It had been a rough few weeks for Boise State’s sophomore signal-caller Brett Rypien. He’d tossed an uncharacteristic 3 INTs in a closer-than-it-needed-to-be win against WSU, completed a season-low 52% of his passes against Oregon State, and barely got above 150 yards in a win against Utah State. Then last week, Rypien’s grandmother died. Naturally, Rypien went out and dismantled the New Mexico Lobos to the tune of 391 yards and 5 TDs in one half on Friday night. It was the type of game we’d been expecting from Rypien all year, but for him to pull it off with what I’m sure was an extremely heavy heart was all the more impressive.
For his efforts, Rypien was just named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week...the third straight offensive honor for the Broncos capping a 4 game streak with at least one Bronco taking home some MWC hardware. The reigning MWC freshman of the year led the Bronco offense to a quick 3 and out in the first drive of the game and many wondered if the sophomore mini-slump would continue. Then, Rypien led the Broncos on 7 straight scoring drives to blow the game wide open and avenge last season's loss to the Lobos. It was a sight to behold..and the powers-that-be in the Mountain West offices clearly beheld it. Rypien now joins Jeremy McNichols (2x), Sean Wale, and Tyler Horton as Broncos honored by the conference this season...and we're only 5 games in. Congrats, Brett on your outstanding performance.
Congratulations to @BroncoSportsFB quarterback Brett Rypien (@brettryp), the #MWFB Offensive Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/lrNY8gPIqu
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) October 10, 2016