The Broncos rolled to a win in Laramie behind the rushing of Doug Martin, the passing of Kellen Moore, and the domination of pretty much everyone else. Wyoming never got anything going. Boise State had everything going right from the start.
What did you think of the Broncos' big win? After the jump, read my notes on the game and let me know what you think. Impressed with Boise State's dominance in the trenches? Curious what would have happened if bounces didn't go Boise State's way? Share your thoughts in the comments. And vote in the poll for player of the game.
Bring on Oregon State! Go Broncos!
First quarter
- Kyle Brotzman FG
- Shea McClellin fumble recovery TD
- Austin Pettis TD catch from Kellen Moore
Wyoming drive
Boise State's defensive line starts off the game with good pressure. If they can keep that up, it's going to be a long night for the Cowboys. The Broncos got lucky to get off the field with a three-and-out when the Wyoming back dropped a wide open pass. Aaron Tevis got a little turned around in coverage with a wheel route. He was definitely caught peeking on that one.
Boise State drive
Good mix of pass and run. The screen game seems to be a better part of the gameplan today. Wyoming doing a good job of stuffing the run up the middle so far. Boise State may have better luck getting to the edge. Austin Pettis seems to be getting open whenever and wherever he wants. Interesting that Kellen Moore didn't look his way on 3rd and goal. Broncos dodged a bullet with the dropped INT in the end zone. TT's two drops for the Cowboys in two series (dropped first down on offense). Did Kyle Efaw run the wrong route? That pass was way off.
Wyoming drive
Not only is Boise State covering well, they are staying disciplined on defense. The 1st down option play never had a chance. Great fill by Jamar Taylor. On 2nd down, Carta-Samuels panics when receivers don't get open right away and then gets sacked by a spying Aaron Tevis. Think Tyrod Talyor would have gotten away in that instance? I do. 3rd down, Boise State was in an interesting defensive alignment - Jerrell Gavins was on the field at corner, Jamar Taylor was playing inside like a linebacker opposite of the trips formation on the wide side. Of course, it was for naught because center-QB exchanges were not a specialty.
Three drives, three mistakes by Wyoming.
Wyoming drive
Tjong-A-Tjoe at defensive end? Yikes. It just doesn't look like Carta-Samuels will have enough time to ever look deep. If that's the case, then 1st and 20 probably wouldn't be a good idea. Wyoming will have a hard time getting to the edge against the Broncos, too. Boise State did more in a 3-man front this series, probably because of the long downs and distance. BSU can get pressure with three but bringing blitzes from different areas and trusting the secondary to make tackles behind. Mitch Burroughs should probably field rolling punts when there are no people near him. Lost about 30 yards by not picking up that punt.
Boise State drive
Boise State had a definite numbers advantage on the right side of the formation on Doug Martin's 1st down run. You won't have much success defending two against three with Boise State's offensive line. Martin is in the zone on this drive - yards on the edge, making people miss. It will be tough to take him out for Harper next series. Wyoming definitely fell for the fleaflicker, probably because BSU was running all over them up until then. Great trhrow by Kellen Moore, perfect.
Wyoming drive
Cowboys having some success against Boise State's No. 2 line. Michael Atkinson got washed down on the big 1st down carry. Good, tough defense against Carta-Samuels on that stretch pass. The three-man rush didn't really work on 3rd down, but great play by Hunter White to end the drive.
Boise State drive
Doug Martin is very dangerous when he gets a head of steam rolling. He crushed Wyoming's safety after a long run, he broke through big on a well-timed, well-blocked screen pass. Boise State moved the ball easily over the 50. Jeremy Avery plays have not been working tonight. His semi-screen pass went for negative yards. He almost seems a little clumsy tonight. On 3rd down, Kellen Moore gets picked over the middle on a pass to Chris Potter. Did Potter stop his route? Moore's two quasi-INTs tonight have both come over the middle on plays that seemed like he wasn't on the same page as his receivers. Fortunately, a very egregious roughing the passer took that one off the board. It took the Broncos four rushes to get their next 1st down (one that Jeremy Avery probably could have picked up on 3rd down if he had just run forward through the first hole). Kellen Moore sneaked for the 1st on 4th and a full yard, which says a lot about Boise State's confidence in its line's owning Wyoming up front. After an incomplete to Gallarda (drop or overthrow: you decide), Martin takes it in from 7 yards out. Solid blocks by Matt Slater and Dan Paul got him to the edge. The key block? A washout of the corner by a Bronco receiver who looked to be Mitch Burroughs.
Wyoming drive
Boise State's second D-line is still in there. Good plays by Michael Atkinson on 1st and 2nd down. Kharyee Marshall comes off with a shoulder injury after 2nd. From my deep experience diagnosing injuries over TV, I'd say it's a separated shoulder. Or a stinger. On 3rd down, either a called QB draw or the fastest read progression ever sent Carta-Samuels on the move, but Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe at that up before it had a chance. Safe to say that Boise State's defensive line is winning the battle up front? Uh, yeah.
Second quarter
- Doug Martin TD run
- Titus Young TD catch from Kellen Moore
- Kyle Brotzman FG
Boise State drive
Boise State goes deep to Titus Young on the first play, and Young was WIDE open. He pulled away from the coverage, which was good because Kellen Moore's deep ball hung up there big time. You might want to give those CBs safety help.
