Final: Boise State 33, Utah State 24; Broncos earn division crown

By Dave Southorn , Chadd Cripe and Rachel Roberts

Updated November 25, 2018 3:40 AM

Boise State earned a spot in the Mountain West Championship game thanks to a 33-24 victory over No. 14 Utah State on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium.

Alexander Mattison had 37 carries for a season-high 200 yards and three touchdowns, including a 1-yard dive with 4 seconds left that sealed the win for the No. 21 Broncos.

Boise State will host Fresno State at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at Albertsons Stadium with the Mountain West championship on the line.

Review the scoring summary and news and notes from Saturday’s win below:

SCORING SUMMARY

FOURTH QUARTER

BSU — Alexander Mattison 1 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 0:04. Key plays: Mattison ran the ball all six plays of the drive, including a 59-yarder the second play to get to the Aggies’ 10. He finished it with a dive into the end zone on fourth down for the dagger. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 3:08. Boise State 33, Utah State 24

USU — Gerold Bright 83 pass from Jordan Love (Dominik Eberle kick), 3:12. Key plays: The Aggies converted a fourth-and-1 at their own 24, but were backed up after an apparent 37-yard pass was deemed offensive pass interference. But on second-and-25, staring down a heavy rush, Love found Bright and the running back had a lane he took all the way into the end zone. Drive: 6 plays, 85 yards, 1:25. Boise State 26, Utah State 24

BSU — Garrett Collingham 1 pass from Brett Rypien (kick failed), 7:23. Key plays: The clock-draining drive was aided by RB Alexander Mattison, who had eight straight runs, including a conversion on fourth-and-1 at the 5. The drive got a boost early on a third-and-4 catch by CT Thomas from Rypien for 5 yards to keep it going. Rypien rolled out and found Collingham in the end zone for the score. It was Collingham’s first catch since Oct. 19. Drive: 14 plays, 75 yards, 7:30. Boise State 26, Utah State 17

THIRD QUARTER

BSU — Haden Hoggarth 27 field goal, 7:09. Key plays: Boise State got solid field position from a bad Utah State punt, then QB Brett Rypien hit A.J. Richardson for a 44-yard deep strike the first play. On third down, Rypien appeared to hit Sean Modster at the goal line, but Modster had stepped out of bounds, thus bringing on the kicking unit. Drive: 4 plays, 48 yards, 1:44. Boise State 20, Utah State 14

SECOND QUARTER

USU — Ron’quavion Tarver 12 pass from Jordan Love (Dominik Eberle kick), 7:34. Key plays: Love was 5-of-6 for 51 yards on the drive, completing one third-down pass. A 17-yard Darwin Thompson run got the Aggies to the Boise State 19. The touchdown to Tarver came after CB Jalen Walker fell in the end zone. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 2:35. Boise State 17, Utah State 14

BSU — Alexander Mattison 1 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 10:09. Key plays: The Broncos got the ball in USU territory after they sniffed out and stopped a fake punt. QB Brett Rypien had completions of 17 and 30 yards on a third-and-12 and second-and-24, respectively, after personal fouls on offensive linemen pushed the Broncos back 15 yards twice. Drive: 7 plays, 34 yards, 3:16. Boise State 17, Utah State 7

BSU — Haden Hoggarth 23 field goal, 14:45. Key plays: On the first play of the drive, QB Brett Rypien hit a wide-open Sean Modster for 51 yards. RB Alexander Mattison had a 13-yard run the next play, but the Broncos’ drive stalled, setting up the Hoggarth kick. Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards, 1:51. Boise State 10, Utah State 7

FIRST QUARTER

BSU — Alexander Mattison 2 run (Haden Hoggarth kick), 2:35. Key plays: Taking advantage of defensive back Kekaula Kaniho’s interception of QB Jordan Love (video here), the Broncos converted a pair of third downs on a 10-yard pass from QB Brett Rypien to WR Akilian Butler to get to the USU 25, then a Mattison 15-yard run the play before his TD. Drive: 7 plays, 39 yards, 3:07. Utah State 7, Boise State 7

USU — Jalen Greene 9 pass from Jordan Love (Dominik Eberle kick), 11:14. Key plays: The Aggies’ lightning-quick pace was aided by a handful of quick passes and screens, the biggest a 37-yarder from Love to Aaren Vaughns down to the Boise State 27. Love hit Greene with a perfectly placed pass in the front corner of the end zone against backup CB Jalen Walker for the TD on the drive’s first third down. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:46. Utah State 7, Boise State 0

News and notes

Broncos’ defense takes another injury hit

Boise State junior safety Kekoa Nawahine — the team’s leading tackler (67) and one of only two defenders to start every game this season — was out for Saturday’s game against Utah State, the school announced before kickoff.

He joins a lengthy injured list on defense. Defensive linemen David Moa (season-ending injury) and Chase Hatada, safety DeAndre Pierce (season-ending) and linebacker Riley Whimpey (season-ending) also are out. Pierce and Whimpey led the team in tackles at the time of their injuries.

The Broncos have used 21 defensive starters this season, including 20 who have started at least two games.

Wide receivers John Hightower and Khalil Shakir also remain out. They didn’t play last week against New Mexico and Hightower is out for a third straight game. Tight end Garrett Collingham, tight end Matt Pistone and safety Tyreque Jones are returning to action after missing the New Mexico game.

Quick hits

Linebacker Tyson Maeva was the Broncos’ single-game captain. ... The Broncos wore all blue. ... Running back Skyler Seibold carried the Hammer. ...