Boise State vs. Marshall: How The Broncos Escaped With A Win
Quarter by quarter breakdown of Boise State vs. Marshall
Contact/Follow @MWCwire
A win is a win.
Boise State is coming into tonight’s matchup on a 17 game winning streak in home openers. After last week’s win in Tallahassee, Marshall doesn’t seem like they are going to be that tough of an opponent. However, they are coming in on a short week against a team that could be out for some revenge. The revenge angle is a bit of a stretch as none of the current players on either team had even been born the last time the two teams played in 1994 in the D1-AA (FCS) semifinals.
Marshall, coming off a victory against the Virginia Military Institute, put up impressive offensive numbers last week and are hoping to continue to keep that momentum against a ranked opponent. With Boise State’s difficulties against the pass early last week, it could be an interesting matchup to watch throughout the night.
First Quarter:
Marshall received the ball first and started to move the ball with short passes to the outside of the numbers. The success didn’t last very long as a couple of run plays didn’t produce much yardage to put the Herd into a 3rd and long. The Bronco defense stepped up and stopped Marshall receiver Devin Miller a yard short, forcing the punt. Herd punter Robert LeFevre put the Broncos in a hole with an excellent 49-yard punt that bounced out of bounds at the Boise State 7 yard line.
Hank Bachmeier and the Broncos came out looking to put together a long drive to build on the momentum they established in the second half last week. Going 4 for 5 for 34 yards while looking much more comfortable than he did last week, Bachmeier looked to be doing just that. The drive did stall out on the Boise State 49 yard line and the Broncos were forced to punt the ball back to the Herd and Joel Velazquez did exactly what he needed to with a high punt that was fair caught on Marshall 8 yard line.
Marshalls next drive was a lot of slow and steady. They continued to struggle to run the ball and they stuck with short passes to try to negate the pass rush of Boise State. On the 7th play for the drive, Marshall running back Tyler King got a little space and was stripped of the ball while trying to extend the play. After the refs unpiled the mass, Boise State’s Tyreque Jones came out with the ball for the Broncos first turn over of the game.
The Broncos didn’t move the ball well, only gaining a yard, and sent Eric Sachse to attempt a 49-yard field goal. The snap and hold were clean, but the kick faded just right of the goalposts.
The Herd wasted little time seizing the opportunity to get out front after the missed kick. In a 5 play drive, mostly on the ground with Brendon Knox, the Herd got on the board capping a 68-yard drive.
Boise State 0, Marshall 7
Second Quarter:
Boise State continued to struggle to rush the ball as Marshall stuck with their game plan and kept the pressure on the Boise offensive line. Boise slowly moved the ball down to the Marshall 29 yard line, and perhaps being a little gun shy with Sachse, elected to go for it on 4th and 2. Marshall stacked the box with all 11 players within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage and got a lot of pressure on Bachmeier who threw a dangerous pass that fell incomplete.
The Bronco defense stepped up and didn’t allow Marshall to continue to take control of the game by forcing a punt on their following drive. Boise State started deep in their own territory again, but they started showing some signs lol life. Bachmeier scrambled for a first down and completed what appeared to be a touchdown, but it was called back for a holding call.
The Broncos lost more yardage after head coach Bryan Harsin got in the face of an official, bumping him, and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Facing a 3rd and 19, Bachmeier scrambled and got as much yardage back as he could, but came up five yards short of the first. The only positive to come out of the drive is that the crowd seemed to have woken up and their volume started to cause issues for Marshall on their following drive.
Boise State had to start their drive inside their own 15 yard line for the third time of the night after the defense held Marshall to just 16 yards and finally showed a little emotion and fire to close out the half. The big plays finally started coming with a 27-yard completion to tight end John Bates and a 45-yarder to Khalil Shakier to get down to the Marshall 2 yard line. Bachmeier sprinkled an 11-yard run on 3rd and 11 keeping the drive alive just before the completion to Shakir. Marshall’s defense stiffened up and had the Broncos in a 3rd and goal situation before they finally scored on a zone-read keeper by Hank Bachmeier.
