Boise State ‘did just enough’ to avoid a Wyoming upset — a frustrating theme this season
The fans grumbled.
The players celebrated.
Boise State football coach Bryan Harsin was with the fans.
The No. 21 Broncos survived an overtime scare against Wyoming on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium, staying unbeaten in conference play with a 20-17 victory.
They remain a Top 25 team. And the favorite to win the Mountain West. And a New Year’s Six bowl contender.
All of that despite some significant flaws — flaws that Harsin addressed head on after the game, from the drought-prone offense to the disappointing offensive line play to the special teams mistakes to the head-scratching inconsistency that has trailed this team through eight wins and one loss.
“I’d say we did just enough,” Harsin said. “... As a coach and as a fan, you’ll look at all the things that should have happened. As a player, you’re out there just scratching and clawing and the win is the most important thing.”
[Related: Boise State defense comes up big; Instant Analysis: Kicker delivers for Broncos; Weaver, Williams make big plays; Bachmeier missed another game; scoring summary]
The players had every reason to enjoy the outcome. Wyoming (6-3) is a solid team with a physical style, and Boise State overcame a fourth-quarter deficit for the second straight game. The Broncos also made the defensive stand in overtime that they weren’t able to deliver in the Mountain West championship game last year.
This was the fourth time in eight games this season that the Broncos trailed in the fourth quarter, and they’ve won three of those. In the other, they turned an 18-point deficit into a three-point loss.
“One thing about this team is when things aren’t going our way, we stay positive,” said junior linebacker Riley Whimpey, who epitomized that mindset with a dropped interception and a third-down stop on Wyoming’s overtime drive. “... This team has an amazing mentality, and we have belief in one another.”
That heart — or resiliency — has compensated for what the Broncos lack in execution.
On Saturday, they lost the turnover battle 2-0, gained only 285 yards, were outperformed on third down (4-for-12 vs. 7-for-17 for Wyoming) and their offensive line got “whupped” at times, as Harsin noted.
That’s usually the recipe for a loss — and likely a lopsided loss.
And we’ve seen that happen too many times under Harsin, who is trying to get through a season without a loss by more than 14 points for the first time.
But this year’s team keeps finding ways to survive — a stunning comeback at Florida State, shut-down defense against Marshall and Air Force and offensive explosions against Hawaii and San Jose State.
The optimist would say there’s always a different player or unit rising to the occasion, which can be a sign of a good team.
The pessimist would say there’s always a portion of the team that’s faltering — forcing the others to compensate.
There’s some truth in both, but Harsin showed particular frustration with his offense during his postgame press conference after the Wyoming win.
The run game, which has been inconsistent all season, produced a meager 91 yards on 28 carries and backup quarterback Chase Cord was harassed and battered most of the night. The Broncos returned all five starters on the offensive line this season, including three seniors.
“That’s not the standard that we’re trying to achieve with those guys up front,” Harsin said. “I know they feel the same way. I didn’t think we won that battle tonight up front, and we need to be better and we do have a veteran crew and we should be better than that.”
But, Harsin said, that’s not just a statement about the players.
The coaches bear responsibility, too, he said. The game plan and play calling didn’t help the players enough, he said — particularly with the structure of the running plays that were in the game plan.
“We could have done some things play-selection wise that would have helped our guys a little bit more,” Harsin said. “And we didn’t do that. So that’s part of why the game was closer than it should have been.”
The Broncos, he said, should be built to score — and that’s not happening. They have scored 30 points or fewer four times this season, in a sport where 30 points has become roughly average performance.
“It’s not just lack of execution,” Harsin said. “It’s also, we have to have things in there that allow our players to be successful. … We want to talk about a veteran O-line that’s not executing to the level that we all think they should be executing to. Well, we’ve got to help them out, too.”
Harsin made clear his view of the offensive struggles in overtime. Eric Sachse made a 28-yard field goal to give the Broncos the lead but was hit by a defender.
The penalty could have given Boise State a fourth-and-1 at the 6-yard line.
Harsin opted to keep the points. The Broncos didn’t have a “really good call” to run, he said.
Instead, he counted on the defense to extend the game.
“We weren’t doing much against Wyoming’s defense,” Harsin said. “They weren’t doing much against us.”
The Broncos got the stop and the Cowboys missed their field goal.
The Broncos prevailed again, a week after erasing a 14-point deficit to win 52-42 at San Jose State.
Neither win was pretty. Nor did they inspire much confidence in this team’s ability to compete with a ranked opponent in a bowl game.
But the Broncos showed yet again they’re brimming with perseverance — perhaps this team’s greatest quality.
“We know that when adversity hits, you can’t take a step back and sit down,” sophomore wide receiver Khalil Shakir said. “You’ve got to keep pushing forward, so that’s what we do.”
Chadd Cripe is the Idaho Statesman’s Assistant Editor and sports columnist. Contact him at ccripe@idahostatesman.com and follow @chaddcripe on Twitter.
This story was originally published November 10, 2019 at 6:06 AM.
