhoun 14 98–69 98–69 59–45Boise State Bryan Harsin 7 69–22 61–15 40–8Colorado State Steve Addazio 1 57–55 0–0 0–0Fresno State Kalen DeBoer 1 0–0 0–0 0–0Hawaii Todd Graham 1 95–61 0–0 0–0Nevada Jay Norvell 4 15–21 15–21 12–12New Mexico Danny Gonzales 1 0–0 0–0 0–0San Diego State Brady Hoke 3 78–72 13–13 7–9San Jose State Brent Brennan 4 8–29 8–29 4–21UNLV Marcus Arroyo 1 0–0 0–0 0–0Utah State Gary Andersen 6 63–67 38–31 41–25Wyoming 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 formattingMountain West Member wonMountain West Member lostMountain West teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
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
Legend Mountain West win Mountain West loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (MST)Mountain West teamOpponentScoreAttendance 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 AwardPlayerSchoolOffensive Player of the YearCarson Strong, QB NevadaDefensive Player of the YearCade Hall Jr., DL San Jose StateSpecial Teams Player of the YearAvery Williams, Ret. Boise StateFreshman of the YearKyle Williams, WR UNLVCoach of the YearBrent Brennan San Jose State
All-conference teams
Position Player Team First Team Offense WR Khalil Shakir Boise StateWR Romeo Doubs NevadaWR Bailey Gaither San Jose StateOL Parker Ferguson Air ForceOL Nolan Laufenberg Air ForceOL Kyle Spalding San Diego StateOL Jack Snyder San Jose StateOL Keegan Cryder WyomingTE Cole Turner NevadaQB Carson Strong NevadaRB Ronnie Rivers Fresno StateRB Xazavian Valladay WyomingKR Avery Williams Boise StatePK Brandon Talton Nevada First Team DefenseDL Scott Patchan Colorado StateDL Cameron Thomas San Diego StateDL Cade Hall San Jose StateDL Viliami Fehoko San Jose StateLB Darius Muasau HawaiiLB Caden McDonald San Diego StateLB Kyle Harmon San Jose StateLB Chad Muma WyomingDB Avery Williams Boise StateDB Jerrick Reed New MexicoDB Darren Hall San Diego StateDB Tariq Thompson San Diego StatePR Avery Williams Boise StateP Ryan Stonehouse Colorado State
Position Player Team Second Team Offense WR Dante Wright Colorado StateWR Calvin Turner HawaiiWR Tre Walker San Jose StateOL John Ojukwu Boise StateOL Jake Stetz Boise StateOL Syrus Tuitele Fresno StateOL Aaron Frost NevadaOL Zachary Thomas San Diego StateTE Trey McBride Colorado StateQB Nick Starkel San Jose StateRB Toa Taua NevadaRB Greg Bell San Diego StateKR Jordan Byrd San Diego StatePK John Hoyland Wyoming Second Team DefenseDL Shane Irwin Boise StateDL David Perales Fresno StateDL Dom Peterson NevadaDL Sam Hammond NevadaLB Riley Whimpey Boise StateLB Dequan Jackson Colorado StateLB Lawson Hall NevadaLB Brandon Shook New MexicoDB Kekaula Kaniho Boise StateDB Jalen Walker Boise StateDB Cortez Davis HawaiiDB Tre Jenkins San Jose StatePR Romeo Doubs NevadaP Tanner Kuljian San Diego State
Ref:
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 HallSan Jose State TSN AP/RS Avery WilliamsBoise State AFCA, FWAA, TSN, USAT *
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus Second Team All-Americans DL Cade HallSan Jose State USAT RS Avery WilliamsBoise State CBS
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus Third Team All-Americans AP Avery WilliamsBoise State AP
Home game attendance TBA
NFL draft
The following list includes all Mountain West players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL draft.