‘We’ve got playmakers’: In convincing win, Broncos had too many to count

BOISE (Idaho Stateman) — Boise State’s 2025 football team doesn’t really want to keep hearing about the past — meaning all-world running back Ashton Jeanty, who was a big-play machine.

On Friday night, the Broncos showed they still have plenty of ability when it comes to explosive plays.

It perhaps just takes a village to make up for the one-man show Jeanty could be. Almost too many Broncos to mention came up with big numbers in a 51-14 win over Eastern Washington at Albertsons Stadium.

There were nine passing plays that covered at least 15 yards and eight runs of at least 10 yards, and several of those resulted in touchdowns. Boise State put together just 10 so-called “big plays” in last week’s season-opening 34-7 loss to South Florida, with four of those in the final quarter when the game was far out of reach.

This week, the first snap from scrimmage was a big play: Running back Sire Gaines charged through a huge hole and ran 46 yards before people had settled into their seats.

“We won the turnover battle today, and we won the explosive play battle today,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said after Friday’s game. “I don’t care who you’re playing, what team it is, those two stats equal wins, and our guys won those today.”

Along with the explosive plays, the Broncos’ defense forced two turnovers — a fumble and recovery from redshirt junior nickel Jaden Mickey, and an interception by redshirt freshman cornerback Trey Tolmaire. On offense, the village was full of big-play residents.

Four receivers caught passes that covered at least 15 yards and five players had runs of at least 10 yards. Receivers Chris Marshall and Ben Ford menaced the Eagles’ secondary, and No. 3 running back Dylan Riley tore through the defense the same way Gaines did.

Running the show was QB Maddux Madsen, who threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a score. Madsen hit redshirt senior Ford for a pair of TDs, including a 60-yard strike that made it 20-0 in the first quarter. He connected with Marshall four times for 132 yards.

Gaines finished with 98 yards rushing on just 14 carries, and he wasn’t even atop that stat category. That honor belonged to Riley, who ripped off a 77-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and finished with 123 yards on six carries.

“I thought offensively, we really set the tone early,” Danielson said. “We have to establish a run game. And I felt like our guys came out, the offensive line built a mentality, and our running backs ran really hard.”

The line blasted plenty of running lanes open, as evidenced by the team’s 328 rushing yards. That group also kept Madsen from being sacked a single time and gave him plenty of time to find open receivers. His 307 passing yards tied a career high — he had that same total in a win over San Diego State last season — and he was his usual efficient self running, gaining 35 yards on four carries, including a 14-yard TD.

Supporting the outstanding nights from Marshall and Ford, who had a career-high 82 yards receiving, was tight end Matt Lauter, who had four catches for 45 yards, including a 17-yarder he almost took for a score.

“This is obviously a very talented wide receiver core,” Ford said. “These guys, day in and day out, everybody makes plays in practice, and everybody gets open in practice. We all do things of our own that we do better than other people in the room, and I’m just really, honestly grateful to be a part of such a great receiver room.”

The Broncos ended the game with 637 total yards, their most since last season’s opening win over Georgia Southern (651 yards). It also was the first time Boise State had more than 300 yards both throwing and running since a 62-7 shellacking of Connecticut in 2018.

“I love how we came out and established the run game,” Danielson said, and the stats backed him up: 141 yards rushing on the first five drives. “Maddux did a great job protecting the football and was able to deal in a lot of ways. We’ve got playmakers. We’ve got to protect, we’ve got to make sure we make the throws, and we’ve got to get the ball to our playmakers.”