BOISE STATE IS A FIRST-PLACE TEAM, ALL BY ITSELF, AFTER RYPIEN & CO. BLOW OUT UTAH STATE

Posted on October 29, 2017

BY MIKE PRATER
KTIK.COM

Boise State had eight turnovers the last time its football team played in Logan, Utah. On Saturday night, on the same field where they lost by 26 points two years ago, the Broncos produced five touchdowns, two field goals and had no turnovers in a dominating 41-14 victory over Utah State.

Boise State played its best offensive game of the season, outgaining the Aggies 533-279. The Broncos’ seven scoring drives covered 75, 78, 75, 79, 77, 73 and 67 yards. Boise State had 27 first downs, Utah State finished with 13.

Boise State (6-2, 4-0 MW) is bowl eligible for the 16th straight season, the longest streak in the Group of 5. The Broncos are the only team unbeaten in Mountain West play, after Fresno State lost to UNLV 26-16 at home and Colorado State lost to Air Force 45-28.

The Broncos finished October 4-0, with three of the victories on the road. The average margin of victory during the streak is 17.8 points.

Rypien, who had two TD passes in the first seven games of this season, tossed three in the first half and finished 19-of-27 for 260 yards. No. 2 quarterback Montell Cozart, who made his first appearance on the third play, completed 5-of-7 passes for 110 yards and two more TDs.

Boise State scored TDs on three of its first four possessions, and four different players scored touchdowns: Senior wide receiver Cedrick Wilson (19-yard catch from Rypien, first quarter), freshman wide receiver Octavius Evans (12-yard catch from Rypien, first quarter), sophomore running back Alexander Mattison (3-yard pass from Cozart, second quarter) and senior tight end Jake Roh (22 yards from Rypien in the second quarter, 35 yards from Cozart in the third).

Mattison cranked out 110 yards on the ground, though the Broncos averaged only 3.6 yards per carry and allowed three sacks. Mattison has rushed for 100-plus yards in three of his past four games, and is averaging 111.8 yards a game during that stretch.

Boise State’s defense had no turnovers and no sacks, but Utah State was held to four plays or fewer on eight of its 13 possessions.

  • NEXT: vs. Nevada (1-7, 1-3), Albertsons Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 4, 5 p.m., ESPNU, KBOI 670 AM and KTIK 93.1 FM The Ticket.

PRATER’S POST-GAME POINTS

  • Like it or not, the Broncos’ two-QB system is working, and has become the identity of the 2017 team. Rypien started, but Cozart was behind center for the third play of the game, a 21-yard pass to Wilson. Cozart appeared in nine of the Broncos’ first 12 drives, and had seven pass attempts and seven rushing attempts. The two passers combined to hit 24-of-34 passes for 370 yards, five TDs and no interceptions. There were no major hiccups, and the transitions were smooth, leaving Utah State’s defensive coaches guessing all night. Credit coaches for continuing to push the right/weird buttons, credit Rypien for ditching the ego of a two-time all-conference player, and credit Cozart for being a much better passer than many thought (season stats: 50-of-76, 66 percent, 649 yards, nine TDs, 1 INT, a long of 47 yards, which is three yards longer than Rypien’s longest throw).
  • Injuries are starting to mount, and depth isn’t the strength of this roster. Wide receiver Akilian Butler, safety Evan Tyler, linebacker Blake Whitlock and tight end Chase Blakley are done for the season. STUD Sam Whitney didn’t play Saturday, and defensive tackle David Moa (ankle/lower leg), defensive end Durrant Miles (report: jaw), Richardson (unknown) and right guard Eric Quevedo (unknown) were injured during the game. A small concern with as many as six games left to play.
  • The week was huge for wide receiver depth. Seven different players caught at least two balls Saturday night, led by Wilson (six catches), followed by Roh (four), Richardson (four), CT Thomas (three), Mattison (three), Sean Modster (two) and Evans (two). The Broncos also landed recruiting commitments from a junior college transfer and a Texas high school receiver last week.
  • If Boise State runs the table, wins the Mountain West championship game, and finishes 11-2, it will be in the conversation for a New Year’s Six bowl game. The competition right now is three teams from the American Athletic: UCF (7-0), USF (7-1) and Memphis (7-1). UCF and USF play each other to end the regular season, and Memphis could face the winner in the AAC title game.
  • The first College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday, and here’s one prediction of how the committee will vote: 1. Alabama; 2. Georgia; 3. Notre Dame; 4 Ohio State (though it should be Oklahoma, with a case for a few other one-loss teams).


