Boise State-Florida State report card: Grading the Broncos’ comeback triumph
Much as football teams try to treat every game the same, there was a moment during the elation on the Doak Campbell Stadium field Saturday afternoon that belied that sameness for the Boise State football team.
“Wow,” offensive coordinator Zak Hill says he told true freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier during their embrace. “... We just beat Florida State.”
The Broncos’ 36-31 comeback victory will go down as one of the most dramatic in school history — it’s their largest comeback against a Power Five team — and perhaps as one of the top nonconference wins. It’s only the fourth time the Broncos have beaten a Power Five team in its own stadium, which puts this game on the short list, but it’s still unclear whether this is the Florida State program in decline (5-7 last year) or the early stages of the Seminoles’ return to prominence.
The jury is still out on the Broncos, too. All that they gained from beating the Seminoles will be lost if they can’t handle the physical and mental challenge of facing a quality Marshall team on a short week Friday night at Albertsons Stadium (7 p.m., ESPN2). Marshall beat VMI 56-17 on Saturday.
That, of course, is why all the games theoretically are treated as equals.
Here are our grades for the Broncos’ season-opening performance:
OFFENSE: B
The Broncos survived two usually losing stats: They kicked field goals on five of their eight scoring drives, including four out of five in the first half, and they lost the turnover battle 3-2. The turnovers would have been an even more significant issue if tight end Garrett Collingham hadn’t recovered George Holani’s fumble inside the 5-yard line on the go-ahead touchdown drive and offensive lineman John Molchon hadn’t pounced on a Bachmeier fumble shortly before the Broncos punted to give Florida State its last chance to win the game.
Coach Bryan Harsin said that’s why the Broncos have been known to work on fumble recoveries on the first day of practice.
“At first, I think (a Florida State player) had it,” Molchon said of his recovery, “and I think I ripped it from him. He made a comment about it after, in a joking manner. Those little things add up.”
The Broncos overcame their mistakes because of how productive they were when they did protect the football. They generated 621 yards of offense, including 407 passing and 214 rushing, on 108 plays (46 more than Florida State ran). There were mistakes in pass protection (six sacks) but the Broncos’ veteran offensive line likely was the game’s deciding factor, taking pressure off Bachmeier with a physical rushing attack.
“Our O-line stepped up,” Hill said. “Knowing that our O-line is that veteran crew and big and physical, we wanted to set the tone with our physicality.”
The Broncos replaced two-time 1,000-yard running back Alexander Mattison with the trio of Robert Mahone, Andrew Van Buren and George Holani, who combined for 298 yards from scrimmage, two touchdowns and two fumbles (one lost). Junior wide receiver CT Thomas added five catches for 103 yards.
DEFENSE: C
That’s an F for the first half and an A for the second half.
Florida State scored 31 points in the first half and looked nearly unstoppable doing it, scoring three touchdowns on drives that took less than a minute. Another would-be quick TD was undone by a pair of botched snaps that forced the Seminoles to take a field goal instead.
The Broncos couldn’t tackle in the first half.
“At first, we were playing as individuals a lot, thinking that we were going to be making tackles by ourselves,” said junior nickel Kekaula Kaniho, who recorded four tackles for loss. “A lot of our angles were bad.”
New defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding had emphasized playing with relentless effort and tackling in groups — “the whole population,” he said — during fall camp. He reminded the players of that approach at halftime, which led to better angles and more gang tackles. The Seminoles only had four first downs in the second half and never drove 20 yards in eight tries.
The Broncos were playing too tentatively in the first half and giving the Seminoles too much space, Schmedding said.
“They knew they could play with them and they knew we could beat them but we just kind of weren’t operating at the time,” Schmedding said. “Seeing those guys dig in their heels and say, ‘You know what, we’re going to challenge them and we can challenge them every single play,’ that was really the difference in the game.”
The defense also gets credit for two momentous turnovers — fumbles forced by Kaniho (when the Broncos were trailing 24-6 in the second quarter) and linebacker Riley Whimpey (when they were down 31-19 in the third) that led to momentum-changing touchdowns.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
The Broncos’ revamped special teams made one significant error — a shanked punt — and made a huge contribution to the win with transfer kicker Eric Sachse drilling all five of his field-goal attempts (36, 36, 41, 26, 30 yards).
Last year, Boise State was 12-for-20 on field goals, including 5-for-10 in the last five games. They also lost the Mountain West championship game after the go-ahead PAT was blocked.
Sachse, a senior who played at Division III Trinity College in Connecticut, said he experienced some nervousness on his first try but became more relaxed as the game progressed.
“I saw no maroon jerseys in front of me all day,” he said of the kick protection. “That makes it pretty easy.”
Kickoffs and punts were uneventful except for one bad boot by Boise State’s Joel Velazquez, who made his debut as the primary punter. He recorded a 10-yard punt in the third quarter when the Broncos still were down by 12 points, but the defense defused that situation. He averaged 39 yards with a long of 52.
