Broncos left to lament many mistakes in season-ending playoff loss to Penn State
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Boise State in the College Football Playoff
The Broncos played Penn State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal Fiesta Bowl in Arizona on Dec. 31, 2024.
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Against the biggest opponents, Boise State has little margin for error.
And for the second time this season against a team ranked in the top 10, mistakes and breakdowns were the biggest factor in a tough loss.
This time, though, the miscues ended the Broncos’ season. They went 0-2 against top-10 teams from the Big Ten in 2024, and 12-0 against everyone else.
Boise State’s problems Tuesday night paved the way to a 31-14 loss to Penn State (13-2) in the Fiesta Bowl. The loss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals put a cap on a historic season that saw the Broncos win their second straight Mountain West championship and earn the No. 3 seed, and a bye, in the first expanded playoffs.
Boise State’s typically reliable fifth-year kicker, Jonah Dalmas, capped off a tough year by missing two field-goal tries, from 45 and 38 yards out. Junior running back Ashton Jeanty fumbled the ball twice — one of those was recovered by the Broncos — en route to falling just short of breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record.
Boise State sophomore wide receiver Prince Strachan had a third-quarter touchdown erased because of an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty on redshirt sophomore tackle Hall Schmidt. Two plays later, redshirt sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen threw an interception — one of three on the night — to deny the Broncos a chance to attempt a field goal pull to within one score.
The penalty on Schmidt was one of 13 on the night.
“Tonight, we didn’t execute the way we needed to win a heavyweight fight like we knew this was going to be,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said moments after the loss.
“Football always comes down to execution, and we just didn’t execute as much as we needed to. ... We weren’t consistent enough as a team in all three phases against a really good football team.”
For Bronco fans, the loss was painfully reminiscent of the 37-34 defeat at the hands of Oregon earlier this year. That time, two special team gaffes gifted the then-No. 7 Ducks a kick return touchdown and a punt return TD, while Dalmas missed a 54-yard field goal.
The final score may indicate a runaway victory for Penn State, but it was anything but that. The Broncos closed within 17-14 after falling behind 14-0, and entered the fourth quarter trailing 24-14 and with the ball in PSU territory. Then things went south in the final 15 minutes, which featured all three of Madsen’s interceptions.
Boise State drove down the field on its opening drive and looked set to take an early lead, but a bit of a botched hold led to Dalmas duck-hooking a 45-yard kick far left.
His second miss, midway through the fourth quarter from 38 yards out, was less forgivable, as it just sailed right of the goalposts to keep the score at 24-14.
“Obviously, as a competitor, he’s hurt. But this game is not on Jonah,” Danielson said. “Jonah Dalmas is one of the best field goal kickers in the entire country.”
In his final year, Dalmas endured his most challenging season as a Bronco kicking field goals. He was just 13-for-18 (72.2%) — his worst season before that was in 2022, when he went 23-for-27 (85.2%).
Jeanty had to deal with the toughest defense he faced this year. The Nittany Lions entered with the 7th-best run defense in the nation and held him to a season-low 104 rushing yards and just 3.5 yards per carry.
His two fumbles on Tuesday night matched his season total. His only other two? One against Nevada and one against Oregon State.
The first fumble occurred on a rush to the right in the first quarter. As Jeanty approached the sideline, Penn State linebacker Kobe King hit him. A substantial bit of misfortune saw the ball pop up behind Jeanty as he fell out of bounds, allowing the Nittany Lions to grab the ball inbounds.
The second fumble happened on a more traditional Jeanty rush up the middle in the second quarter. The ball was popped out by a defender as Jeanty fell, but redshirt sophomore Roger Carreon was able to collapse on the ball to keep possession.
“I didn’t take care of the ball,” Jeanty said. “So that’s why we weren’t able to get the job done.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 11:48 PM.
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