Mike Prater, editor of The Opinionator, co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk with Caves & Prater weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on KTIK 93.1 FM The Ticket and can be heard on Bronco GameNight after BSU football games on KBOI 670 AM and KTIK 93.1 FM. He can be reached at [email protected], and found @CavesandPrater(Facebook) and @MikeFPrater (Twitter).

POST-GAME NEWS & NOTES FROM BOISE STATE

  • Boise State’s 41-14 victory at Utah State puts the Broncos up 16-5 all-time against the Aggies. The victory puts the Broncos at 6-2 overall (4-0 MW) and bowl eligible for the 16th straight season.
  • Boise State has its first 4-0 start to conference play for the first time since 2012.
  • Sophomore middle linebacker Tyson Maeva had a team-high 10 tackles (two solo), and sophomore safety DeAndre Pierce had nine (five solo). Freshman cornerback Avery Williams had three pass breakups.
  • The Broncos had a season-high 533 yards of total offense (on 79 plays) against the Aggies.
  • The Broncos posted a season-high 370 passing yards, with Rypien throwing for 260 yards, and Cozart throwing for 110.
  • Wilson’s 19-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter was his fifth touchdown reception of the year and first from Rypien this year. His previous four touchdown catches were all from Cozart. Wilson finished the night with six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.
  • Roh hauled in his fifth and sixth touchdown receptions of the season, the first a 22-yard catch from Rypien in the second quarter followed by a 35-yard catch from Cozart in the third quarter. Roh’s 87 receiving yards are also his career high, and his six receiving touchdowns and eight touchdowns overall (six receiving, two rushing) are also team-highs.
  • Evans collected his first career touchdown on the 12-yard touchdown pass from Rypien in the first quarter. Evans is the first true freshman to catch a touchdown pass since 2014 (Jeremy McNichols), and the first true freshman wide receiver to do so since Shane Williams-Rhodes in 2012.
  • Rypien posted his first multi-touchdown game of the year, as he threw for three scores. His last multi-touchdown pass game was at Hawaii on Nov. 12, 2016, when he threw four touchdown passes.
  • Mattison rushed for 110 yards on 19 carries, eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the third time in his career, and for the third time in the past four games.
  • Mattison’s three-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his first career TD reception.
  • RB Ryan Wolpin rushed for a season-high 51 yards on 10 carries. His previous best this season was 47, in the season opener against Troy (Sept. 2).
  • The Broncos had two players (Rypien and Cozart) throw for a touchdown for the first time since Rypien and wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck did so Oct. 15, 2016, against Colorado State. The last time two true Bronco quarterbacks threw TD passes in one game was November 30, 2013, against New Mexico, when Grant Hedrick had three touchdown passes and Joe Southwick had one.
  • The last time two Bronco quarterbacks had multi-touchdown days in the same game was against Idaho on Nov. 17, 2007, when Taylor Tharp threw for four touchdowns and Bush Hamdan threw for two.
  • Freshman Kekaula Kaniho made the first start of his career (nickel), becoming the 19th first-time starter for the Broncos this season. Boise State entered this week having the ninth-most first-time starters in the country.
  • The Broncos’ 28 points in the first half were its most so far this season and the most since scoring 35 points in the first half Nov. 12, 2016, at Hawaii. The Broncos also totaled the most first half passing yards (245) and total yards (299) of the season, and the most since totaling 218 passing yards and 403 total yards at Hawaii in 2016.
  • Thomas made a career-high 24-yard reception in the second quarter, and finished the game with three catches for 32 yards.
  • The first play of the game, a 32-yard pass from Rypien to Richardson, was the longest play to start the first Bronco offensive drive of any game this season and the longest since an 82-yard rush by McNichols on the first offensive play of the Air Force game Nov. 20, 2015. It was also the longest first offensive pass play of a game since a 42-yard pass from Rypien to Sperbeck to start vs. New Mexico on Nov. 14, 2015.
  • Linebacker Riley Whimpey led the Broncos onto the field with The Hammer, while defensive tackle Chase Hatada carried the American flag and Cozart carried the Bleed Blue flag Saturday night.
  • Defensive end and Utah native Durrant Miles joined Rypien, Leighton Vander Esch and Wilson as game captains.

Courtesy of Boise State Athletics

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