Wreckers at home: Boise State crushes Mountaineers to stay dominant on The Blue
Let the home routs and the Albertsons Stadium invincibility continue.
In Spencer Danielson’s time as head coach — including one interim game in 2023 — Boise State is now 10-0 on The Blue, with nearly every win being a blowout.
The latest thrashing of an opponent came Saturday evening, when the Broncos (3-1) scored a 47-14 victory over App State (2-2). Their first home game this season was a 51-14 win over Eastern Washington.
In 2024, Boise State outscored its victims 302-138 in seven home games, averaging 43.1 points per game. The Broncos put up point totals of 45, 56 (twice) and 62 last year, and they are continuing that theme in 2025.
“I‘m proud of the relentlessness we played with, proud of how we were able to get a lot of guys the ball,” Danielson said after the game. “ ... Our offensive line did a really good job, too, at the point of attack.”
The dominance against App State came courtesy of a Maddux Madsen-led passing attack and a strong pass defense, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. Madsen completed 25-of-37 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns before taking the final nine minutes of the game off.
He was sacked only once, and that was the result of his fumbling the ball backward, and then having to scramble to recover it.
To Danielson’s point about spreading the wealth offensively, 10 different receivers hauled in passes from Madsen, and highlights abounded for the 10th straight sellout crowd at Albertsons Stadium (32,904).
Quinton Brown caught one pass — and it was a doozy. He made a spectacular leaping-and-sprawling grab in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and his helmet flew off when he crashed to the ground. Brown stayed down for a bit, and then walked off the field with a trainer holding a towel to Brown’s bleeding chin — and with his arms waving on the crowd.
Latrell Caples had five catches for 84 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown to open the scoring and a 34-yard TD in the fourth quarter that saw him get open over the middle and then outrun two defenders to the end zone.
Matt Lauter and Ben Ford each had 45 yards receiving on three catches, and Ford’s night included a 14-yard TD. Chris Marshall had three catches for 52 yards.
“I’ve played with a lot of those receivers for a long time. I mean, knowing where Latrell is at, Ben’s at, Chris is at ... all those guys, I feel like there’s a huge trust factor in that whole room,” Madsen said.
App State came into this game having built up some impressive statistical rankings against Southern Miss (3-2), Charlotte (1-3) and FCS program Lindenwood University — ranking No. 3 in the nation with its passing offense (357 yards per game) and No. 8 in run defense (61 yards allowed per game).
But Boise State is no Lindenwood. The Broncos didn’t need a big rushing night, but they had 152 yards on 44 carries — Sire Gaines led the way with 12 carries for 69 yards — setting up play-action passes for Madsen. And defensively, they absolutely grounded the Mountaineers’ passing attack.
App State quarterback AJ Swann was just 11-of-24 for 64 yards — which meant he threw for one yard in the second half. Yes, one. Boise State sacked Swann five times, and cornerback A’Marion McCoy victimized him with the first pick-six, reading a pass to the right flat perfectly to intercept it and returning it 26 yards untouched for a touchdown in the first half.
The final TD of the game, with 10:21 left in the fourth quarter, came when BSU safety Boen Phelps stepped in front of a receiver and picked off Swann before darting 33 yards untouched into the end zone.
The Broncos held the Mountaineers to nine first downs and 174 yards of total offense. App State’s lone scoring drive in the first half was pretty much gift-wrapped by Boise State, which had a roughing-the-passer penalty and a face mask call, accounting for 30 of the 75 yards. Its lone second-half scoring drive covered just 42 yards after a 45-yard punt return.
Boise State’s defense also recovered a fumble and intercepted the backup quarterback in the fourth quarter, part of its best game thus far this season. Braxton Fely had two of the sacks; safety Ty Benefield had seven tackles; Jayden Virgin-Morgan had six tackles and a sack; and Phelps had six tackles to go along with his pick-six.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:13 PM.
