Boise State turns shootout into blowout of UNLV to get leg up in Mountain West

BOISE — Boise State’s big plays just kept coming.

There goes Dylan Riley. Again.

There goes Chris Marshall. Again.

There goes Cameron Bates. Again.

There goes A’Marion McCoy — wait, doesn’t he play defense?

Didn’t matter. Nearly everyone got in on the action Saturday afternoon at Albertsons Stadium, where Boise State (5-2, 3-0) walloped previously undefeated UNLV 56-31 to seize control of the Mountain West Conference race, after breaking away from a 28-24 halftime lead.

“I think we had a really good second half,” head coach Spencer Danielson said. “Still a lot to clean up, we had some mistakes, but I’m proud of our guys’ battle. In all three phases, you can see us growing.”

Things went so well for the Broncos when they had the ball that they ran a fake punt with a 49-24 lead, and converted it, with Matt Wagner catching a pass from punter Oscar Doyle for an 11-yard gain. Running back Malik Sherrod capped that drive with a 21-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Maddux Madsen for the team’s final score.

Boise State absolutely shredded the Rebels’ leaky defense, gaining 558 yards of offense and putting together seven touchdown drives — only one of which required more than six snaps. The explosive plays were almost hard to keep track of: seven passing plays of 20 yards or more and six rushes of 25 yards or more.

Riley, the sophomore running back, was a big producer again, rushing for 201 yards on just 15 carries. He had runs of 27, 31, 49 and 65 yards, with the 49-yarder going for a score.

Redshirt junior wide receiver Marshall had only three catches, but they totaled 96 yards, including a 45-yard catch during one scoring drive and a 32-yard TD reception in the third quarter. Bates, a sophomore receiver, had 89 total yards on just four touches, including a 35-yard TD on an end around in the first half.

With Boise State leading 42-24 after Marshall’s score, fifth-year senior McCoy — who had been benched after getting personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the same play in the first half — picked off an Anthony Colandrea pass and took it 60 yards for a TD to make it 49-24.

Even the Broncos’ first touchdown drive of the afternoon was a harbinger of things to come — it covered 60 yards, and that was basically just two plays: a 31-yard run from Riley and a 26-yard pass from QB Maddux Madsen to Ben Ford.

“We’re going to keep on thinking we’re the better team regardless whoever we’re playing,” McCoy said. “You can see it from from offense, defense, from special teams. We’re just growing every week as a team.”

The Rebels (6-1, 2-1) hung in the game in the first half with their own big plays. They scored a TD after Sherrod muffed a punt return, which required them to go only 16 yards, and put together second-quarter scoring drives of 75 yards and 67 yards, the latter coming after Boise State was forced to punt with less than 90 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing offensive snap for the Rebels, DeAngelo Irvin Jr. took a swing pass from QB Anthony Colandrea and raced 60 yards down the right sideline to set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Colandrea on a scramble with 43 seconds left. On the prior scoring drive, those two connected on a 27-yard pass play before Jaden Bradley hauled in a 35-yard TD pass.

Colandrea had a monster first half for the Rebels, completing 11-of-16 passes for 165 yards and rushing nine times for 64 yards. But he finished the game 18-of-30 for 215 yards and with 87 yards on the ground as the Broncos clamped down.

Madsen missed badly on a few throws in the first half, finishing just 6-for-14 for 101 yards, with a 7-yard TD throw to Latrell Caples. He threw an interception on a pass that was deflected by a UNLV defender and grabbed by cornerback Laterrance Welch.

But by game’s end, Madsen had acquitted himself nicely, thanks to an 8-of-9 second half that saw him throw three more TD passes. He finished with 253 yards passing, also took off on a nifty scramble to gain 25 yards on a third-quarter scoring drive.

The victory put Boise State in the driver’s seat as it seeks to win the Mountain West regular season title again and shoots for a third straight league championship. San Diego State (5-1, 2-0) is the only other team without a conference loss and is on a bye week. The Aztecs face Fresno State (5-2, 2-1) next week, and they host the Broncos on Nov. 15.

The Rebels entered the game as one of 10 undefeated teams in the nation, and they boasted one of the country’s best scoring offenses and third-down conversion rates. Boise State held them to just 4-of-13 on third-down plays, and the UNLV defense simply could not help its offense, which had 476 total yards but also had to punt seven times.

The Broncos had four players miss the game with injuries: cornerback Davon Banks, linebackers Samuel Brooks and Chase Martin, and offensive lineman Hall Schmidt.