Final: Boise State 48, Air Force 38; Broncos earn first win at Air Force

By Dave Southorn , Chadd Cripe and Rachel Roberts

Updated October 27, 2018 9:32 PM

U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.

The Boise State football team finally knows what it feels like to win on Air Force’s home turf.

Behind 530 total yards, the Broncos defeated Air Force 48-38 in a Mountain West matchup Saturday at Falcon Stadium.

Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien picked apart the Falcon defense with 399 passing yards and five touchdowns without an interception, and junior running back Alexander Mattison led the ground game with a season-high 136 yards and a score.

“Once we got the run game going a little bit, that opened up some one-on-ones for us,” Rypien told ESPN. “I trust my receivers to win those every time.”

Boise State played without defensive lineman Sonatane Lui, offensive lineman Eric Quevedo, kickoff specialist Joel Velazquez and wide receiver Octavius Evans because of injuries. All but Evans were out last week, too.

SCORING SUMMARY

FOURTH QUARTER

BSU — John Hightower 61 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 3:21. Key plays: Boise State slammed the door on the frisky Falcons with the deep strike to Hightower for his third TD of the game. A 4-yard run by RB Alexander Mattison two plays prior on third-and-1 kept the Broncos moving. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:03. Boise State 48, Air Force 38

AFA — Kadin Remsberg 5 pass from Isaiah Sanders (Jake Koehnke kick), 5:24. Key plays: The Falcons weren’t just going away, rushing 11 times for 59 yards on the drive and completing both pass attempts. Sanders converted a fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard run at midfield. Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 6:50. Boise State 41, Air Force 38

BSU — Haden Hoggarth 48 field goal, 12:14. Key plays: Boise State had a third-and-1 at the Air Force 18, but QB Brett Rypien was sacked for a loss of 12. RB Alexander Mattison went over 100 yards with three carries for 27 yards on the drive, and Rypien completed a shovel pass to WR Khalil Shakir for 27 on the drive’s second play. Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 3:01. Boise State 41, Air Force 31

THIRD QUARTER

AFA — Jake Koehnke 38 field goal, 0:20. Key plays: The Falcons got a 13-yard pass from QB Isaiah Sanders to WR Geraud Sanders on a fourth-and-3 to get to the Boise State 28. They also had a 14-yard pass by Sanders to get into Boise State territory. On a second-and-5 at the Boise State 23, WR Andrew Smith dropped a sure first down. Drive: 11 plays, 55 yards, 5:44. Boise State 38, Air Force 31

3Q, 6:04; 37-28 | TOUCHDOWN BRONCOS!!! Alexander Mattison plunges in from a yard out, and the Broncos have a two-score lead!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/9FPVNbE1FP
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 28, 2018

BSU — Alexander Mattison 1 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 6:04. Key plays: After forcing a three-and-out, the Broncos got an outstanding punt return from Avery Williams, who took it 67 yard to the Falcons’ 5. Two plays later, Mattison plunged in for the score. Drive: 2 plays, 5 yards, 0:39. Boise State 38, Air Force 28

BSU — Haden Hoggarth 30 field goal, 8:22. Key plays: QB Brett Rypien converted yet another third-and-10, facing a blitz and finding WR John Hightower for 27 to get to the Air Force 21. RB Alexander Mattison had 34 yards on four carries. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards, 4:16. Boise State 31, Air Force 28

SECOND QUARTER

BSU — CT Thomas 35 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 0:05. Key plays: Rypien completed passes on a pair of third-and-10s to keep the drive going, and found Thomas on a deep ball on fourth-and-10 for the score. Rypien threw on all 11 plays of the drive, completing four. Drive: 11 plays, 79 yards, 1:01. Air Force 28, Boise State 28

2Q, 0:05; 28-28 | TOUCHDOWN BRONCOS!!! Brett Rypien with his fourth TD pass of the game, hitting CT Thomas for 35 yards to tie it up!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/3sK0JXrJoL
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 28, 2018

AFA — Andrew Smith 32 pass from Joseph Saucier (Jake Koehnke kick), 1:12. Key plays: Air Force got the ball at its own 40 after a failed fourth-down attempt by the Broncos. QB Isaiah Sanders had two carries for 19 yards, and FB Cole Fagan had an 8-yard run before the trick-play TD on which Saucier, a running back, took a pitch and found Smith wide open in the end zone. Drive: 4 plays, 60 yards, 1:23. Air Force 28, Boise State 21

AFA — Isaiah Sanders 5 run (Jake Koehnke kick), 9:30. Key plays: Sanders found a wide-open Joseph Saucier for 51 yards on the drive’s third play to get to the Boise State 12. Sanders had three carries for 17 yards on the drive. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:08. Boise State 21, Air Force 21

BSU — A.J. Richardson 21 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 11:38. Key plays: Rypien was outstanding on the drive, hitting some big passes in the face of pressure, including a 17-yarder to WR Sean Modster on third-and-16 — the drive’s third play. He also hit Modster for 34 three plays later. He then rolled to his right to find an open Richardson for the score two plays after that. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 3:13. Boise State 21, Air Force 14

AFA — Marcus Bennett 20 pass from Isaiah Sanders (Jake Koehnke kick), 14:56. Key plays: The Falcons chipped away, as they usually do, getting a 28-yard pass from Sanders to RB Brandon Lewis on a third-and-10 to get into Boise State territory. The Falcons then had seven straight runs before Sanders hit Bennett wide open down the sideline for the score. Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 6:00. Boise State 14, Air Force 14

FIRST QUARTER

BSU — John Hightower 18 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 5:56. Key plays: Boise State had two runs for a total of 18 yards to start the drive, and Rypien made a nice play on third-and-6 at the Air Force 45, flipping the ball under pressure to RB Robert Mahone for 10 yards. He had a 19-yard pass to Hightower two plays before a touchdown pass on the screen. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:01. Boise State 14, Air Force 7

1Q, 5:56; 13-7 | TOUCHDOWN BRONCOS!!! It's John Hightower again, taking the screen 18 yards to the house, and the Broncos are back in front!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/d9IxNdxIH8
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 27, 2018

AFA — Cole Fagan 17 run (Jake Koehnke kick), 9:57. Key plays: Air Force answered quickly, as QB Isaiah Sanders hit TE Kade Waguespack for 37 yards on the drive’s second play. Sanders had an 8-yard run on third-and-3 the play before Fagan’s TD to keep the drive going. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 2:55. Boise State 7, Air Force 7

1Q, 12:52; 6-0 | TOUCHDOWN BRONCOS!!! Rypien goes deep and finds John Hightower to cap the opening drive with the 44-yard score!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/N7dCiHhDoT
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 27, 2018

BSU — John Hightower 44 pass from Brett Rypien (Haden Hoggarth kick), 12:52. Key plays: The Broncos got off to a much-needed fast start, as Rypien was 3-for-3 on the drive for 69 yards, hitting Sean Modster for 17 yards on the second play. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:08. Boise State 7, Air Force 0

NEWS & NOTES

Quick hits

LB Bruno DeRose, who is from Pueblo, Colo., was the Broncos’ single-game captain. ... The Broncos wore their Fiesta Bowl color scheme: orange pants, white jerseys, blue helmets. ... Punt returner Avery Williams carried the Hammer. ... Boise State won the coin toss and elected to receive. ...