With big 4th quarter, Broncos keep New Mexico from raining on their parade

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise State had its 11th straight sellout Saturday night — a crowd of nearly 33,000 at Albertsons Stadium — but about half of the Bronco Nation that head coach Spencer Danielson likes to brag about didn’t come back after halftime.

It was either the cool rain that started late in the second quarter or the fact that no one knew what to make of a weird homecoming weekend game against New Mexico.

What those 15,000 or so fair-weather fans missed was the Broncos (4-2, 2-0) asserting themselves in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 41-25 Mountain West win over the Lobos (3-3, 0-2), who for much of the night were like a gnat the home team couldn’t swat away.

Boise State led just 17-14 at halftime despite holding New Mexico to 62 total yards. In fact, with 10:30 left in the second quarter, the Lobos had 59 total yards, four first downs, a pair of turnovers — and a 14-10 lead.

It was still tight entering the fourth quarter, with the Broncos up 20-17, but they put together three straight touchdown drives to take a 41-17 lead and slam the door.

“New Mexico is a good football team, but proud of our guys to find a way to win,” Danielson said afterward. “Proud of us having a much better second half than we’ve shown in the previous games that we’ve lost. So proud of our guys to find a way to finish.”

The second of the fourth-quarter TDs for Boise State simply added to the night’s weirdness. Lined up for a 27-yard field goal attempt midway through the fourth, holder Oscar Doyle bobbled the snap, forcing kicker Colton Boomer — who earlier boomed a 50-yard FG — to stop in his tracks. Improvising, Doyle rolled to the right under pressure and flung the ball in the air toward Troy Grizzle, who made a contested catch for a 10-yard TD reception.

The Broncos’ defense took care of the rest. Ty Benefield intercepted New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne on the next possession, and the offense got a 25-yard touchdown pass from Maddux Madsen to Ben Ford a few plays later — their second scoring connection of the night.

Boise State generally made life miserable for Layne, the Idaho Vandals transfer who followed his coach, Jason Eck, from Moscow to Albuquerque. Layne completed just 7-of-17 passes for 115 yards. He was intercepted twice, sacked twice and lost a fumble, and didn’t finish the game.

The Broncos dominated the game statistically, outgaining the Lobos 397-231 and racking up 26 first downs to their 11. New Mexico’s final drive of the game, which produced a late TD, accounted for 75 yards and four of the first downs.

Showing confidence the whole night that the outcome wouldn’t really be in doubt, BSU went for it seven times on fourth down, converting six of those. That helped the Broncos keep the ball for two-thirds of the game while running 86 plays — their most this season.

“I love it. Keep us on the field, coach, keep us on the field,” said running back Sire Gaines, who rushed for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “Put the ball in our hands. O-line knows what time it is, stadium knows what time it is.”

Madsen was under pressure frequently in the first half, getting sacked four times, but he was clean in the second half. He was an efficient 21-of-31 for 226 yards and two scores, and didn’t turn the ball over.

Dylan Riley led the rushing attack with 101 yards on 18 carries, and Boise State finished with 161 yards on the ground, but averaged just 3 yards per carry.

New Mexico’s defense was particularly effective in the first half, getting 10 tackles for loss and spending a lot of time in the Broncos’ backfield. The victory allowed Boise State to keep pace with UNLV (6-0, 2-0) in the Mountain West.

Those teams, who have met in the past two conference championship games, play next Saturday at Albertsons Stadium. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. San Diego State (5-1) is 2-0 in the league as well.

The outcome also allowed Boise State to tie Alabama for the longest current home winning streak in the nation, at 15 games. Oregon held that mark with 18 in a row, but the Ducks lost at home Saturday to Indiana. Missouri could have won its 16th straight at home Saturday but lost to the Crimson Tide.

The Broncos’ last loss at Albertsons Stadium came on Sept. 9, 2023, when they fell 18-16 to Central Florida. Danielson was the defensive coordinator then; as head coach, he has not lost at home, going 11-0.

Boise State’s only loss to New Mexico in the series, which it now leads 14-1, came at Albertsons Stadium in 2015. In that game, the Broncos were a 30-point favorite. Many of the games in the series have been blowouts, and Boise State jumped to a 10-0 lead Saturday night while stifling New Mexico’s offense, which had one first down in the first quarter.

But the blowout didn’t quite materialize because the Lobos were ignited by a 100-yard kickoff return from Damon Bankston on the first play of the second quarter. New Mexico’s next possession was another TD, at the end of a 58-yard drive that Boise State helped greatly when defensive end Jayden Virgin-Morgan got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the end of a play. A one-yard TD pass from Layne to Dorian Thomas made it 14-10 and stunned the crowd.