A November hit at home: Boise State ends skid with rout of Colorado State
Boise State got back to its high-scoring ways at home Saturday evening to put an end to a two-game losing streak and notch its first win this month.
Keeping alive their hopes of making the Mountain West championship game for the fourth straight season, the Broncos (7-4, 5-2) scored a 49-21 victory over last-place Colorado State (2-9, 1-6) in their regular season finale at Albertsons Stadium.
A strong first half saw Boise State build a 27-7 lead behind 360 yards of offense and five scoring drives, and the team survived an uneven second half to keep the Rams at bay and maintain their position in a second-place tie in the conference.
And about three hours after their win, the Broncos got a big boost from the team they play on the road next week, Utah State (6-5, 4-3). The Aggies knocked off Fresno State (7-4, 4-3) in California, knocking the Bulldogs out of the second-place logjam. That means a win over Utah State likely puts BSU into the title game by virtue of tiebreakers.
But before Boise State could worry about any of that, it had to hold off Colorado State, which got within 34-21 after recovering an onside kick that allowed the visitors to put together back-to-back touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Broncos recovered the next onside kick and scored consecutive TDs of their own to end all doubt.
Four BSU running backs combined for six touchdowns and more than 300 yards rushing, and quarterback Max Cutforth played his best since replacing the injured Maddux Madsen three games ago.
“Max has had a really good week of practice. Our receivers trust him, our coaches trust him, and he did a really good job tonight,” head coach Spencer Danielson said. “We’ve got to be a balanced attack, and I think we did a much better job of that tonight.”
Madsen went down in the first quarter of the home game against Fresno State on Nov. 1, a 30-7 loss that ended the nation’s longest home winning streak, and Cutforth struggled in that game and was barely trusted to throw the ball in last week’s 17-7 loss to San Diego State.
But this week the coaches turned Cutforth loose some, and the Nampa native responded by completing 22-of-34 passes for 239 yards, with no turnovers. He threw for 221 yards in the first half, stoking scoring drives with completions of 42 yards to Cameron Bates, 20 yards to tight end Matt Lauter and 21 yards to Chase Penry.
The efficiency and good offensive output had to be a relief on Senior Night. Prior to the home loss to the Bulldogs, the Broncos had been a scoring machine at home this season, with point outputs of 51, 47, 41 and 56 in four victories on the blue turf. Now they’ve added a 49 to that ledger.
Boise State mostly played well defensively in the win as well, especially in the first half, when it limited Colorado State to 79 total yards and only one scoring drive — which was aided by a pair of 15-yard penalties.
The Rams struck for some big plays in the second half, allowing quarterback Darius Curry to finish with 293 yards on 26-for-46 passing. But Curry also threw three interceptions, two of them to Jeremiah Earby, who added to his big game with a first-half fumble recovery.
The other interception was by Zion Washington, who also had nine tackles.
Curry’s worst play of the game, however, came in the second half after what looked like a lateral and fumble recovery for the Broncos but wound up being called an incomplete pass. After the play ended along Boise State’s sideline, Curry was caught on camera spitting on edge Jayden Virgin-Morgan.
Sire Gaines led BSU’s balanced rushing attack with 152 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, and senior Malik Sherrod had 56 yards and a pair of TDs on just seven carries. Dylan Riley rushed 14 times for 72 yards and a score, and hometown boy Seth Knothe saw action late in the game, rushing for 25 yards and a TD on five carries.
Senior wide receiver Latrell Caples matched his career high with seven receptions, which went for 70 yards, and tight end Matt Lauter had four catches for 38 yards. Cameron Bates caught three passes for 54 yards and also completed a 15-yard pass to tight end Matt Wagner on a trick play.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM.
