Boise State football celebrates breakthrough win at Air Force in unique style

Boise State football coach Bryan Harsin doesn’t normally do it, but Saturday was special.

Following his Broncos’ 48-38 win at Air Force, their first in three visits, he gave out a game ball.

“I did for the 2018 Broncos,” Harsin said. “... This is a really good win, something we came down here to get done, and we haven’t done it before.”

Sophomore linebacker Riley Whimpey, who led the Broncos with 13 tackles, said “everybody was super-pumped” in the locker room.

For most of Saturday night, pulses were pumping, but mostly because it looked like Boise State’s house of horrors would provide another frightening chapter in the Air Force trilogy.

Having lost both previous visits to Falcon Stadium, a 28-28 halftime tie vindicated those fears. Boise State needed a fourth-down touchdown to prevent going into the break with a deficit.

The boogeyman — that back-breaking turnover or special teams error — was surely lurking around the corner. But it never struck.

“When it got more difficult, we got stronger as a team, we came together better than we have,” Harsin said. “As corny as it is, we found a way. ... We were going to do it, we were going to get it done and come out of here with a win.”

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For the Broncos (6-2 overall, 4-1 Mountain West), however, it is ordained by the football gods it never will be easy against the Falcons (3-5, 1-4). The Broncos held onto a three-point lead late, but they sealed it with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Brett Rypien to John Hightower. After not having a reception in the Broncos’ last game, Hightower had eight catches for 182 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s our mentality — we didn’t want to give them a chance to come back and make it a game,” Rypien said. “... We got press coverage for really the first time the entire game with no safety help. Made a quick signal adjustment to John and we have trust we’re going to win that every time.”

Boise State forced two punts on the Falcons’ first two second-half drives, and those stops proved to be pivotal as the Broncos scored on their first three offensive possessions, never trailing in the final 30 minutes. With the win, Boise State is eligible for a 17th straight bowl game.

“We came out of halftime talking about how we needed third-down stops, to get off the field, and I feel like we did a great job of that,” senior STUD end Jabril Frazier said, as Air Force was 2-of-8 on third down in the second half.

Rypien posted another monster performance, completing 20-of-34 passes for 399 yards and tied a career high with five touchdowns. Perhaps the biggest was his excellent deep ball to sophomore wide receiver CT Thomas in the end zone on a fourth-and-10 for a 35-yard score with 5 seconds until halftime. Rypien took a big hit on the throw as Air Force linebacker Brody Bagnall hit him as he released it. The Broncos’ quarterback got six stitches on his chin at halftime.

“I don’t want him to get hurt, he’s a good player, but it’s kind of tragic that ball got caught,” Bagnall said.

Harsin said of the play, “I’m not sure we have the same outcome if we don’t make that, we don’t have that momentum, because that was huge going in.”

Air Force’s triple option causes all sorts of headaches, but when Boise State had lost at Falcon Stadium, that wasn’t the reason. The Broncos’ offense had managed just 34 points and was 8-of-30 on third downs in two visits. On Saturday, the Broncos were 7-of-12 on third downs, including conversions on four of 10 yards or longer to go.

“We converted some third-and-longs that were big. ... Our O-line did a great job, and our receivers, we were preaching all week ‘win the one-on-ones because you’re going to get those opportunities,’ and they did,” Rypien said.

The Falcons did most of their damage in the air, led by quarterback Isaiah Sanders, who had two touchdown passes and rushed for 97 yards and another score. Air Force threw for a season-high 242 yards, more than its 201 yards rushing.

Boise State, which had 530 yards of offense, scored for a fourth straight game against the Falcons on the opening possession, but Air Force scored touchdowns on its first three drives. The Broncos bucked some trends, not just converting third downs, but also not making big mistakes — they did not allow a turnover and for the first time at Falcon Stadium did not have a field goal or punt blocked.

A varied offense was pivotal for the Broncos, as had two 100-yard receivers in Hightower and senior Sean Modster (101) and junior running back Alexander Mattison rushed for 136 yards, his first 100-yard game since Sept. 8. Like most around the team, he felt he was close to breaking out and ran with an edge.

“It’s that controlled anger that really can push you forward, so I took that and I had fun with the offensive line, I was out there smiling on the field,” Mattison said.

Special teams was solid, too, as kicker Haden Hoggarth made both field-goal attempts, including a career-long 47-yarder with 12:14 to play that gave the Broncos the points they would need for a 41-31 edge. The Broncos just punted once. Sophomore Avery Williams had a 67-yard punt return that set the Broncos up at the Air Force 5-yard line in the third quarter, holding onto a 31-28 lead. Two plays later, Mattison scored on a 1-yard touchdown.

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Next up for the Broncos is a nonconference matchup at Albertsons Stadium against BYU (4-4) at 8:15 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.

“It’s something special to know before today, no Boise State team had been able to come here and beat Air Force, so it’s special as a team to come in here and get a ‘W’ for the first time,” Whimpey said.

This story was originally published October 27, 2018 at 11:18 PM.