Boise State Recap: Records Fall Against UConn
Bronco Offense Racks Up 822 Yards vs Huskies
Contact/Follow @erik_smiley54 & @MWCwire
Usually, the term “perfect game” is reserved to baseball, but Boise State tried their best to apply it to college football against the UConn Huskies. There wasn’t much doubt coming in that the Broncos would be able to come out with a win, but deep in the back of our minds there was the thought of the dreaded trap game. Those thoughts were put to rest very quickly en route to the 62-7 win for the Broncos.
Boise State’s starting offense scored on their first eight drives while the defensive starters didn’t allow UConn past the 50-yard line until the second half. With Boise’s quick start and continued dominance in the second half, the Broncos set a new single-game record of 822 yards of total offense, surpassing the previous record of 742 (vs Colorado St, 2011) and marking the first time the offense had gained over 800 total yards in a game.
Offense
The Bronco offense came out as hot as could be against the Huskies, scoring on their first 8 possessions on their way to racking up 48 points before needing to punt. With getting out to that kind of lead the Broncos got a lot of players involved with a total of 14 players touching the ball and 6 different players finding the end zone. Brett Rypien continued on his hot start going completing 75% of his passes for 362 yards and 3 touchdowns before relinquishing command of the offense to Chase Cord after the first drive of the 2nd half. Cord did well going 4 for 5 with 56 yards and a touchdown while adding 41 yards on the ground continuing the offensive production.
Unlike last week, the Boise State run game was extremely effective against UConn. Alex Mattison led the way with 115 of the 404 rushing yards the Broncos racked up. Andrew Van Buren got in on the action as well with 14 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown.
The breakout player of the game had to be Bronco wide receiver John Hightower. With 5 catches for 119 yards and an impressive 55 yard touchdown run Hightower totaled 174 yards and 2 touchdowns and just 6 touches.
Defense
Boise State’s “Kings of Chaos” were impressive once again. The viral Turnover Throne wasn’t as busy as it was last week, but Avery Williams did get his first opportunity to claim his seat with an interception in the first quarter that led to a touchdown for the offense. There were a lot of opportunities to see the future on this side of the ball as well. With the first team out of the game the Broncos backups held the Huskies in check through the rest of the night as well.
Continuing their fast-paced play, the Broncos held UConn’s offense, which had 486 total yards against UCF last week, to just 193 yards on the night. Huskie duel threat quarterback David Pindell was held in check going 11 for 21 for 71 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and only 40 rushing yards on 14 attempts. On the evening UConn ran a grand total of three offensive plays in Bronco territory, all coming on their one touchdown drive in the 3rd quarter.
