The Boise State Broncos made amends for last year's loss to Nevada with a thorough 30-10 win on Saturday. The Bronco D had 12 tackles for loss and held the Wolf Pack over 200 yards below their season average. Doug Martin picked up the slack for the Bronco O with 100 yards and two scores on a rare Kellen Moore off day. Chris Ault looked completely helpless. It was fun times all around.
Feel free to leave your thoughts on the game in the comments.
Game recap
A twenty-point margin did not do justice to the gap between Boise State and Nevada on Saturday.
The Wolf Pack offense was outmatched at every position and didn't cross midfield until the second half. Apart from two garbage-time drives, Nevada never threatened.
Boise State had opportunities aplenty on offense, and were it not for several misses in the passing game, the score could have been far more lopsided. The Broncos got the running game working better than it has all year, led by Doug Martin's 130 yards and two scores on 22 carries.
From the game's opening Nevada possession, you just had the feeling that Nevada QB Tyler Lantrip was not going to be good enough to challenge the Broncos. And with zero threat from the Wolf Pack, the game seemed over almost before it began. 30-10 may not have been the complete and total evisceration that Bronco fans wanted, but seeing Nevada struggle to move the ball sure was cathartic. Perhaps more importantly than the final score, Saturday's game reminded us that Boise State follows great seasons with more great seasons and Nevada doesn't enjoy the same luxury. That difference alone is enough to make me feel better about things.
Knee-jerk reactions
That was a WAC officiating crew if I ever saw one (update: Those were actually MWC officials, so yikes) ... I don't really want next week to become a Kellen Moore Knee Crisis, so let me say that I don't think any of his problems were knee-related. He just made some poor decisions, threw some poor balls, and didn't get much help from his receivers ... When did Shea McClellin become Clay Matthews? Man, that guy is versatile and really good ... What a performance by the Bronco defense for 59 minutes and 14 seconds ... Call me crazy, but I enjoyed the Versus presentation, probably because I've seen too many games on the WAC Sports Network ... Quiet day for Tyler Shoemaker, which makes me think that may have been part of Nevada's gameplan ... The loss of Jerrell Gavins didn't seem to hurt the Broncos at all ...
Boy, if Jamar Taylor could catch ... Coach Pete will have a lot of areas to be displeased with, but as a fan, I think I feel better after this game than I did after the Tulsa or Toledo ones ... It's nice having Chase Baker healthy ... Boise State continues to win the battle of field position, which I think says a lot about the improvement of their special teams coverage ... Dan Goodale, everybody! Kicking 1.000! ... One of Tyler Lantrip's many problems: Wearing gloves on both hands ...
Your turn
What did you think about Boise State's win over Nevada? Who was your player of the game? Glad to see the Boise State defense dominate the way they did? Share your thoughts in the comments.