# 2016 Mountain West Conference football season

The 2016 Mountain West Conference football season was the 18th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). In the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the MW had 12 football members: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, and Wyoming.

## Pre-season
### Mountain West Media

2016 Mountain West Football Media Days were held on July 26 & 27 at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip.

#### Preseason polls

Reference:
| Place | Mountain Division | West Division |
| 1 | Boise State (27) 172 | San Diego State (29) 174 |
| 2 | Air Force (2) 126 | Nevada 129 |
| 3 | Utah State 111 | San Jose State 122 |
| 4 | Colorado State 95 | Fresno State 76 |
| 5 | New Mexico 74 | UNLV 73 |
| 6 | Wyoming 31 | Hawai'i 35 |
* First place votes in parentheses

#### Preseason All-Mountain West Teams

Reference:
Offense :
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| QB | Brett Rypien* | SO. | Boise State |
| WR | Thomas Sperbeck* | SR. | Boise State |
| WR | Devonte Boyd** | JR. | UNLV |
| RB | Donnel Pumphrey* | SR. | San Diego State |
| RB | Brian Hill** | JR. | Wyoming |
| OL | Fred Zerblis** | SR. | Colorado State |
| OL | Nico Siragusa* | SR. | San Diego State |
| OL | Jake Simonich | SR. | Utah State |
| OL | Austin Stephens | SR. | Utah State |
| OL | Chase Roullier** | SR. | Wyoming |
| TE | Billy Freeman* | SR. | San Jose State |
Defense :
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| DL | Nik D'Avanzo | SR. | New Mexico |
| DL | Alex Barrett** | SR. | San Diego State |
| DL | Travis Seefeldt | GR. | Utah State |
| DL | Ricky Ali'ifua | SR. | Utah State |
| LB | Christian Tago** | SR. | San Jose State |
| LB | Calvin Munson* | SR. | San Diego State |
| LB | Dakota Cox | SR. | New Mexico |
| DB | Weston Steelhammer* | SR. | Air Force |
| DB | Damontae Kazee* | SR. | San Diego State |
| DB | Dameon Baber** | SO. | Nevada |
| DB | Andrew Wingard** | SO. | Wyoming |
Specialists :
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| P | Hayden Hunt** | SR. | Colorado State |
| P | Michael Carrizosa* | JR. | San Jose State |
| PK | Tyler Rausa* | SR. | Boise State |
| KR | Rashaad Penny* | JR. | San Diego State |
* Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:

##### Donnel Pumphrey, SR., RB, San Diego State

* Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:

##### Damontae Kazee, SR., DB, San Diego State

* Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year:

##### Rashaad Penny, JR., KR, San Diego State

(* - member of the 2015 All-Mountain West first team)
(** - member of the 2015 All-Mountain West second team)

### Award watch lists

The following Mountain West players were named to preseason award watch lists.

## Coaches

NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | MW record |
| Air Force | Troy Calhoun | 10 | 67–50 | 67–50 | 40–32 |
| Boise State | Bryan Harsin | 3 | 28–11 | 21–6 | 12–4 |
| Colorado State | Mike Bobo | 2 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–3 |
| Fresno State | Tim DeRuyter | 5 | 30–23 | 29–23 | 21–11 |
| Hawaiʻi | Nick Rolovich | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Nevada | Brian Polian | 4 | 18–20 | 18–20 | 11–13 |
| New Mexico | Bob Davie | 5 | 53–57 | 18–32 | 9–23 |
| San Diego State | Rocky Long | 8 | 108–92 | 43–23 | 30–9 |
| San José State | Ron Caragher | 4 | 59–44 | 15–22 | 11–13 |
| UNLV | Tony Sanchez | 2 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 2–6 |
| Utah State | Matt Wells | 4 | 25–16 | 25–16 | 18–6 |
| Wyoming | Craig Bohl | 3 | 110–50 | 6–18 | 4–12 |

