Boise State’s defense has ‘special’ night (5 takeaways) to polish off Wolf Pack
Nevada entered Friday night’s game against Boise State with one of the worst offenses in the nation.
The Wolf Pack were averaging just 15.6 points and barely more than 300 yards per game. They had scored more than 20 points just once all season, in a 24-22 loss to New Mexico. Just a few weeks ago, to try to turn things around, head coach Jeff Choate called on freshman quarterback Carter Jones to be the starter.
Not surprisingly, the Broncos took full advantage of the situation Friday night.
Boise State (6-2, 4-0 Mountain West) had five takeaways — three interceptions, plus a fumble recovery and muffed punt recovery — and held Nevada (1-7, 0-4) to just 247 total yards in a 24-3 victory at Mackay Stadium in Reno.
The Wolf Pack’s stats, already not good, are going to be worse now thanks to the Broncos.
“It was special,” senior cornerback Jeremiah Earby said after the game, sporting a large grin.
Earby recorded his first two interceptions of the season, including a pick in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Fifth-year corner A’Marion McCoy reeled in his fourth interception in five games. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Boen Phelps jumped on a fumble to end Nevada’s final drive of the game.
Freshman Mana Tuioti also recovered a muffed punt at the Nevada 6-yard line in the third quarter, setting the Broncos up for a key touchdown that extended their lead to 17-3 in a game that was unnecessarily close up to that point.
Although not counted as a turnover, the Boise State defense also easily stopped a Nevada fake field goal in the first quarter. With the score tied 3-3, the Wolf Pack ran a fake on fourth-and-18 rather than settle for a possible 6-3 lead, and the play was blown up before it even got going, thanks to a tackle from redshirt junior edge Jayden Virgin-Morgan on a shovel pass.
After several wins in which the offense has provided the highlights, especially at home, this road game was all about the D. The Broncos had just 169 total yards at halftime, when they held a tenuous 10-3 lead. But Nevada could not capitalize on its defense’s strong effort, despite an interception of Maddux Madsen that set them up in BSU territory in the second quarter, because the Boise State defenders were too good.
“I love it when the defense comes out there, gets a stop, and then comes (and) hypes the offense up,” redshirt freshman running back Sire Gaines said. “Now the offense, we gotta respond. It’s a little competition.”
The offense didn’t respond as much as it could have, but it didn’t matter. The defense got a couple of sacks of Jones, pressured him a good deal and was ready when he released the ball. On two of the interceptions, Earby and McCoy looked as if they were running the patterns better than the Wolf Pack receivers.
It should be a big confidence boost for a unit that’s improved through the season.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations about pass defense in the past months. Jeremiah Earby, two interceptions, A’Marion McCoy, interception. They find a way,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said. “... Are we perfect? No, but we’re growing, and that’s what we need to continue to do.”
McCoy got the defense rolling with his interception on just the third play of the game, running across the field to jump a route and catch Jones’ attempted pass uncontested. Earby also had clear looks for both of his interceptions, including the first in which he looked more like a wide receiver catching a ball over his shoulder.
Those interceptions didn’t just come from lucky positioning, Earby said. The defense had an idea of what to expect from Nevada’s freshman quarterback, who was starting just his third game and was never allowed to get comfortable.
“We knew they were gonna have a very — not like a vanilla game plan, but just a lot of multiple different formations,” Earby said. “And we didn’t see a lot of new stuff that we (already) practice.”