Wyoming drive
Boise State's defensive line really wreaking havoc up front for Carta-Samuels. The 3rd down that Wyoming converted was completely a fluke. Gavins was really turned around and did not play the ball well, but something had to go Wyoming's way eventually. Boise State has a very good read on Wyoming's read option play. Carta-Samuels has yet to keep on it, which is odd because there is no room for the running back ever. Carta-Samuels' deep pass into the end zone was kind of a desperate toss into double coverage. Good play on the ball by Jeron Johnson. That is not an easy pick to make.
And as for George Iloka interfering with the receiver: Uh, no. That was incidental contact. His hands went out because his instincts were to keep the guy from falling. Their feet got tangled up. And the CBS College Sports crew completely botched that call. YOU CANNOT DO VIDEO REVIEW FOR PENALTIES. The refs were looking at it to see if Johnson did indeed catch the ball in bounds. They were not reviewing the no-call. Come on , people.
Boise State drive
Good running by Harper. Boise State looked human for the first time tonight on short passes that didn't connect. Kellen Moore had plenty of time, just started forcing balls into tight spots.
Wyoming drive
The Cowboys had positive yards on 1st down for maybe the first time tonight. Too bad they didn't do anything with it. Another read option on 2nd that went nowhere. And then a rather impossible pass to catch up the sideline on 3rd down. The receiver never really had a chance on that one.
Boise State drive
Finally, Tyler Shoemaker shows up. Great catch and run, although it helps when playaction pulls all 11 defenders away from you. The drive ends with a Kelen Moore INT - and a really bad one at that. On the very abbreviated scale of Kellen Moore picks, this one was one of the worst. Just ill-advised and not confident. He obviously did not see the underneath defender but Shoemaker was covered pretty well anyway.
Wyoming drive
And ... nothing. If a pass ever deserved to be intercepted, it was that duck that Carta-Samuels threw on 3rd down.
Boise State drive
Kellen Moore was just picking the D apart on that drive. He had lots of time on every throw. Wyoming's defensive line hasn't done much of anything this game. There's been less Pettis and Young now that the game is getting out of hand, which could explain why the team bogged down in the red zone. I'd have liked to see the Broncos put one in there (their only red zone touchdown was Martin's TD run), but seriously ... 31-0? Can't complain about that.
Third quarter
- Kyle Brotzman FG
- Carta-Samuels TD pass
- D.J. Harper TD run
Boise State drive
Starting off with a 1st and 20 is not a good way to open the half, but hey, when Titus Young is running uncovered on 3rd down you'll take it. Typically that is the pass that the defense wants you to make - the safe checkdown on 3rd and long - but Young would have had the first, missed tackles or not. Strange. The first Kellen Moore option of the season, and it ends with Mitch Burroughs getting rolled up from behind and injured. Some more solid running from Boise State, but a Joe Kellogg penalty and a rushing loss give BSU a tough time of it on 3rd down. Perfect throw by Moore to the sticks, but I guess Burks was short on the catch. They didn't want to measure that one?
Wyoming drive
Winston Venable with a couple nice plays on 1st and 2nd down, even though the two plays ended with a Cowboy 1st down. Boise State had Wyoming on 3rd down, but a good pass to the RB who beat Jonathan Brown easily and picked up the first. Great playaction pass on the ensuing play and a busted coverage gives Wyoming its first points of the game. With as much as Boise State has been stacking the box against the run, it's about time Wyoming ran a play like that.
Boise State drive
Once Boise State got it moving with a 3rd down pickup from Chris Potter (after a fumbled snap; hey, those are back!), there was no stopping them. A D.J. Harper drive, capped with a Harper TD run. Tommy Gallarda was open a couple of times on playaction passes. The Broncos made it look easy. That drive reminded me of the Bowling Green game from last year - Boise State just doing whatever it wants without much resistance from the defense. Seriously, D.J. Harper scored on a short-yardage run up the middle and wasn't touched until he crossed the goalline.
Fourth quarter
- Jarvis Hodge TD run
Wyoming drive
Boise State's first-team D-line gets a rushing stop on 1st down and a sack on 2nd down, and that's all she wrote for that drive. Will this be the last time we see Winn and Co. tonight?
Boise State drive
I guess Mike Coughlin is ahead of Joe Southwick on the depth chart. Which means it's time for the Broncos to send in the safe Mike Coughlin playcall package. Five runs, one first down, a 3rd down screen pass, and a 4th down fumble (not Bronson Durrant's best snap ever, to be sure), and it's Wyoming ball.
Wyoming drive
Jerrell Gavins got beat clean by David Leonard on that 3rd down play. Too bad for Wyoming that the pass was woefully long. That's the second time Gavins got beat tonight. If you were a Cowboy fan, would you be happy with a punt on 4th and short at midfield? I probably wouldn't.
Boise State drive
Jeremy Avery Time is the new Jarvis Hodge Time. On the play where Avery breaks one of the first tackles for him this season, he coughs it up right to a Boise State lineman. But still. Michael Coughlin's 3rd down pass play was doomed as soon as Coughlin entertained the idea of scrambling for the 1st down. He didn't make it. Punt.
Wyoming drive
Boise State gets off the field with some really strong play on 3rd and short and 4th and short from its backup defense. Michael Atkinson was eating space on at least a couple of those runs.
Boise State drive
Jarvis Hodge and Matt Kaiserman clean things up with some good, hard running on what should be the Broncos' final drive. Joe Southwick is in at quarterback. Hodge finishes the drive with a TD run. Good win for the backup offensive line and backup skill players driving down the field like this.
Your turn
What did you think of Boise State's big win? Share your thoughts in the comments.