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Unranked the previous week |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
| | | 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 | Final |
| Air Force | AP | | | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV |
| Air Force | C | | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | | RV | | RV |
| Air Force | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Boise State | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 20 | RV | RV | RV |
| Boise State | C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 19 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 19 | RV | RV | RV |
| Boise State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | | | |
| Colorado State | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Colorado State | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Colorado State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Fresno State | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fresno State | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fresno State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Hawaiʻi | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hawaiʻi | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hawaiʻi | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Nevada | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nevada | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nevada | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| New Mexico | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| New Mexico | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| New Mexico | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| San Diego State | AP | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | | RV | RV | 25 |
| San Diego State | C | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | 25 |
| San Diego State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| San José State | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San José State | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San José State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| UNLV | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UNLV | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UNLV | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Utah State | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Utah State | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Utah State | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |
| Wyoming | AP | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | | RV | | | |
| Wyoming | C | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | | RV | RV | | |
| Wyoming | CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | |

## Championship game

The Championship Game was played between the San Diego State Aztecs, champions of the West Division, and the Wyoming Cowboys, champions of the Mountain Division, on December 3, 2016, at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. The Aztecs won 27–24, repeating as champions. Running back Rashaad Penny of San Diego State was the offensive MVP, and defensive back Damontae Kazee of San Diego State was the defensive MVP.

## Bowl games

| Bowl Game | Date | Stadium | City | Television | Team Matchups | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
| New Mexico Bowl | December 17 | University Stadium | Albuquerque, NM | ESPN | New Mexico vs. UTSA | New Mexico | 23 | UTSA | 20 |
| Las Vegas Bowl | December 17 | Sam Boyd Stadium | Whitney, NV | ABC | Houston vs. San Diego State | San Diego State | 34 | Houston | 10 |
| Poinsettia Bowl | December 21 | Qualcomm Stadium | San Diego, CA | ESPN | BYU vs. Wyoming | BYU | 24 | Wyoming | 21 |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | December 22 | Albertsons Stadium | Boise, ID | ESPN | Idaho vs. Colorado State | Idaho | 61 | Colorado State | 50 |
| Hawai'i Bowl | December 24 | Aloha Stadium | Honolulu, HI | ESPN | Hawai'i vs. Middle Tennessee | Hawai'i | 52 | Middle Tennessee | 35 |
| Cactus Bowl | December 27 | Chase Field | Phoenix, AZ | ESPN | Boise State vs. Baylor | Baylor | 31 | Boise State | 12 |
| Arizona Bowl | December 30 | Arizona Stadium | Tucson, AZ | ASN | South Alabama vs. Air Force | Air Force | 45 | South Alabama | 21 |

## Mountain West vs Power Conference matchups
### Records against other conferences

2016 records against non-conference foes:
| Power 5 Conferences | Record |
| ACC | 0–0 |
| Big Ten | 0–6 |
| Big 12 | 0–1 |
| Pac-12 | 3–6 |
| SEC | 0–0 |
| Notre Dame | 0–1 |
| Power 5 Total | 3–14 |
| Other FBS Conferences | Record |
| American | 1–2 |
| C-USA | 1–0 |
| MAC | 3–3 |
| Sun Belt | 4–3 |
| Independents (Excluding Notre Dame) | 3–0 |
| Other FBS Total | 12–8 |
| FCS Opponents | Record |
| Football Championship Subdivision | 11–0 |
| Total Non-Conference Record | 26–22 |
| Power Conferences | Record |
| Big 12 | 0–1 |
| Power 5 Total | 0–1 |
| Other FBS Conferences | Record |
| American | 1–0 |
| C–USA | 2–0 |
| Sun Belt | 1–1 |
| Independents (Excluding Notre Dame) | 0–1 |
| Total Bowl Record | 4–3 |

