Final: Boise State 56, Troy 20; Rypien starts season hot

By Dave Southorn , Chadd Cripe and Rachel Roberts

Updated September 1, 2018 7:40 PM

Boise State wide receiver Akilian Butler (81) celebrates after catching a pass for a touchdown over Troy cornerback Terence Dunlap (14) and safety Cedarius Rookard (5). Butch Dill AP

TROY, Ala.

Boise State opened the 2018 college football season with a 56-20 victory over Troy on Saturday.

Senior quarterback Brett Rypien completed 20-of-28 passes for 305 yards and four first-half touchdowns.

Read a recap of the Idaho Statesman’s live coverage from Alabama below:

The Boise State and Troy football teams open the season against each other Saturday afternoon. You can follow the action here, with scoring updates and news and notes updated throughout the game. You also can track the game on Twitter by following @davesouthorn, @chaddcripe and @byrachelroberts.

Boise State, ranked No. 22, has won nine of its past 10 teams and finished 11-3 last year. Troy has won seven straight and finished 11-2 last year. Boise State beat Troy 24-13 in last year’s season opener in Boise.

The game is airing on ESPNEWS with a 4 p.m. MT kickoff. That’s channel 207 on DirecTV, channel 135 on Cable One and channel 142 on Dish Network.

Boise State debuted its new Turnover Throne, a chair in the defense’s bench area that will be occupied by any defender who forces a turnover. The first occupant was linebacker Tony Lashley, who recorded an interception in the second quarter. The Broncos are calling their defense the Kings of Chaos.

Boise State’s turnover throne. Dave Southorn dsouthorn@idahostatesman.com

SCORING SUMMARY

FOURTH QUARTER

BSU — Chase Cord 44 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 5:04. Key plays: Boise State’s Curtis Weaver sacked Troy QB Kaleb Barker on a fourth down, and Cord made his BSU debut. After a 4-yard run by freshman Andrew Van Buren, Cord went off tackle to the right and found daylight, sprinting to the end zone. Drive: 2 plays, 48 yards, 0:51. Boise State 56, Troy 20

BSU — Tyler Horton 11 fumble return (Haden Hoggarth kick), 8:39. Key plays: Hoggarth had missed a field goal, but on Troy’s first play of the drive, DE Durrant Miles sacked QB Kaleb Barker, forcing a fumble. Horton picked it up and scored on his second fumble return of the second half. Boise State 49, Troy 20

TROY — Deondre Douglas 33 pass from Kaleb Barker (Barker pass failed), 11:24. Key plays: Barker and Douglas connected on a 20-yard pass on the drive’s first play, then on fourth-and-3, Barker rolled out and found Douglas well-covered, but he still came down with the TD. Drive: 5 plays, 60 yards, 2:40. Boise State 42, Troy 20

THIRD QUARTER

TROY — B.J. Smith 1 run (Tyler Sumpter kick), 5:10. Key plays: QB Kaleb Barker had perhaps his best drive, getting a 13-yard run on a third-and-6 to get into Boise State territory, and was 3-for-3 passing on the drive for 46 yards. Drive: 11 plays, 77 yards, 5:46. Boise State 42, Troy 14

BSU — Tyler Horton 55 fumble return (Haden Hoggarth kick), 10:56. Key plays: Safety Kekoa Nawahine lowered his head and popped the ball out of RB B.J. Smith’s hands, right to Horton, who scored his third career defensive TD. Boise State 42, Troy 7

SECOND QUARTER

BSU — Sean Modster 54 pass form Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 2:13. Key plays: Rypien found CT Thomas over the middle for 8 yards on a third-and-3 to get the drive’s first down. The Broncos faced a third-and-12, and Troy took a timeout. Rypien then hit Modster on a post route for the long TD. Drive: 6 plays, 67, 2:04. Boise State 35, Troy 7

BSU — Akilian Butler 3 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 7:10. Key plays: On the first play of the drive, Rypien hit WR Sean Modster for 46 yards down the middle of the field. Rypien found WR A.J. Richardson for 16 yards on a third-and-2 to get inside the Troy 10. Drive: 7 plays, 79 yards, 3:45. Boise State 28, Troy 7

BSU — Alexander Mattison 7 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 12:35. Key plays: Senior LB Tony Lashley intercepted Kaleb Barker’s screen pass when CB Tyler Horton broke it up, and the batted ball landed in Lashley’s hands. QB Brett Rypien had an 8-yard run, and then found WR CT Thomas for 7 yards on third-and-2. Mattison scored the next play. Drive: 5 plays, 37 yards, 1:26. Boise State 21, Troy 7

FIRST QUARTER

BSU — CT Thomas 53 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 0:36. Key plays: The Broncos stuffed Troy QB Sawyer Smith on a fourth-and-1, getting the ball back. On a third-and-10, Rypien sat back and hit a streaking Thomas down the middle for the sophomore’s first career TD. Drive: 4 plays, 63 yards, 1:58. Boise State 14, Troy 7

TROY — Jabir Daughtry-Frye 23 run (Tyler Sumpter kick), 5:53. Key plays: Boise State had held the Trojans to a three-and-out, but on the punt cornerback Tyler Horton blocked Troy’s Jawon McDowell into returner Avery Williams’ catch radius. After Horton and McDowell bumped him, the punt hit Williams and Troy recovered at the Troy 48. Drive: 5 plays, 52 yards, 2:28. Boise State 7, Troy 7

BSU — Sean Modster 20 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 10:53. Key plays: After being sacked the first play of the game, Rypien completed all four pass attempts on the drive. He hit John Hightower for a first down on a third-and-1 to keep the drive alive to the Troy 35, and found Modster on a beautiful toss three plays later. Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 2:26. Boise State 7, Troy 0

NEWS & NOTES

Rypien starts out hot

Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien got off to a terrific start to his senior year.

He was 7-for-8 for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter. His first TD pass was a 20-yard strike to Sean Modster, with the ball dropping into the corner of the end zone over Modster’s shoulder to beat the defender. Rypien’s second was a dart to a streaking CT Thomas for a 53-yard score.

Rypien was 9-for-11 for 161 yards and two more touchdowns in the second quarter. That included a 3-yard TD pass to Akilian Butler and a 54-yarder to Modster.

Rypien’s halftime stats: 16-for-19 for 276 yards and four touchdowns with a 275.7 rating.

Last year, he didn’t throw a touchdown pass until October.

Modster answers WR questions

Wide receiver was one of the biggest question marks for the Broncos coming into the season. Senior Sean Modster had an emphatic answer: He made six catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Two players out

Boise State junior defensive tackle Emmanuel Fesili and senior linebacker Blake Whitlock did not make the trip. Fesili had five tackles last season playing in 13 games (one start). Whitlock missed last season with an injury and redshirted. He had 36 tackles in 13 games in 2016 (five starts).

10 true freshmen on hand

Boise State traveled 10 true freshmen for Saturday’s game, two from the Southeast: quarterback Riley Smith and tight end Tyneil Hopper are from Florida and Georgia, respectively. The other eight that made the trip were receivers Khalil Shakir and Billy Bowens, running back Andrew Van Buren, center Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez, STUD end Demitri Washington, defensive tackle Scale Igiehon, linebacker Brandon Hawkins and cornerback Tyric LeBeauf.

Quick hits

Sophomore cornerback Avery Williams, who had an 81-yard punt return last season against Troy, carried the Hammer. … Senior defensive end Durrant Miles was the honorary captain, joining full-time captains Tyler Horton, Jabril Frazier and Brett Rypien. ... Boise State won the coin toss and deferred.