Boise State squeaks past Washington in nail-biter

Whew. Boise State won "ugly" in their first opening game win since 2011. The defense was stout, the special teams was not, and the offense made some ill-timed miscues. Did you expect anything different from a game with this much build-up?

THINGS WE LEARNED

1. The running game will be solid. McNichols is a beast who can get the yards needed. Kelsey Young is no slouch either. Both averaged 3.7 yards a rush. McNichols with 24 attempts and 89 yards. He was rewarded with two TDs. The o-line created the holes and let the backs do their jobs. But UW figured out the "run up the gut" play pretty quickly.
2. The passing game... will need some work. 152 yards passing is ok, but it seemed as if the coaches were quite conflicted about Finley. Interestingly enough Finley actually had a better passer rating than Browning 95.5 to 87.4 respectively. Sperbeck was 1-1 and a 293.3 rating. So, we know who is the next QB, right?! Except runs up the middle. Which leads to...
3. Playcalling. This needs to improve. As great as the rushing game CAN be, going rush, rush, pass, punt is NOT an effective way to go. Perhaps first game jitters? Perhaps Drinkwitz finding his groove with the players he has. There are some good weapons at Finley's disposal. Hopefully this is just a speed bump.
4. The defense is going to be awesome. UW did not crack 100 yards of offense until the fourth quarter. Browning was 20-35 passing for 150 yards. And UW did NOT have a running game. 29 yards rushing on 22 attempts. Dwayne Washington had the most carries with eight for fourteen yards, 1.8 average. In fact, Browning had their longest rush of twelve yards. The defense is going to carry this team for a while. The defense will also make the plays when necessary. Late sacks in the fourth to take the team out of field goal range? Yes please.
5. Winning is nice. REALLY nice. I know it feels like a loss, but Boise State opened with a win and that is the most important thing.

FIRST HALF RECAP Boise State 16 - 0 University Of Washington

Total yards: Washington 56; Boise State 255

Rush yards: Washington 15; Boise State 152

Pass yards: Washington 41; Boise State 102

Penalties Washington 2-7; Boise STate 2-10

First Downs: Washington 4; Boise State 15

Total offensive plays: Washington: 21 Boise State 50

Time of Possession: Washington 10:22; Boise State 19:38

Turnovers: Washington 1; Boise State 1

QB COMPARISON:

• Browning 7-11 for 41 yards 1 INT and 76.8 passer rating.
• Finley 11-17 79 yards, 1 INT and 92 passer rating.

RUSHING COMPARISON:

University of Washington

• Washington 5 rushes for 12 yards. 2.4 yard average
• Gaskin 4 rushes for 5 yards. 1.3 yard average

• McNichols 14 rushes for 70 yards; two TDs 5 yard average
• Young, K 9 rushes for 41 yards 4.6 yard average
• Finley 5 rushes for 21 yards 4.2 yard average
• Demas 4 rushes for 20 yards 5 yard average

RECEIVING COMPARISON:

University of Washington

• Washington 3 catches; 18 yards
• Perkins 1 catch; 10 yards
• Mickens 1 catch 7 yards
• Pettis 1 catch 7 yards

Boise State

• Young, K 3 catches; 26 yards
• McNichols, 3 catches; 24 yards
• Huff, 2 catches; 28 yards
• Sperbeck, 2 catches; 14 yards
• Roh, 1 catch; 8 yards
• Williams-Rhodes, 1 catch, 3 yards.

WASHINGTON DRIVE RECAP

• First possession: TOP 3:41; 6 plays for 28 yards; ends in punt
• Second: TOP 2:27 5 plays for 21 yards, ends in punt
• Third: TOP: Seven seconds; 1 play; ends in INT
• Fourth: TOP: 2:33; 5 play for 13 yards; ends in punt
• fifth: TOP: 1:32; 3 plays for six yards; ends in punt
• sixth: TOP: two seconds 1 play for -2 yards; halftime

BOISE STATE DRIVE RECAP

• First possession: TOP 1:53; 3 plays for 6 yards; end in punt
• Second: TOP 6:14; 16 plays for 92 yards; ends in TD
• Third: TOP 5:19; 13 plays for 80 yards; ends in TD
• Fourth: TOP 1:52; 4 plays for 9 yards; turnover on downs
• Fifth: TOP 1:46; 4 plays for 24 yards; ends in INT
• Sixth: TOP 2:34; 11 plays for 43 yards; ends in FG

DEFENSIVE TOTALS