Halftime: Boise State 7, Marshall 7
Third Quarter:
Boise State received the kickoff and was aggressive from the kick. Wide receiver John Hightower fielded the kick in the end zone and immediately took it out, returning it to the 28-yard line. The passing game remained hot as Bachmeier connected with Garrett Collingham for 24 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, on another 3rd down and long, Bachmeier completed a pass to Hightower for a 47-yard touchdown. The Bronco running game didn’t contribute much to the drive with George Holani gaining a single yard on his only carry.
The Bronco defense came out aggressive as well getting a tackle for a loss on the first play, followed by a 6-yard sack by linebacker Riley Whimpey, before forcing a punt with their first 3 and out of the game.
After moving the ball well on the ground for the first time all game, 37 of 50 yards rushing on the drive, the Broncos missed a snap and Bachmeier took a sack for a loss of a total of 17yards, Boise State made an incredibly interesting choice. With a 4th down and 27 Coach Harsin didn’t elect to try to pin Marshall deep with a punt but instead decided to keep the offense on the field. With few options for 4th and almost 30, Bachmeier dropped back and threw essentially a Hail Mary that fell just out of bounds in the end zone.
With another great 3 and out by the Boise State defense, the offense got the ball at the Bronco 32 yard line and got the ball moving again. Covering 53 yards on 9 plays, the Broncos moved the ball well but failed to convert their trip into the red zone. On a 2nd and p play from the 15, Marshall linebacker Omari Cobb got his hand up and tipped the ball to himself, forcing the first Bronco turnover of the game.
Boise State 14, Marshall 7
Fourth Quarter:
The Bronco defense found their stride in the second half like they did last week. Marshall was held to their 3rd consecutive 3 and out and between self-inflicted, pre-snap penalties, were at -15 for the second half. The Bronco offense carried on with their new trend of ending drives frustratingly. On a 3rd and 8, and only the 5th play of the drive, Hank Bachmeier was sacked from behind and fumbled. Marshall’s Fermin Silva recovered the ball and gave the Herd on the Boise State 46 yard line.
Both defenses continued to play well which resulted in an exchange of punts, giving Marshall the ball at their own 40-yard line. The Herd were again looking to tie the game up and had good field position to do so. After a short run on first down Herd quarterback Isaiah Green attempted another pass out to the sidelines, but the route was jumped by Bronco safety Kekoa Nawahine on the Boise State 25 yard line.
Boise State finished out the game with an impressive 15 play drive which ran the final 7:36 off the clock to get the 14-7 victory. The drive was helped out on a 3rd and 1 play where Bachmeier dropped back to pass but had his helmet ripped off by a Marshall defender, giving the Broncos a first down. During the drive, George Holani eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the game, becoming the first player to do so against the Marshall defense since November 25th, 2017.
Final: Boise State 14, Marshall 7
Key Moment:
Was a negative to turned into a positive, the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Coach Harsin. Granted the offense could not close out drives in the second half, but the defense was lights out from that moment on.
Player of the Game:
George Holani with 103 yards on 22 carries. Marshall has a good run defense and kept 9 or more players in the box for most of the game so Holani didn’t come by any of those yards easy.
Final Thoughts:
With the number of hits that Bachmeier has taken over the first two weeks and the overall struggle of the running game this week (47/155/3.3) the offensive line, which was viewed as a strength, is off to a shaky start again this year. The defense played extremely well this week and didn’t allow a first down to Marshall in the second half. They only allowed a few big plays to Marshall and those where mostly on the scoring drive in the first quarter. As high as a lot of folks were after Florida State last week, this game was a great reminder that there is still work to do for this season.
UP NEXT: Vs Portland State Vikings, September 14th, 8:15 PM MT
