The 2016 Mountain West Conference football season was the 18th season of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(MW). In the

2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016, and ended on De ...

, the MW had 12 football members:

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, Utah State, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Pre-season

Mountain West Media

2016 Mountain West Football Media Days were held on July 26 & 27 at the

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

Preseason polls

Reference: *First place votes in parentheses

Preseason All-Mountain West Teams

Reference: *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.

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

: *Jacobi Owens–Air Force *Jeremy McNichols–Boise State *Brett Rypien–Boise State *Donnel Pumphrey–San Diego State *Brian Hill–Wyoming

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and profess ...

: *Damontae Kazee–San Diego State *Calvin Munson–San Diego State

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

: *Jake Roh–Boise State *Jarred Gipson–Nevada *Billy Freeman–San Jose State *Wyatt Houston–Utah State

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College Football Awards ...

: *Jake Bennett–Colorado State * Asotui Eli–Hawai'i *Nathan Goltry–Nevada *Arthur Flores–San Diego State *Will Kreitler–UNLV *Austin Stephens–Utah State

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns ...

: *Tyler Rausa–Boise State *Brent Zuzo–Nevada

Ray Guy Award The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National Fo ...

: *Hayden Hunt–Colorado State *Alex Boy–Nevada *Michael Carrizosa–San Jose State *Ethan Wood–Wyoming

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

: *Weston Steelhammer–Air Force *Tanner Vallejo–Boise State *Calvin Munson–San Diego State

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

: *Fred Zerblis–Colorado State *

Austin Corbett Austin Corbett (born September 5, 1995) is an American professional football center for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Corbett played for Reed High School in Sparks, Nevada. Starting as a walk on, he played college ...

–Nevada *Nico Siragusa–San Diego State *Chase Roullier–Wyoming

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

: *Roland Ladipo–Air Force *Weston Steelhammer–Air Force *Damontae Kazee–San Diego State *Andrew Wingard–Wyoming

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

: *Tanner Vallejo–Boise State *Kevin Davis–Colorado State *Calvin Munson–San Diego State

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

: *Thomas Sperbeck–Boise State *Hasaan Henderson–Nevada *Jerico Richardson–Nevada *Devonte Boyd–UNLV

Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy is an award given annually to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." The trophy, designed by W. Stanley Proctor and named in honor of former Univers ...

: *Zack Golditch–Colorado State *Jeremy Maculey–Nevada * Daniel Brunskill–San Diego State *Tim Crawley–San Jose State *Travis Seefeldt–Utah State

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

: *Brett Rypien–Boise State

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

: *Jacobi Owens–Air Force *Paul Harris–Hawai'i *James Butler–Nevada *Donnel Pumphrey–San Diego State *

Devante Mays Devante Roshard Mays (born May 26, 1994) is an American former professional football running back. He played college football at Tyler Junior College, Blinn College and Utah State. Early life Mays was born to Mark and Elwanda Mays in Livingsto ...

–Utah State *Brian Hill–Wyoming

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information direc ...

: *Brett Rypien–Boise State *Donnel Pumphrey–San Diego State

Paul Hornung Award The Paul Hornung Award is a college football award that was created in January 2010 by the Louisville Sports Commission in Louisville, Kentucky, with the support of Paul Hornung, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football ...

: *Rashaad Penny–San Diego State *Tim Crawley–San Jose State

Coaches

''NOTE:'' Stats shown are before the beginning of the season

Rankings

Championship game

The

Championship Game A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

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 War Memorial Stadium may refer to: * Ada War Memorial Stadium, in Ada, Ohio, also known as ''War Memorial Stadium'' * War Memorial Stadium (Arkansas), Little Rock, Arkansas * War Memorial Stadium (Austin, Texas) (former official name 1924–1947), ...

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...

. The Aztecs won 27–24, repeating as champions.

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Rashaad Penny of San Diego State was the offensive MVP, and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Damontae Kazee of San Diego State was the defensive MVP.

Bowl games

Mountain West vs Power Conference matchups

Records against other conferences

2016 records against non-conference foes: Regular season Post Season

Awards and honors

All Conference teams

*Offensive Player of the Year:

Donnel Pumphrey Donnel Laray Pumphrey Jr. (born December 6, 1994) is an American college football coach and former player who is the running backs coach for California State University, Sacramento, a position he has held since 2023. Pumphrey played college foo ...

, SR., RB,

*Defensive Player of the Year: Damontae Kazee, SR., DB, San Diego State *Special Teams Player of the Year:

Rashaad Penny Rashaad Armein Penny (born February 2, 1996) is an American former professional football running back who played for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for the San D ...

, JR., KR, San Diego State *Freshman of the Year: Logan Wilson, LB,

*Coach of the Year:

Craig Bohl Craig Philip Bohl (born July 27, 1958) is an American retired college football coach and former player. Prior to announcing his retirement from coaching at the conclusion of the 2023 football season, he was the head football coach at the Universi ...

, Wyoming Offense: Defense: (* – 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 Dakota Mitchell Cox (born November 5, 1994) is a former American football linebacker for the New Mexico Lobos. Early life Attended Juan Diego Catholic High School in Utah. Cox was named first-team All-State his junior and senior years. He fini ...

, Sr., LB; Daniel Henry, Sr., DB; Aaron Jenkins, So., OL;

Jason Sanders Jason Thomas Sanders (born November 16, 1995) is an American professional football kicker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos. Early life Sanders attended and play ...

, 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

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

References

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