Boise State Tops Utah State To Claim Mountain Division Title
Jaylen Henderson and Broncos defense lead the way.
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Broncos dominate Aggies.
Boise State traveled to Logan, Utah, with the ability to lock up the Mountain Division title and their berth in the Mountain West Championship game.
With an upset, Utah State would put themselves in the driver’s seat to accomplish the same thing. Even though none needed to be added, the questions revolving who would be starting at quarterback for both teams added some intrigue leading up to the game. The call at game time is Jordan Love for Utah State and Jaylon Henderson for the Broncos.
Utah State came in to the game on a two-game winning streak with wins over Wyoming and Fresno State. It has been tough sledding at times for the Aggies as they have had blow out loses to LSU, BYU, and Air Force but have also had impressive games against San Diego State and Wyoming. Although this game doesn’t carry quite as much wait as last year’s ranked match up there is still a lot for the Aggies to play for.
Boise State came into the game with a four-game win streak on the season as well as a three-game win streak against the Aggies. Boise State has had their struggles throughout the season as well, seldom having all facets of their game clicking at the same time. The Broncos as a whole did extremely well overall against New Mexico last week and aim to continue that trend this week against a much tougher Utah State team.
First Quarter:
Like last week the Broncos got out to a fast start. It took longer than 9 seconds, but not by much, with the Broncos only needing four plays to cover the 75 yards to the endzone. George Holani opened with a 35-yard carry the put the Broncos in Aggie territory. Jaylon Henderson completed two passes that to C.T. Thomas that netted 10 yards before hitting John Hightower for the 30-yard touchdown.
The Bronco defense showed up as well forcing Utah State into a quick 3 and out on their first possession. Holani had another big carry, this one for 12 yards, on the first play of the following drive but Utah State forced a couple of incompletions from Henderson to force the punt. Joel Valasquez got a good punt off and pinned the Aggies inside their own 20-yard line, starting their drive on their own 14.
The Aggie offense was able to put together a long drive that was supported by a couple of incredible catches. Jordan Love was able to connect with Deven Thompkins, who fought through tight coverage, for 47 yards and Caleb Repp who made an incredible one-handed catch along the sideline of the endzone for a 7-yard touchdown. It wasn’t good for Love as Curtis Weaver got a good hit on him, sacking him for an 8-yard loss right before his completion to Thompkins.
With the game tied at 7, the Broncos kept to the ground with Holani continuing to gouge the Aggie defense for another 18 yards on the first two plays of the drive. Boise State then took to the air with Henderson completing a 17-yard pass to Akilian Butler, but inaccuracy and a couple of flat out drops by John Hightower killed the drive forcing another punt.
Boise State’s defense took it upon themselves to give the Broncos the lead on the following drive. On the first play, Love dropped back and attempted to hit a quick wide receiver screen to the outside. Love stained down his read and Jalen Walker was able to get the jump on the throw, intercept the pass, and trot into the endzone to put the Broncos back up by 7.
This started the trend of punting and touchdowns for the Aggies, which normally isn’t noteworthy, but it was completely one-sided. Over the next eight possessions, the Aggies have three punts and a turnover on downs while the Broncos score four consecutive touchdowns.
The Aggies opened with a holding on the first play of their drive and were not able to make the yardage up thanks to the second Broncos sack of the game on 3rd and 7 by Chase Hatada for a 2-yard loss.
Holani continued his domination of the game accumulating 50 more yards on the ground on the final 4 plays of the drive. Boise State stayed on the ground for the entire drive with Khalil Shakir opening the drive with an 11-yard rush as well.
There was a tremendous amount of excitement around the score, much more than a touchdown in the first quarter really should draw, as the Broncos called Statue of Liberty Left for Holani to cover the final 5 yards into the endzone. That carry gave Holani over 100 rushing yards in the first quarter.
Boise State 21, Utah State 7
Second Quarter:
The Broncos started their next drive on their own 49-yard line as the defense forced a three and out and Aggie punter Christopher Bartolic shanked his kick for only 22 yards before it went out of bounds. The Broncos dominance on the ground continued with Holani, Henderson, Andrew Van Buren, and even offensive tackle Ezra Cleveland getting in on the action as well.
Henderson went 1 for 2 on the drive hitting John Hightower for 17 yards in addition to his 10-yard rush. On first and goal for the Utah State 4 yard line Coach Harsin dug into his playbook and called an end-around that featured 6’6” 311-pound tackle Ezra Cleveland, who came up just 1 yard shy of the endzone as he got chopped down by Aggie defensive end Justus Te’i. Holani was able to able to get his second touchdown of the night on the following play with a 1-yard run.
The Bronco defense continued with their dominant play as well. Love was able to complete a 14-yard pass to Caleb Repp but was pressured into making quicker throws closer to the line of scrimmage for little to no gain on his next three throws, leading to another punt.
