Boise State defense sets a program record with ‘uncommon’ effort to win Mountain West
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Big night on The Blue
Boise State secured a historic 21-7 win over UNLV in the Mountain West championship game to lock up a berth in the College Football Playoff. Read all our coverage here.
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Seyi Oladipo called his touchdown-saving tackle “just another play.” And that’s when Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson had to interject.
“Massive play,” Danielson roared into the microphone.
Oladipo’s shoestring tackle of senior running back Kylin James at the end of an 86-yard run in the third quarter exemplified the “uncommon” effort Boise State’s defense has expended all season, the coach said. And it was a major part of the No. 10 Broncos’ 21-7 victory over No. 19 UNLV in the Mountain West championship football game Friday night at Albertsons Stadium.
That’s because what followed was Boise State forcing the Rebels to turn the ball over on downs, after they had first-and-goal at the 5-yard line.
“You talk about the relentless effort to get him down on what, the 4-yard line?” Danielson said. “That’s uncommon. The easy thing is kind of get there and jog at the end and then, ‘Oh, they scored.’ That’s not this group. That’s nothing I did. That’s these young men.
“Seeing them stay in the fight, keep swinging down after down, that’s how you win championships.”
The Broncos won back-to-back Mountain West titles for the first time in program history, propelling them into the expanded College Football Playoff and potentially a first-round playoff bye with their 12-1 season and perfect mark against conference competition. Their only loss came against current No. 1 Oregon on Sept. 7 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.
“There’s years where Boise State was undefeated and never really had an opportunity to play for a national championship,” Danielson said. “Now, as a competitor, all you want is a shot, and that’s what I told our team. All you want is an opportunity. We set goals for our team, and then we went to work.”
Oladipo was voted the defensive MVP of Friday’s game, totaling a team-best 10 tackles, with two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble.
The Broncos recorded six sacks against the Rebels (10-3), becoming just the fourth team in league history to have seven or more games with four-plus sacks in a single season. They also set a single-season program record in the FBS era with 51 total sacks, surpassing the 49 recorded by the 1996 and 2010 squads.
Redshirt junior linebacker Marco Notarainni tallied two sacks, fifth-year senior Sheldon Newton and redshirt sophomore Jayden Virgin-Morgan each had one, and redshirt senior nickle Rodney Robinson and redshirt junior linebacker Andrew Simpson had half-sacks.
The Rebels’ seven points was the lowest total in Mountain West championship history, and they were held to 63 yards of offense and four first downs in the first half by defensive coordinator Erik Chinander’s unit.
It had to feel great for Danielson, who was the team’s defensive coordinator before being elevated to interim head coach last season when Andy Avalos was fired.
“I do believe moments like tonight can accelerate you forward at a very fast pace and really have potential to change everything in a positive way. And that’s the legacy this senior class is leaving,” Danielson said. “They’re going to be able to look back years from now and see what is built here, no different than our team is privy to right now. I mean, we sit in a beautiful facility that was not built by this team. It was built by decades of winning seasons.
“Blue-collar young men, chip on their shoulder, counted out, came here, won those games that got this place built to this point. It’s our job to push it forward to new heights, and that’s a legacy that this group is leaving.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2024 at 1:26 AM.
