Boise State Remains Undefeated After Defeating Air Force
Deep dive into the Broncos win.
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Broncos use second half to seal the win.
Boise State opens up Mountain West play against a 2-0 Air Force Falcon team that looks poised to pull off another upset. Air Force is coming off an overtime road win against in-state Power 5 opponent Colorado. The Falcons head coach was all business after the win, making sure that the message was out early that Air Force would be focused on their upcoming game in Albertsons Stadium.
Boise State is coming off a win over FCS Portland State and still look to have some issues to overcome along their injured offensive line. True Freshman Hank Bachmeier gave way to Chase Cord for most to the second half last week after getting hit on 16 plays in the first half of last week’s game.
On the line tonight is Boise State’s 19 game conference home opener winning streak, and they look to get their 3rd straight win over the Falcons, which would tie the longest win streak in the series.
First Quarter:
Boise State started off with the ball and we at a faster tempo than we are used to seeing. The quicker tempo looked effective on the first play as the Broncos converted a first down with a quick wide receiver screen on the opening play. They weren’t able to get much more to materialize after that though and punted shortly after.
Air Force took over and started rolling with the oldest play in the book, the quick dive option to fullback Taven Birdow for a 3 yard gain. Per their usual, they ran the ball, chewing up clock, converted a couple of first downs, but were not able to get anything going as the Boise State defense stayed disciplined on their assignments.
After trading punts, a Chase Cord appearance, and a bad punt, Air Force started getting some traction towards the outside of the Broncos defense after focusing on inside runs on their first two drives. Getting the ball on Boise State 40-yard line, the Falcons moved the ball and started getting some chunk plays of 8 yards or more but were unable to get in the end zone before the end of the first quarter.
Boise State 0, Air Force 0
Second Quarter:
The Falcons were, however, able to get into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter. Quarterback Donald Hammond was able to gain 8-yards on the left side of the Boise State defense to score after lining up with the line overloaded to the right combined with the option fake to the right as well.
This appeared to light a fire under the Boise State offense. Keeping with their uptempo offense the Broncos moved the ball quickly down the field in an effort to respond. Focusing primarily on passing the ball, Boise State used big plays to get into the end zone with only two play going to less than 10 yards. While still getting hit on virtually every play, Bachmeier continues to impress, completing 5 out of his 6 pass attempts including the 36-yard touchdown to CT Thomas.
Air Force was not able to produce much on their next drive and were forced to punt the ball back to the Broncos after only 4 plays. The offensive line was able to keep Bachmeier a lot cleaner on the ensuing drive, giving him ample time to complete 19 and 29-yard passes to CT Thomas before the drive stalled out at the 23-yard line. With it being 4th and 7, Coach Harsin elected to go with kicker Eric Sachse to convert a 40-yard attempt. There was a review of the third-down play, giving Sachse a little time to think about the kick, but he was able to convert with ease giving the Broncos a 3 point lead, 10-7.
Looking to close out the half with a score and continued to take time off the clock, the Falcons moved the ball well on their final drive of the half. Using 13 plays and taking that final 5:53 off the clock, the Falcons moved down to the Bronco 13-yard line before they called on kicker Jake Koehnke to attempt a 30-yard field goal. Koehnke converted the chance easily to tie the game, making him 2 for 2 on the year.
Boise State 10, Air Force 10
