Boise State ‘locks out the noise’ as defense overwhelms Lobos in Mountain West opener
Boise State’s defense was turning in a dominant performance, but the Broncos needed a spark to put New Mexico away on Friday.
As they have so many times in the past, they relied on the special teams to deliver.
Linebacker Andrew Simpson blocked a punt in the end zone and pass rusher Deven Wright pounced on it almost midway through the third quarter, giving Boise State a 17-0 lead on its way to a 31-14 win over the Lobos.
“We spent some time in summer getting ready for this week, knowing it was a short week,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “We had a really good week of practice, and it carried through to the game.”
Avalos challenged his players to respond this week after a 34-17 loss in last week’s season opener at Oregon State. He said they did that and more.
The Broncos won their 23rd straight conference opener and reminded the league that the road to the Mountain West title still runs through Boise, Avalos said.
“They did an unbelievable job of committing to the things that we needed to get better at,” Avalos said. “They locked out all the outside noise and stuck together, knowing they were doing it for the man on the left and the right.”
Boise State’s special teams and defense stole the show last year against New Mexico, blocking two punts and scoring on both. The Broncos needed those points, as they shut out the Lobos 37-0 despite scoring just two offensive touchdowns.
Friday night’s game followed a similar script. The Broncos didn’t get a ton of production out of their offense, which managed just 10 points in the first half, but the defense was on point from the very beginning.
Weber State transfer George Tarlas recorded the first sack of his Boise State career on the first play of the game. The Broncos finished with six sacks, limited New Mexico to 37 yards of offense in the first half and held the Lobos’ triple-option rushing attack to 25 yards.
Boise State also racked up 12 tackles for loss as a team on Friday. The last time the Broncos achieved that was against San Diego State in 2017.
And the defense wreaked havoc on New Mexico quarterback Miles Kendrick, who was pressured into 9-for-28 passing for just 98 yards.
“A lot of it was eye control,” Boise State linebacker Ezekiel Noa said. “We knew their offense could be difficult with the triple option, but we talked all week about just doing our job and our 1/11th.”
Tarlas and Noa both finished with 1.5 sacks. Defensive linemen Scott Matlock, Divine Obichere and Herbert Gums each added half a sack. That was music to the ears of the Broncos’ coaches after not recording a sack against Oregon State.
“To pressure and confuse the quarterback is one of the standards we have on defense, and we were able to do that today,” Noa said.
Boise State’s offense had some questions to answer on Friday, too.
Quarterback Hank Bachmeier was benched after he had three turnovers in the first 18 minutes of the season opener. He was challenged to respond this week while competing with Taylen Green, and he answered the bell, Avalos said.
The four-year starter completed 16-of-27 passes for 170 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He connected on deep passes to Cole Wright and Billy Bowens in the first half, threw a pair of touchdown passes to Latrell Caples, and found running back George Holani on late touchdown.
Avalos said Bachmeier never hung his head this week. Even while Green, a redshirt freshman, took reps with the starters in practice, Bachmeier stayed focused and level-headed, the coach said.
“It comes down to trusting your preparation, taking what the defense gives you when it’s there, and if not, you have to move on to the next play,” Avalos said. “I’m just really proud of him and Taylen, and the way they worked together this week to help the team get better.”
Boise State’s offense still was uneven until the running game started clicking in the second half. The Broncos had just 27 yards on the ground at halftime, but they finished with 148. Holani finished with 67 yards on 20 carries, while freshman Ashton Jeanty led the team with 72 yards on 12 carries.
“He’s just scratching the surface,” Avalos said of Jeanty. “He was better today than he was in his first opportunity, and I’m sure there are things he learned today that he’ll be even better at next time.”
New Mexico (1-1, 0-1 MW) didn’t score against the fired-up Boise State defense until Geordon Porter caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Kendrick early in the fourth quarter. The Lobos’ other TD came on a fourth-quarter kickoff return from Christian Washington, who went 100 yards to the end zone.
In all, New Mexico managed just 123 yards of offense on 55 plays Friday night. Take away the long TD strike, and the Lobos had 54 yards on the other 54 plays.
“I can’t say the words I want to say, but we got physically beat up, up front,” New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales told the Albuquerque Journal. “We weren’t good enough. I thought going into the game we could block them a little better.”
Boise State welcomes Tennessee-Martin, an FCS program, to town next Saturday for its home opener (2 p.m., FS1).
This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 12:49 AM.