## Awards and honors
### All Conference teams

* Offensive Player of the Year: Donnel Pumphrey, SR., RB, San Diego State
* Defensive Player of the Year: Damontae Kazee, SR., DB, San Diego State
* Special Teams Player of the Year: Rashaad Penny, JR., KR, San Diego State
* Freshman of the Year: Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming
* Coach of the Year: Craig Bohl, Wyoming
Offense:
| Pos. | Name | Yr. | School | Name | Yr. | School |
| First Team | First Team | First Team | First Team | Second Team | Second Team | Second Team | Second Team |
| QB | Brett Rypien* | SO. | Boise State | Josh Allen | SO. | Wyoming |
| WR | Thomas Sperbeck* | SR. | Boise State | Tanner Gentry | SR. | Wyoming |
| WR | Michael Gallup | JR. | Colorado State | Jalen Robinette | SR. | Air Force |
| RB | Donnel Pumphrey** | SR. | San Diego State | Jeremy McNichols*** | JR. | Boise State |
| RB | Brian Hill | JR. | Wyoming | Teriyon Gipson | SR. | New Mexico |
| TE | Jacob Hollister | SR. | Wyoming | David Wells | JR. | San Diego State |
| OL | Travis Averill | SR. | Boise State | Jake Bennett | JR. | Colorado State |
| OL | Mario Yakoo | SR. | Boise State | Dejon Allen | JR. | Hawai'i |
| OL | Fred Zerblis | SR. | Colorado State | Austin Corbett | JR. | Nevada |
| OL | Nico Siragusa* | SR. | San Diego State | Reno Henderson | SR. | New Mexico |
| OL | Chase Roullier | SR. | Wyoming | Daniel Brunskill | SR. | San Diego State |
| PK | John Baron II | SO. | San Diego State | Luke Strebel | SR. | Air Force |
| PR/KR | Rashaad Penny* | JR. | San Diego State | D.J. May | SR. | Wyoming |
Defense:
| Pos. | Name | Yr. | School | Name | Yr. | School |
| First Team | First Team | First Team | First Team | Second Team | Second Team | Second Team | Second Team |
| DL | Ryan Watson | SR. | Air Force | Malik Reed | SO. | Nevada |
| DL | Sam McCaskill | SR. | Boise State | Nik D'Avanzo | SR. | New Mexico |
| DL | David Moa | SO. | Boise State | Garrett Hughes | JR. | New Mexico |
| DL | Alex Barrett* | SR. | San Diego State | Travis Seefeldt | SR. | Utah State |
| LB | Calvin Munson* | SR. | San Diego State | Ben Weaver | SR. | Boise State |
| LB | Jahlani Tavai | SO. | Hawai'i | Kevin Davis | SR. | Colorado State |
| LB | Tau Lotulelei | SR. | UNLV | Jeff Camilli | SR. | Fresno State |
| DB | Andre Chachere | JR. | San Jose State | Brodie Hicks | SR. | Air Force |
| DB | Weston Steelhammer** | SR. | Air Force | Chanceller James | SR. | Boise State |
| DB | Andrew Wingard | SO. | Wyoming | Jonathan Moxey | SR. | Boise State |
| DB | Damontae Kazee* | SR. | San Diego State | Malik Smith | SR. | San Diego State |
| P | Hayden Hunt | SR. | Colorado State | Sean Wale | SR. | Boise State |
(* – Two-Time First-Team Selection) (** – Three-Time First-Team Selection) (*** – Two-Time Second-Team Selection)
Honorable Mentions:
* Air Force: Haji Dunn, Sr., LB; Tim McVey, Jr., KR; Colin Sandor, Sr., OL; Dylan Vail, Sr., OL.
* Boise State: Steven Baggett, Sr., OL; Mason Hampton, Jr., OL; Tanner Vallejo, Sr., LB; Cedrick Wilson, Jr., WR.
* Colorado State: Nick Callender, Sr., OL; Nick Stevens, Jr., QB; Paul Thurston, Sr., OL.
* Fresno State: Stratton Brown, Sr., DB; KeeSean Johnson, So., WR; Kody Kroening, Jr., P.
* Hawai'i: Trayvon Henderson, Jr., DB; Marcus Kemp, Sr., WR; Leo Koloamatangi, Sr., OL; Meffy Koloamatangi, Jr., DL; Jalen Rogers, Sr., DB; Rigoberto Sanchez, Sr., PK/P.
* Nevada: James Butler, Jr., RB; Wyatt Demps, Jr., WR; Asauni Rufus, So., DB.
* New Mexico: Dakota Cox, Sr., LB; Daniel Henry, Sr., DB; Aaron Jenkins, So., OL; Jason Sanders, Jr., PK.
* San Diego State: Kyle Kelley, Sr., DL; Quest Truxton, Jr., PR.
* San Jose State: Michael Carrizosa, Jr., P; Isaiah Irving, Sr., DL; Jeremiah Kolone, Jr., OL; Maurice McKnight, Jr., DB; Christian Tago, Sr., LB.
* UNLV: Troy Hawthorne, Sr., DB; Mike Hughes, Jr., DL; Nathan Jacobson, So., OL; Will Kreitler, Sr., OL; Torry McTyer, Sr., DB.
* Utah State: Austin Albrecht, Sr., OL; Ricky Ali'ifua, Sr., DL; Wyatt Houston, Sr., TE; Jake Simonich, Sr., OL; Austin Stephens, Sr., OL.
* Wyoming: Lucas Wacha, Sr., LB

