Boise State-CSU report card: Grading the Broncos’ 56-28 Friday win over the Rams
Even if Boise State’s 56-28 final score over Colorado State on Friday implies a pretty sound beatdown, it could have been worse except for a few Bronco lapses.
Having lost at Albertsons Stadium 13 days prior, Boise State put up an absolutely dominant first 29 minutes, 58 seconds to start the game, building a 35-0 lead. The Rams outscored the Broncos the rest of the way, but the quick start — something not seen the last two games — was more than enough.
“We won the game, fairly decisively, and there’s quite a few things we want to go back and correct,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “The nice thing, our team, at least in that locker room, their mindset was exactly that ... which is exciting.”
Boise State (5-2 overall, 3-1 Mountain West), which did not receive votes in the USA Today coaches’ or Associated Press polls for a second straight week, will next play at Air Force (3-4, 1-3) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Broncos are 0-2 in their two trips to Air Force, 3-3 all-time against the Falcons.
OFFENSE: B-plus
September Brett Rypien showed up Friday night, avoiding the interception bug that hit him against San Diego State and Nevada the previous two weeks. The senior was excellent, completing 22-of-26 passes for 308 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
The Broncos failed to score a touchdown on only two of the eight drives Rypien was behind center. Again, the receiving corps stepped up — seniors Sean Modster and A.J. Richardson had two TDs apiece even as John Hightower, Khalil Shakir and Octavius Evans had zero catches. Rypien was sacked three times and the Broncos again were decent at best running the ball against a porous rush defense (150 yards on 37 attempts).
“It had been coming for a while, offensively, we wanted to get back to like we were clicking early in the year. I thought we had a great plan coming into the week,” Rypien said.
DEFENSE: B
The Rams have some talent on offense, especially throwing the ball, so it’s no surprise they got some points. But how it happened left a bad taste for the defense. The Broncos got two interceptions in the first half, but Colorado State’s two-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to end the second quarter to prevent a 35-0 shutout clearly irked Harsin.
Colorado State scored touchdowns on three of its last four drives (the Broncos forced a fumble on the other), but the Rams had five plays of 20 yards or more, including a 56-yard run. They also got inside the Broncos’ red zone in the second quarter, but Kekaula Kaniho intercepted KJ Carta-Samuels at the 2-yard line.
“They made some plays, had some receptions in there for explosives,” Harsin said about the Rams playing from behind with an up-tempo approach. “Those things are going to happen ... they’ll go correct those things.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-minus
If the Broncos were going to put up a great special teams showing, it was going to be against the Rams, who had already allowed two scores on punts this season. On Friday, Boise State scored on a 74-yard punt return (Kaniho’s scoop and score of teammate Avery Williams’ fumble) and a 44-yard kickoff return by Williams on an onside kick.
Boise State didn’t need to attempt a field goal, and Quinn Skillin’s 32-yard punt average was because both punts were from midfield. The only negative — and it’s been a recurring issue all season — was Robert Lewis’ block in the back penalty on a Williams punt return. It appeared to be an 87-yard return for a touchdown to start the third quarter, but the penalty brought it back. The Broncos have had eight penalties this year on kickoff or punt returns.
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This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 1:22 PM.