‘Legend!’: Boise State freshman’s TD showed he’s a ‘phenomenal talent’
Eyes raised to the sky, blood pouring down his face into a white towel being held beneath his chin, Quinton Brown let out a roar.
Pretty much all of the 32,904 people in attendance at Albertsons Stadium cheered back.
“It was so real,” Brown, a freshman wide receiver at Boise State, said Wednesday. “Seeing everybody happy and excited, I couldn’t even imagine.”
Brown had just caught his first touchdown pass as a Bronco, climbing high above his defender to bring in the ball before clattering down to the filed. His score, late in the third quarter, was the fourth of six Bronco touchdowns as Boise State defeated App State 47-14 last Saturday.
As Brown crashed hard onto the orange turf of the end zone, his helmet popped off, spinning several yards while Brown continued rolling with the ball clutched in his arms. Fellow wide receivers Chris Marshall and Cam Bates came over to celebrate with Brown before realizing he was still hunched over the ball and showed no signs of getting up.
The impact had broken his nose, releasing a stream of blood down his face.
“Marshall grabbed me, and he’s like, ‘Bro, you scored your first touchdown,’” Brown recalled, sporting a fresh scar across the bridge of his nose. “But I couldn’t really speak because my nose was hurting so bad. But then, when I celebrated, I had to bring energy.”
After being treated on the field for several minutes, a pair of trainers assisted Brown toward the sideline and the medical tent, where they popped his nose back into place. But he was able to soak up the moment first.
“Legend!” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson exclaimed when asked about the catch and celebration.
“It’s already over, man, where are we going to go from here now?” Danielson continued to joke. “He’s a great young man.”
Brown may have caught the attention of fans last weekend, but he’s been garnering the attention of the coaching staff and teammates since he arrived on campus in the summer. Brown was mentioned several times by Danielson throughout fall camp, while redshirt junior quarterback Maddux Madsen called him a “stud.”
Through four games, the true freshman has just four receptions for 51 yards. But that could start changing.
Brown said Wednesday that he actually didn’t expect to be involved in games as much as he has been, on a team that has multiple upperclassmen at the receiver position. If he continues to display the ability and toughness he showed on that one play against App State, everyone probably should expect to see more of him.
“He’s embraced every part of his role since he showed up on campus, and he’s a phenomenal talent,” offensive coordinator Nate Potter said Monday.
“He’s going to continue to get better and better. Still a young guy, he’s still learning a lot of things, but the fact that when his number was called, he went out and made a big play, and showed a lot of toughness doing it, I think shows a lot of positive signs in the future.”
Boise State at No. 21 Notre Dame
- When: 1:30 p.m. Mountain time Saturday
- Where: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795, turf), South Bend, Indiana
- TV: NBC (Dan Hicks, Jason Garrett)
- Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
- Records: Boise State 3-1; Notre Dame 2-2
- Series: First meeting
- Vegas betting line: Notre Dame by 19.5
- Weather: 87 degrees, sunny, 3% chance of rain
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
