A firing, a shocking loss, score-fests: Boise State’s odd history with New Mexico
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Boise State owns a 13-1 series lead over New Mexico, dominating since 2011.
- 2025 New Mexico, under Jason Eck, has risen to 3-2 and beaten UCLA this season.
- A Boise State firing, Madsen injury and shootouts mark rivalry's key moments.
Boise State football has enjoyed a successful history with New Mexico.
The two teams have met 14 times, with Boise State winning 13. The bulk of those matchups have come since 2011, when Boise State joined the Mountain West.
During that span, the Lobos have often been a pushover. Even including New Mexico’s sole victory in the series — which came in a giant upset in 2015 at Albertsons Stadium — Boise State has outscored the Lobos 480-212 across the 12 games played since 2011.
But this might not be a typical New Mexico team. And although the Broncos are favored by more than two touchdowns in Saturday night’s game, head coach Spencer Danielson said there is no way they will take the Lobos for granted.
The are led this year by former Idaho Vandals coach Jason Eck, who took the job last December and has guided New Mexico to a 3-2 start. Included in that is a win over the Big Ten’s UCLA, marking the program’s first triumph over a power-conference team since 2008. The Lobos lost their conference opener at San Jose State last week because of three turnovers.
“They’re one of the top teams in the Mountain West,” Danielson said this week. “And that’s earned and deserved by (Eck), and their staff deserve that credit.”
A pivotal moment for Boise State
Despite their existence at opposite ends of the standings for the past decade, there’s a number of big moments involving these opponents, including very recently.
Saturday night’s matchup at Albertsons Stadium will be the first meeting since 2023. On that occasion, the Broncos came into the game with a losing record before sweeping aside the Lobos 42-14 on The Blue.
That game turned out to be incredibly significant for Danielson, because the day after that contest, head coach Andy Avalos was fired.
With the Broncos sitting at 5-5 and in danger of their first losing season since 1997, Danielson was promoted from defensive coordinator to interim head coach. He went 2-0 to end the regular season, and then guided the team to a Mountain West championship with a victory over UNLV in Las Vegas.
Despite a 35-22 loss to UCLA in the LA Bowl, Danielson was hired to be the full-time coach.
That win over New Mexico holds great significance for Danielson’s starting quarterback, too.
Taylen Green and Maddux Madsen were part of a time-share system that season, with Green the starter. But after a loss at Fresno State, Avalos named Madsen as the starter, and the game against the Lobos was his debut in that role.
Madsen completed 6-of-11 passes for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 74-yarder to Prince Strachan after New Mexico had gotten within 15-14. But late in the first half, Madsen went down with a knee injury and wound up being out the rest of the season.
Green transferred to Arkansas, and Madsen went through his rehab before beating out transfer Malachi Nelson for the starting job last season — a historic 2024 that saw Danielson and Madsen enjoy a 12-2 record that included another Mountain West championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Crazy games between the Broncos and Lobos
The 2015 result at Albertsons Stadium was New Mexico’s only win, a 31-24 final that stands out not only for the outcome, but also for how it happened.
In that game, Boise State’s offense outgained New Mexico’s by 641 yards to 413, and Broncos quarterback Brett Rypien attempted 75 passes, completing 41 of them for 506 yards.
But Rypien also threw three interceptions, including one in the fourth quarter deep in his own territory that led to New Mexico’s last touchdown and a 31-17 lead. A late 28-yard touchdown catch for Jake Roh made it 31-24, and the Broncos had a crazy last chance: The final play of the game featured a series of laterals, the ball ending up in Austin Cottrell’s hands. He was tackled at the Lobos’ 3-yard line.
Wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck racked up 281 yards on 20 receptions in that game — a game in which Boise State was favored by more than four touchdowns.
A year before that lone New Mexico victory, at University Stadium in Albuquerque, the two teams partook in a 60-49 shootout that saw the Broncos score 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The yardage was pretty mind-boggling in that game, too, with Boise State outgaining the Lobos 658 yards to 627.
New Mexico rushed for 505 yards that night, while Broncos quarterback Grant Hedrick had 367 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 131 rushing yards and two rushing scores.
The Broncos’ offense has enjoyed a lot of success in the series, averaging 39.1 points in the seven games since that 2015 defeat. They also have rolled at home this season, scoring 51 and 47 points in two victories while averaging 557 yards of offense on the friendly blue turf, but that doesn’t mean there will be fireworks Saturday night.
“(New Mexico) can cover, and they’re not going to give up explosive plays,” Danielson said. “They deny the explosive play defensively, and I got a lot of respect for that.”
Boise State vs. New Mexico
- When: 7:45 p.m. Mountain time Saturday
- Where: Albertsons Stadium (33,000, turf)
- TV: FS1 (Noah Reed, Robert Smith)
- Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
- Records: Boise State 3-2, 1-0; New Mexico 3-2, 0-1
- Series: Boise State leads the series 13-1
- Vegas betting line: Boise State by 15.5
- Weather: 55 degrees, partly cloudy, 1% chance of rain
