Boise State breaks out a Statue of Liberty play; Henderson shines in second start
One of the most famous plays in Boise State football history helped the Broncos get in the end zone in Saturday night’s 56-21 win at Utah State.
In an homage to the two-point conversion play the Broncos used to beat Oklahoma in overtime in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, senior quarterback Jaylon Henderson and freshman running back George Holani teamed up for a successful Statue of Liberty play against Utah State.
Henderson faked the screen pass with his right hand while handing off the football to Holani with his left, giving Holani just enough time to run around the left end and dive over the pylon for the 5-yard score.
Somewhere, Jared Zabransky and Ian Johnson were smiling.
“That’s part of what we do. That’s part of who we are,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “That’s going to be (something) that our guys should expect week in and week out because they’re good at it, and I think they enjoy it and it makes the game fun. And those guys, they can go out there and execute it.”
[Related: Holani leads Boise State to division title; Finally, Broncos show what they can really do; scoring summary]
The trick play with 2 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first quarter put Boise State ahead 21-7. Holani added another TD on a 1-yard run at the 11:50 mark of the second quarter. That touchdown was set up by another trick play as left tackle Ezra Cleveland got the Broncos down to the 1-yard line on a 3-yard sweep. Cleveland had lined up as a tight end.
Harsin said that was a play the Broncos have worked on since the first week of the season, but they hadn’t pulled it out until now because Cleveland has missed some time with an injury.
“That was the most disappointing thing probably for him because he didn’t get into the end zone,” Harsin said. “Because everything else seemed to work out pretty well from the O-line standpoint.”
The Broncos have used the Statue of Liberty play several times since the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, but it hasn’t always been successful. In the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl, the exchange between quarterback Brett Rypien and running back Robert Mahone resulted in a fumble, which Oregon’s Troy Dye returned 86 yards for a touchdown.
Henderson starts at quarterback
Boise State senior third-stringer Jaylon Henderson started at quarterback for the second straight game. The past two weeks, Henderson has led the Broncos to 98 points in a pair of lopsided victories.
Henderson also started last weekend’s 42-9 win over New Mexico. He opened the game with a 97-yard scoring drive and finished 15-of-28 for 292 yards and three touchdown passes to three different receivers.
On Saturday, Henderson led the Broncos to five first-half touchdowns and finished 16-of-28 for 187 yards and three touchdowns. He also used his legs to set up a pair of scores. He scrambled for 23 yards to set up running back Robert Mahone’s 1-yard touchdown run. Henderson also broke free for 17 yards late in the first half to set up his 14-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir, which sent Boise State into halftime up 42-7.
Neither true freshman Hank Bachmeier nor backup Chase Cord played Saturday, but both took part in warm-ups.
Bachmeier started the first six games of the season before missing the Broncos’ loss at BYU. He returned the next week for the San Jose State game and sustained what looked like a shoulder injury. Cord started against BYU and Wyoming. He and Bachmeier were both in uniform against New Mexico but neither played.
“When one guy goes down, it’s next-man-up mentality, and you’ve just got to prepare yourself for whenever that time is going to come,” Henderson said. “We recruit players here that are going to prepare themselves for whenever their name is called.”
Quevedo out in latest O-line injury
After exiting the New Mexico game with an apparent leg injury, Boise State right guard Eric Quevedo missed a start for the first time this season Saturday. Redshirt junior Jake Stetz started in his place.
In the third quarter against New Mexico, Quevedo’s legs were trapped beneath a pile and he went down awkwardly.
Quevedo’s absence created the sixth different starting group on the Broncos’ offensive line this season.
Fast starts with backup QBs
Boise State has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in all four games with a backup quarterback this season. They went 75 yards on four plays against Utah State, capped by a 30-yard reception by John Hightower on a shovel sweep.
The other opening drives were nine plays for 70 yards against BYU, 12 for 92 against Wyoming and eight for 97 against New Mexico.
First-half finishing
Boise State scored a touchdown with 19 seconds left in the first half at Utah State — giving the Broncos a score in the final 30 seconds of the first half in all five road games so far this year. They also have scored in the final minute of the first half in nine straight road games.
Quick hits
Boise State wore white pants and jerseys with blue helmets. ... Long snapper Daniel Cantrell carried the Hammer. ... Utah State won the coin toss and deferred. Harsin said he would have taken the ball anyway because he wanted to get an early lead. ... Defensive tackle Sonatane Lui was the single-game captain. ... Utah State quarterback Jordan Love started after leaving the previous game early with an injury. ... The Broncos have won at least 10 games in each of the past four seasons and five times in coach Bryan Harsin’s six seasons. They have 10 wins in 17 of the past 21 seasons.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 10:35 PM.
