‘It spreads like a virus.’ Explosive plays, turnovers cost Boise State in loss
South Florida third-string freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett trotted on the field on fourth-and-6 in the third quarter, and no one on the Boise State sideline seemed to notice.
Lined up to punt, Hewlett then threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton on a fake, just one of 11 explosive plays the No. 25 Broncos gave up in a 34-7 loss to the Bulls on Thursday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Big plays defined the college football season opener for both teams, and more often than not, the Broncos came out on the losing end. And none was bigger than the fake punt, which gave USF a 17-7 lead and all of the momentum.
“We didn’t do what we went in here to do, and that is on me to make sure we get it fixed,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “We didn’t execute in critical moments, didn’t win third and fourth down, really, much on either side of the ball. We lost the turnover margin. We didn’t tackle well, had a huge explosive play on a punt.”
The Bulls completed passes of 55, 45, 37, 37, 24 and 15 yards, and broke free for runs of 49, 23, 15, 10 and 12 yards, on the way to scoring 34 unanswered points for their first win over a ranked team in a season opener since 2011.
The Broncos mostly have themselves to blame.
With Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty now playing for the Las Vegas Raiders, Boise State turned to three different running backs in the first quarter. Fresno State transfer Malik Sherrod fumbled after catching a pass on the Broncos’ first drive. It was one of three lost fumbles for BSU, which lost just five throughout the entire 2024 season.
Sherrod’s fumble ended a promising drive inside the USF 40, and redshirt freshman Sire Gaines coughed up the football on a running play at the USF 16 late in the second quarter, ending another good drive. Redshirt junior quarterback Maddux Madsen lost the third fumble on a fourth-down attempt with 10:34 left in the game.
That also came inside South Florida territory, at the 25-yard line.
“The turnover margin is a huge part of winning football games,” Danielson said. “If you look at turnovers, whoever wins the turnover margin and wins the explosive battle, it’s like 98 percent of the time you win the football game — college or NFL. And we lost both those tonight.”
Boise State led 7-0 on redshirt junior receiver Chris Marshall’s 6-yard reception on a slant route from Madsen with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter. Little could the Broncos think that would be their only score of the night.
Sophomore kicker Nico Gramatica got the Bulls on the scoreboard with a 52-yard field goal with 12:49 on the clock in the second quarter after quarterback Byrum Brown’s 39-yard TD run was called back for a holding penalty.
Brown then gave the Bulls the lead on a 23-yard scramble on third-and-10 with 6:34 until halftime. The scoring play likely never would have come to fruition had Boise State redshirt senior cornerback Davon Banks not been flagged for unnecessary roughness on a sack of Brown on third-and-8 earlier in the drive.
“You’re going to look at some plays that create momentum, and we didn’t execute to get the momentum back,” Danielson said. “You come out, we get a stop to start the second half, things don’t go our way. Then we get another stop, big-time sack, and then it’s not a smart penalty, right? And 15 yards turns into a touchdown.
“So you’re gonna look at these moments that if you win one or two of these, you win the game.”
USF led 10-7 at the half, but the big plays continued over the final 30 minutes.
After Hewlett’s fake punt pass extended the Bulls’ lead to 17-7, Brown connected with senior receiver Chas Nimrod on a 55-yard pass to the Boise State 15-yard line. On the next play, Brown found the end zone on a 15-yard keeper for a 24-7 advantage.
Sophomore running back Isaac Alvon opened South Florida’s third drive of the fourth quarter with a 49-yard run up the middle, which led to a 33-yard field goal by Gramatica four plays later.
“It was definitely frustrating out there on the field,” Boise State redshirt senior tight end Matt Lauter said. “As a leader, you can’t let that get to the other players on the team. Because it spreads like a virus and then everything goes downhill from there.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 8:55 PM.