## Home game attendance

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
| Air Force | Falcon Stadium | 46,692 | 34,128 | 24,173 | 43,063 | 18,756 | 29,132 | 23,467 | 23,556 | 196,275 | 28,039 | 60.1% |
| Boise State | Albertsons Stadium | 36,387 | 36,163 | 36,602 | 33,448 | 34,575 | 31,863 | 32,989 | — | 205,640 | 34,273 | 94.2% |
| Colorado State | Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium | 32,500 | 20,673 | 26,718 | 33,500 | 32,387 | 23,187 | 29,133 | — | 165,598 | 27,600 | 84.9% |
| Fresno State | Bulldog Stadium | 41,031 | 31,817 | 23,273 | 24,731 | 25,197 | 26,951 | 20,991 | — | 152,960 | 25,493 | 62.1% |
| Hawaiʻi | Aloha Stadium | 50,000 | 23,900 | 23,503 | 31,287 | 23,964 | 22,731 | 22,739 | — | 148,124 | 24,687 | 49.4% |
| Nevada | Mackay Stadium | 30,000 | 19,138 | 20,457 | 22,411 | 18,877 | 16,730 | 13,390 | — | 111,003 | 18,501 | 61.7% |
| New Mexico | University Stadium | 39,224 | 20,221 | 19,852 | 20,090 | 18,099 | 17,290 | 16,698 | — | 112,250 | 18,708 | 47.7% |
| San José State | Spartan Stadium | 30,456 | 13,210 | 16,041 | 16,837 | 15,161 | 15,733 | 15,533 | — | 92,515 | 15,419 | 50.6% |
| San Diego State | Qualcomm Stadium | 54,000 | †46,486 | 42,473 | 33,296 | 25,613 | 41,644 | 34,223 | — | 223,735 | 37,289 | 69.1% |
| Utah State | Maverik Stadium | 25,513 | 23,008 | 21,091 | 23,104 | 15,067 | 17,332 | 15,212 | — | 114,814 | 19,136 | 75.0% |
| UNLV | Sam Boyd Stadium | 35,500 | 18,575 | 17,229 | 17,811 | 18,362 | 14,790 | 23,569 | — | 110,336 | 18,389 | 51.8% |
| Wyoming | War Memorial Stadium | 29,181 | 18,483 | 18,781 | 26,623 | 24,023 | 17,837 | 19,112 | 24,001 | 148,860 | 21,265 | 72.9% |
Bold – Exceed capacity †Season High