That’s 1, 2, 3 blocked kicks for touchdowns as Boise State flattens Colorado State
The Boise State football team needed more than just a spark.
It needed a new way to win.
The severely shorthanded Broncos turned to their X-factor — special teams guru Avery Williams — and he delivered in spectacular fashion Thursday night.
Williams blocked two punts that resulted in touchdowns — including his own score in the first minute of the game — to lift Boise State to a 52-21 laugher over Colorado State.
“Every time he’s on the field, you know a play’s gonna be made,” senior linebacker Riley Whimpey said. “… He’s got a blue-collar mindset to him, and he’s willing to do anything he needs to do to help our team win.”
Williams’ first blocked punt came on the fourth play from scrimmage, and he recovered the ball in the end zone. His second was in the second quarter, and linebacker DJ Schramm grabbed the loose ball and trotted 20 yards into the end zone.
Senior nickel Kekaula Kaniho added a 91-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown late in the first quarter on a block by defensive lineman Scott Matlock.
Williams also tossed a lateral to Kaniho on a trick punt return — Kaniho dashed 41 yards but lost the ball on a fumble at the end of the play — and returned a punt 33 yards to set up a short touchdown drive.
It was the first time the Broncos (3-1 overall, 3-0 Mountain West) had blocked a punt for a touchdown since 2007 and blocked a field goal for a touchdown since 2005. They scored three non-offensive touchdowns in a game for the first time since the 2011 MAACO Bowl Las Vegas romp against Arizona State.
“We knew with this game, with the scheme they had, I could come off the edge, use my speed and go get (a blocked punt),” said Williams, who has seven career TDs. “… It means a lot. Special teams has always been my No. 1 thing. So the fact that we could execute all that and have it play out the way it did, that’s really big for our program, and that’s really big for our coaches, and just having the trust in each other and our scheme, that’s what we talk about here. And we exemplified that.”
Coach Bryan Harsin said the Broncos needed to generate points on special teams to compensate for the significant missing pieces on offense and defense. While starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier returned from a two-game absence, starting tailback George Holani was still out. The team was missing 14 players because of COVID-19 issues (nine positive tests, five quarantined contacts) and the defensive line was so ravaged by injuries and other personnel losses that offensive lineman Ben Dooley switched sides of the ball.
Plus, the Broncos were playing on short rest for the second straight week on the tail end of a Saturday-Friday-Thursday schedule.
“We needed to be aggressive,” Harsin said. “Our D-line situation throughout the week was concerning, and we knew on the offensive side we needed to score points, because we really felt like the way that Colorado State could run the football, that could be an issue.”
That wasn’t a problem, though, because the Broncos played inspired defense even with some mismatched parts up front. Colorado State finished with 315 yards and averaged just 3.4 yards per rush. The Rams (1-2, 1-2) were down 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and 42-7 at halftime.
Whimpey, who told reporters shortly after the 51-17 loss to BYU six days earlier that it was an embarrassing moment that demanded improvement, electrified his teammates with a tackle for a 3-yard loss on the Rams’ first run play.
Moments later, with Colorado State punting from its own 15-yard line, Boise State put Williams on the left end of the line of scrimmage instead of his usual spot as the return man. Williams was the 2019 Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year mostly because of his return ability.
But occasionally the Broncos use him to attack the punter instead — and with Colorado State’s Ryan Stonehouse having one of the best legs in America, they figured this was an opportune time to use Williams differently. He came off the edge unblocked, stuffed the punt and pounced on the ball 2 yards into the end zone.
“Like we said last week after that loss, we let it fuel our fire,” Whimpey said. “… I really feel like that paid off for our whole team.”
The second special teams touchdown might have been the most important moment of the game. Colorado State drove to the Boise State 8-yard line, trailing 14-0. After another tackle for loss by Whimpey and an incomplete pass, the Rams figured they’d at least get on the scoreboard.
But Matlock pushed up the middle and got a hand on the kick — Williams actually provided pressure from the outside, too. The ball squirted to the right and ended up at the feet of Kaniho, who outran all of the Rams 91 yards to the other end zone.
Teammates and Harsin had told Kaniho after his fumble that he’d get a chance at redemption. Nobody could have guessed it would happen about 11 minutes of game time later.
The block by Matlock, Harsin said, was all effort.
The scoop and score by Kaniho was emblematic of his career, during which he has made a habit of getting his hands on the football. It was his fourth career touchdown.
“That ball just actually bounced right to me,” Kaniho said, “so I’m like, ‘I’m gonna pick it up and see how many yards I can get.’ And when I finally turned that corner, I saw nobody in front of me, so I just tried to make sure I didn’t get caught.”
The third blocked kick came late in the second quarter — and in some ways was a replay of the first. Williams again lined up on the left end of the line and Colorado State didn’t have enough blockers to handle him. He easily got the block.
This time, the ball went forward instead of backward — and it popped right into Schramm’s arms for the easy score.
“We hit them with the same thing the second time to see if they would block me,” Williams said.
The special teams touchdowns and two lost fumbles (the punt return by Kaniho and a kickoff return by Williams) took five possessions away from Bachmeier, which likely contributed to an up-and-down night for the offense. Bachmeier was 16-for-28 for 202 yards and a touchdown but was sacked three times. The run game was limited to 2.4 yards per carry.
The Broncos saved themselves offensively with nine third-down conversions.
The Rams, meanwhile, were just 1-for-15 on third down.
Boise State gets a couple extra days to prepare for its next game, a Mountain West championship game rematch Nov. 21 at Hawaii.
“I’m really proud of how we played tonight as a team,” said Whimpey, who posted a career-high 14 tackles and three tackles for loss. “Hopefully we can go into this next week and continue to work and continue to be on that rise and take that energy into the next game.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 1:24 AM.
