‘I surprised myself’: Boise State’s latest standout just wants to play his part
Running over to the Boise State sideline, Dylan Riley counted out loud on his fingers: One, two, three, four, five.
If the game had lasted a little longer, he might have needed the other hand.
At first, Riley said, it didn’t quite compute what he was counting. Then it dawned on him: He scored five touchdowns to help power the Broncos to a 49-37 win at Air Force.
“That’s my first real game of me playing, and I got five touchdowns?” Riley said Saturday night, half in a whisper of disbelief.
“Like, I surprised myself of what I did a little bit.”
Boise State football’s running back room has been filled with players who’ve turned in classic single-game performances over the years — from Cedric Minter to Ashton Jeanty, from Doug Martin to Jay Ajayi — and now you can add Riley’s name to the list.
The 5-foot-10 sophomore exploded for five touchdowns – four rushing and one receiving — to go with 171 rushing yards and 84 receiving yards as Boise State (2-1, 1-0) held off Air Force (1-2, 0-2) in the Broncos’ Mountain West opener.
Riley produced those numbers on 19 carries and just two receptions, meaning he averaged over 12 yards per touch. That came after he had just 13 combined carries the first two games of the season. But he had the hot hand Saturday, and the team let him deal.
Riley isn’t completely unknown to Boise State fans — he saw action in 11 games last year in a backup role to Jeanty, the Heisman Trophy runner-up who had a historic season with more than 2,600 yards rushing. And he had a long touchdown run in the blowout win over Eastern Washington two weeks ago.
But now it might really be Riley’s time to shine, as he showed against Air Force.
“It means a lot,” Riley said. “Freshman year, I didn’t get to play a lot, and then I didn’t know what was going to happen. We come to this year, I put my head down, work, work, work, and that’s the only thing I can do. And my work is just showing on the field.”
Riley’s ‘huge role’ leads to Boise State offense’s huge night
To put Riley’s breakout night into perspective, both his rushing and receiving output on Saturday night exceeded his numbers for the entirety of last season, when he had 121 rushing and 22 receiving.
“We knew (Riley) was gonna have a huge role,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said. “But the explosive plays, he’s a touchdown waiting to happen because of his speed and his physicality.”
Riley was responsible for all but two of the Broncos’ seven touchdowns, and his big plays included TD runs of 34 and 43 yards, and a swing pass he took 75 yards for a score.
His efforts highlighted a strong night overall for the offense, which totaled 592 yards — 310 in the air and 282 on the ground. Other standouts were sixth-year wide receiver Latrell Caples, who had 87 yards on his five catches, and running back Malik Sherrod, who had 161 all-purpose yards and a 40-yard TD run.
Redshirt junior tight end Matt Lauter scored the other TD on a 3-yard reception from redshirt junior quarterback Maddux Madsen, who threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, and also had an interception.
Riley’s stats were impressive, but his timing really set his performance apart.
After the Broncos fell behind 7-0, Riley scored a pair of rushing touchdowns to make it 14-7, including the 34-yarder that saw him fly through a big hole in the line and use his vision to find room cutting to the left, where he outran defenders.
In the third quarter, he turned in perhaps the biggest play of the night. The Broncos were clinging to a 28-24 lead when Riley caught the swing pass from Madsen on the left sideline. He quickly jetted past a defender and then watched redshirt junior offensive lineman Kage Casey flatten another Falcon. Once in open space, he was gone.
The touchdown came on the first play after Air Force went on a 19-play, 67-yard drive that ended in a field goal.
“That’s exactly what we needed from the offense,” redshirt senior linebacker Marco Notarainni said. “... I love it. And if they do that, they get points on the board for us, and we need to get back out there and stop another drive, another series, I’m all for it.”
Riley’s final two touchdowns kept Boise State out of Air Force’s reach, including a 43-yarder where he burst through the middle of the line and sped past everyone with about 2 minutes remaining.
Riley, who sometimes strikes a pose similar to Jeanty’s in the backfield while waiting for the ball to be snapped, might be hearing more comparisons after his huge night. But that’s not what he wants for the running back room.
“We’re not trying to be the next Ashton Jeanty. I’m trying to be the next Dylan, you feel me?” Riley said. “So all that I could do is just do what I know best, and go out and show my talents.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2025 at 11:11 PM.