Boise State responded with their first 10 play drive of the game taking over 4 minutes off of the clock. The Broncos spread the ball well with 4 players carrying the ball as they covered 84 yards on the drive.
Henderson accounted for most of them with 23-yards on the ground and an additional 26-yards through the air. Utah State was able to get the Broncos into a 3rd and 8 but Khalil Shakir gained 13 yards on a catch from Henderson to get the first and keep the drive alive.
Love did what he could to ignite something in the Aggie offense. On the second play of the drive he hit Siaosi Mariner for a 37-yard game and the Aggies were in Boise State territory for the first time since their touchdown drive early in the first quarter. Gerold Bright added 14-yard on the following play and Utah State looked like they were going poised to get some points on the board but they started to sputter once again.
After gaining 7 yards on first down the Aggies then lost 7 on the next play and followed that up with incomplete passes by Love to turn the ball back over to Boise State.
The drive looked like it was going to be a short one when Jaylon Henderson was called for intentional grounding for a loss of 12-yards. They were able to get 15 yards back on 3rd down after an incomplete pass on 2nd down but were well short of what was needed for the first down.
Aggies defensive back DJ Williams had a mental mistake as he continued to push Akilian Butler after the play was over and drew the unsportsmanlike penalty, giving the Broncos a first down. Boise State fully capitalized on the mistake and put together a 14 play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 14-yard reception from Henderson to Khalil Shakir giving the Broncos a 42-7 lead going into half time.
Late in the series, DJ William got in a shoving match with John Hightower and drew his second unsportsmanlike of the game which led to an automatic ejection from the game.
Boise State 42, Utah State 7
Third Quarter:
Utah State received the 2nd half kick and needed to do something to get back in the game. They started off well with Love running for 7 yards and connecting with Deven Thompkins for a 15-yard gain almost getting to midfield. After a short gain and an incomplete pass, Love was not able to get rid of the ball before getting brought down by Riley Whimpey for a 10-yard loss on 3rd down.
Christopher Bartolic got a low but decent punt off to Bronco return man Avery Williams toward the near sideline. Williams was able to use the space from the low kick to get across the field to the far sideline, break a tackle, juke Bartolic and break free to return the kick 74 yards for his second return touchdown of the year.
The Broncos defense remained difficult for the Aggies to get any production against and they were only able to muster 17 yards before having to return the ball back to the Boise State offense. The Broncos didn’t miss a beat and continued there sheer dominance of the Aggie defense taking 12 plays to move the ball down to the endzone for another score.
George Holani continued to be hard to bring down as he picked up 29 more yards on the drive with Van Buren, Henderson, and Butler getting an additional 28-yards on the ground. A Henderson completion to C.T. Thomas for a 15-yard touchdown to put the Broncos up 56-7.
Utah State was finally able to get back on the board with a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Gerold Bright. Jordan Love went 7 of 8 passing on the drive for 59-yards and added a 3-yard run as well. With Boise State cycling out some starters this was the first of 3 long drives that the Aggies were able to put together.
Boise State 56, Utah State 14
Fourth Quarter:
Utah State was able to force a 3 and out by the Broncos but were placing preservation above making a comeback and were led onto the field by Henry Colombi. Colombi moved the ball well in his first action of the night and got the Aggies down to the Boise State 25 yard line in 10 plays. They were unable to come away with points on the drive as Bronco safety Evan Tyler stepped in front of a pass and intercepted that pass for Utah State’s second turnover on the night.
Boise State just kept the ball on the ground with Andrew Van Buren getting 6 carries on the drive before having to put the ball back to the Aggies. Utah State put together another good drive with Colombi at the helm. Colombi featured heavily as he picked up 21 yards on the ground, including a 2-yard touchdown, and 50 through the air while Riley Burt accounted for the remaining 13-yards.
FINAL: Boise State 56, Utah State 21
Player of The Game:
This is one of the easiest ones of the season. George Holani finished with 178 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 carries while adding one catch for 13 yards to round it out. He dominated this game through the third quarter when he was taken out of the game.
Final Thoughts:
There were questions on both sides of who was going to be the starting quarterback for each team and with Jordan Love starting for the Aggies and Jaylon Henderson got the nod for the Broncos it looked to be an uphill battle for Boise State to clinch the Mountain Division and their birth in the Mountain West title game.
Instead of another trip on the struggle bus, this was a total performance that Boise State started against New Mexico last week and was able to continue into the game this week against a much better opponent. The Broncos appear to be peaking at the proper time and it a great thing to watch. With the championship match up with Hawaii set, the Broncos need to keep the momentum going next week against Colorado State
Up Next:
The Broncos take on Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Friday, November 29th at 1:30 PM MT. The came can be watched on CBS Sports Network.
