Boise State Cruises To A 37-0 Victory Over New Mexico
Broncos get an easy win
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Boise State takes care of business
Boise State has been a team where you usually have to guess what team you are going to get on a week-to-week basis. With it being Senior Night and with their season finally being against San Diego State, the hope is that the “good” Broncos show up on both sides of the ball. The Broncos also look to keep their hopes alive for the Mountain Division title.
New Mexico comes to Boise looking for their 4th win of the season, which would be their most in the past five seasons. With having to start their 3rd string quarterback, freshman Isaiah Chavez, it’s a big ask to come to Boise State and win. There is some familiarity, though, as former San Diego State head coach Rocky Long heads the Lobo defense.
First Quarter:
The frame started slow for both offenses, or perhaps it was an excellent quarter for the defenses; it was hard to tell. New Mexico finished with -5 yards of offense while Boise State could only gain 44 yards on 14 plays. Special teams did show up for the Broncos and scored all 10 points in the quarter. On New Mexico’s first possession Kekaula Kaniho was able to block the Lobo punt, which was recovered by Tyreque Jones, who returned it for the touchdown.
The Broncos’ first attempt with the ball was a 3-and-out, but they were able to put together a reasonably decent drive on their next possession. George Holani started strong with 18 rushing yards on the drive, and Hank Bachmeier was able to complete two passes to Khalil Shakir for 18-yards as well. Andrew Van Buren was needed to convert a 4th-and-1 to keep the drive alive, but the momentum fizzled, and the Broncos settled for a Jonah Dumas field goal to push the lead to 10-0 at the end of the first.
Second Quarter:
Broncos special teams had so much fun with the punt block TD that they decided to do it again to start the second quarter. Alex Teubner was able to get through the Lobo protection to block the kick, and Dylan Herberg was able to collect it and find the endzone.
Untouched.
➕6️⃣ for 1️⃣6️⃣ https://t.co/NtVRvhrfaY pic.twitter.com/duRBYSdiqA
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) November 21, 2021
The Lobos put together a small drive gaining 31 yards on six plays, and were able to get the punt off to pin the Broncos down the 4-yard line. With their worst field position of the game, the Broncos’ offense finally showed a little park. Holani opened with a 12-yard run, and Shakir caught a 13-yard pass and followed that with a 33-yard rush on the next play. Davis Koetter added two catches for 18-yards, and Cyrus Halbibi-Likio carried twice for 6 yards before a Bachmeier pass was tipped and intercepted to end the drive in the red zone.
New Mexico’s starting quarterback Isaiah Chavez was injured on the previous Lobo drive. In addition to walk-on Connor Genal, the Lobos turned to former equipment manager Bryson Carroll to run the option against the Broncos. Carroll was able to get a good run from time to time, but the offense continued to struggle against the Broncos.
Boise State’s struggles on 3rd and 4th downs continued as well. After getting the ball on the 20-yard line, the Broncos got to the New Mexico 43 yard line before being stopped on consecutive runs for no gain on 3rd and 4th downs to turn the ball over. On the next play, the defense was able to get the ball back with 17-seconds left by recovering a fumble by Connor Genal. With little time left and the ball on the Bronco 44 yard line, Bachmeier aired it out with a throw to Austin Bolt that tipped off his hands. On the next play, Bachmeier was able to hit Shakir on the next pass for the 56-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 24-0 at halftime.
With 9 seconds left on the clock before the end of the first half, @qbhank19 found @king_khalil2 DEEP for the @BroncoSportsFB TD 🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/Lxf1TQPo4f
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 21, 2021
Third Quarter:
Unsurprisingly, the Lobos could not get anything going offensively with their 4th and 5th string quarterbacks. New Mexico only ran when Carroll was in the game and only passed when Genal was in the game, so it became relatively easy to plan your defense around who was in. Genal was only in on one play in the quarter, a 3rd-and-13, and was picked off by JL Skinner. Boise State was able to move the ball in the quarter, but the Lobo defense could get them stopped before they could reach the red zone. Jonah Dumas added two more field goals from 46 and 42-yards to push the lead to 30-0.
Fourth Quarter:
With a 30-point lead, it turned into mop-up time for the Broncos. Behind the fresh legs of Jack Sears, Habibi-Likio, and Bobby Bowens, Boise State capped off a 9-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard Sears touchdown run. The rest of the game can be categorized by either the Broncos or Lobos running the ball or the broadcast showing Bachmeier on the sidelines participating in the play call signaling. The Broncos closed out the game with a 37-0 shutout on Senior Night, with the defense holding New Mexico to just 94 total yards on offense.
Player of the Game:
Place Kicker Jonah Dalmas. Dalmas went 3-3 from 27, 42, and 46 yards while also hitting all four of his PATs. He tied the school record for consecutive kicks made (16) and is just three makes shy of the Bronco single-season record.
Final Thoughts:
Most football fans knew coming into this game that the Broncos were going to win this game by a lot. Granted, the Lobos were down to a walk-on and the equipment manager at quarterback, but the Bronco defense showed that it has made improvements all year and were able to keep New Mexico to under 100 total yards and out of the endzone. The offense racked up 427 yards but still had some issues on later downs and in the red zone. Overall this game was mostly what was expected, a complete rout.
Up Next:
Boise State travels to Carson, CA to take on San Diego State on Friday, 11/26, with a 10:00 AM MT kickoff. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
