The Boise State Broncos defeated BYU 28-27, moving one step closer towards a potential berth in an NY6 Bowl.
Make no mistake about it: this victory was far from perfect. The Broncos turned the ball over five times in this contest, including two pick sixes in the second quarter that allowed BYU to take the lead. Prior to that, Boise had a field goal blocked, which set up the Cougars’ first score. The Broncos also failed to get points after taking over at the BYU 17-yard line after Kalani Sitake called a fake punt out of his own end zone.
Despite these miscues, Boise State was able to win the game, thanks to an outstanding effort from the defense. The front seven was rock solid against the run, holding the BYU ground game to just 3.6 yards per carry — almost a yard and a half less than what it averaged coming into this contest. The pass defense was just as impressive, allowing Taysom Hill to complete just 50% of his passes, while recording four sacks.
Although these numbers are impressive, the thing that really stands out is how well the Bronco D played in crucial situations. Boise’s defense won the battle on third down all night long, allowing BYU to convert on just 4 of 17 of its opportunities. It also came up big on fourth down, stopping the Cougars three out of four times, including a Hail Mary attempt on the game’s final play.
While the defense deserves the credit for this victory, it’s worth noting that the offense showed flashes of brilliance at times. Yes, it turned the ball over five times, but the Broncos also racked up 571 yards of total offense, which is the second-highest total that BYU has allowed in the past two seasons. And just like the defense, the Boise State O came up with some huge plays on third down, converting 5 of its 11 chances, including a 76-yard touchdown on the opening drive and a 46-yard pass to set up the game-winning score.
Although the win wasn’t pretty, it does move Boise State one step closer to an NY6 Bowl bid. Sure, there’s a lot of football remaining, but with the victory over BYU, the Broncos now have three wins over quality opponents in non-conference play (Washington State and Oregon State were the others). That should be more than enough to elevate them over the other G5 teams, even if they were to lose a game along the way.
Of course, a loss doesn’t seem very likely after what we saw on the gridiron against BYU. Even though it made some mistakes, the Broncos continued to come up with plays when they absolutely had to have them. Whether it was a timely third down conversion or coming up with a stop when it needed it, Boise rose to the occasion like championship caliber teams do.
That hardly sounds like a team that’s going to lose in the regular season.
