BY MIKE PRATER
@KTIK.COM

For seven quarters over eight days, Fresno State was a better team than Boise State.

Faster, more explosive and efficient on offense, dominant on both lines … and more points.

But for the eighth and final quarter of this bizarre college football odyssey, the Bulldogs didn’t have Leighton Vander Esch or Brett Rypien or the dig-deep mentality that these two players and this team has shown over the past two months.

One Rypien pass.

One Vander Esch interception.

Two gutsy leaders on a team full of guts – and two huge plays – was the difference as Boise State beat Fresno State 17-14 in the Mountain West Championship Game on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium. The 10-3 Broncos, who lost to Fresno State 28-17 in a mostly meaningless regular season finale last week, are headed to the Las Vegas Bowl to play Oregon.

The Ducks don’t have Rypien or Vander Esch or a roster full of guts, either.

Early advantage, Boise State.

“Talent can get you so far,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. ” … You see the 36 hours a year that we get judged on – I see them every day. The way that the coaches grind, the way the players grind, that’s what they do. I’ve never had a team go full pads the last week of practice. These guys didn’t bat an eye.”

Harsin’s offense continues to flash inconsistencies and red-zone issues, but give the man credit for demanding enough guts from his players to win, no matter how it looks. And the players respond. That’s how Boise State went from its own 5-yard-line to the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter Saturday night.

Because of guts.

Harsin has a defensive coordinator in Andy Avalos, whose gutsy unit of underclassmen forced Jeff Tedford’s offense into this kind of second-half production, or lack thereof: Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Interception.

He has a future NFL wide receiver in Cedrick Wilson, who had enough guts to call his own play on the game-winning drive, and delivered with a 59-yard catch, the biggest play of the night.

And Harsin has a gutsy 195-pound backup at running back, Ryan Wolpin, who carried twice for 13 yards on the deciding drive, including a 2-yard TD. Starter Alexander Mattison was not on the field, instead hanging out with doctors because of a leg/ankle injury that has him questionable for the Las Vegas Bowl.

Guts, guts, guts – all over The Blue.

• Definition of guts: Personal courage and determination; toughness of character.
• Tiny pictures next to guts in the dictionary: Rypien and Vander Esch, at least on this final night of the season on The Blue.

Rypien has battled all season, and was inconsistent again Saturday, overthrowing targets in the first half and falling behind 14-10. He didn’t have his favorite tight end (Jake Roh, injured). He lost Mattison in the second half. Drives kept stalling in Fresno State territory and he was sacked four times. But he didn’t throw an interception for the third straight game, and hit Wilson in perfect stride for the 59-yarder that set up the winning score. Rypien even had a 10-yard run on the drive.

Guts, guts, guts.

And then there’s Vander Esch, a former eight-man player from Riggins who now has two championships on The Blue: State high school title as a senior and Saturday night.

He slowly walked off the field after getting dinged in the second quarter, and Fresno State promptly scored to take a 7-3 lead. Vander Esch didn’t sit long, and finished with a career-high and MW championship-record 16 tackles (tying Ben Weaver, 2014). The Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year locked up the game by picking off Fresno State quarterback Marcus McMaryion just as the clocked moved under 2 minutes.

Fresno State had 85 yards in the second half, finished 2-of-13 on third-down attempts, and had only one play that went 20-plus yards (22). So much for speed …

In the end, this rare and intense eight-game series perfectly mirrored the Broncos’ season of insanity. Boise State lost the first seven quarters against Fresno State, but won the eighth. The Broncos started the season 2-2, curiously juggled two QBs, drove fans crazy, won 8 of 9 and now have a second Mountain West championship in four seasons under Harsin.

“I said to our offensive unit, ‘I don’t know how we are going to win this game, but we’re going to do it,’” Rypien said. ” …  We kept fighting, kept grinding and we’ve done that all year.”

Guts, guts and more guts.

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 claimed its third Mountain West championship (2012, 2014, 2017), and second victory in the Mountain West Championship Game, with Saturday’s 17-14 victory over No. 25 Fresno State.
• This year’s conference championship is the 13th overall for Boise State since joining the FBS in 1996. The Broncos have won two Big West titles, eight WAC titles and three Mountain West titles.
• The victory is Boise State’s fourth as an unranked team against a ranked opponent. The Broncos are 4-10 in such games all-time.
• Boise State (10-3) recorded its 15th 10-win season since joining the FBS in 1996. It is the Broncos’ third 10-win season over the last four years.
• Boise State is 14-6 all-time against Fresno State, and the Broncos have won 13 of the 15 meetings since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2001.
• Boise State, which trailed 14-10 entering the fourth quarter, recorded its third fourth-quarter comeback of the season. In the Bryan Harsin Era, the Broncos have won seven games after entering the fourth quarter behind or tied.
• The previous two fourth-quarter comebacks this season came against Wyoming (14-10) on Oct. 21, and at Colorado State (42-38) on Nov. 11.
• Rypien was named the game’s Offensive MVP after going 16-for-30 for 246 yards.
• Vander Esch, named the game’s Defensive MVP, matched his career high with 16 tackles, which also tied former Bronco Ben Weaver (2014) for the most in a Mountain West Championship Game. Vander Esch sealed the game with an interception with 1:50 to play, his third pick of the season.
• The Broncos held the Bulldogs scoreless in the first quarter, just the third time this season that they held their opponents scoreless in the first. They went on to finish 3-0 in those games.
• Saturday marked the third game this season in which the Broncos held their opponent scoreless in the second half. The previous two opponents were at BYU (Oct. 7), and against Nevada (Nov. 4).
• Wilson finished the game with eight catches for 148 yards, his 10th-career 100-yard game (fifth best in Boise State history). Wilson brought his season receiving yardage total to 1,290, the second-highest single-season total in school history.
• Wilson brought his career receiving yardage total to 2,419, moving into eighth all-time at Boise State.
• Wolpin ran for 50 yards on 11 carries, scoring the game-winning touchdown from two yards out with 4:42 to play.
• Mattison scored his 12th rushing touchdown of the season with a 3-yard run in the second quarter. He finished with 50 yards on 14 carries before leaving the game with an injury.
• STUD Curtis Weaver collected his team- and Mountain West-leading ninth sack of the season, dropping McMaryion for five yards in the second quarter.
• Avery Williams’ 36-yard punt return to Fresno State’s 4-yard line set up the Broncos’ first touchdown in the second quarter. Williams finished with 41 return yards.
• Redshirt freshman SLB Desmond Williams made his second sack of the season in the third quarter.
• Redshirt freshman TE John Bates made a career-long 17-yard reception in the first quarter.
• The entire team led the Broncos onto the field with The Hammer, tight end Alec Dhaenens carried the Bleed Blue flag and DT David Moa carried the American flag.
• Wide receiver Brock Barr joined Rypien, Vander Esch and Wilson as game captains.

Courtesy of Boise State Athletics