Coming off a BYE week after a weird island visit, Boise State went into Vegas with everything on the line. CFP hopes, Jeanty Heisman hopes, conference realignment bragging rights and so much more. Some media pundits billed this as the best game of the week, G5 game of the year, or even the G5 game of the century. Boise State hadn’t played a game lik this in a long time, and their performance truly embodied the culture shift happening on the Blue. UNLV came out hard and emotional. Fans were nervous and upset (me included), yet Danielson didn’t waiver. His team didn’t waiver. The Broncos stuck to their guns, came together as a team and came away with what can be argued as the biggest win of this Decade.
Top 5 Takeaways from Week 9
- Offensive line struggled but rebounded after the first quarter. This was a huge game for them and shows that they can be dependable.
- Best game of Maddux Madsen’s career. Plenty of people were not sold by his gameplay and while he still wasn’t elite, he stepped up when we needed him.
- Defense with another solid performance. Wasn’t great in the first half but they seemed to lock in and play their best when they needed.
- Hot Take #1: Dirk Koetter might be allergic to run plays outside the tackle. I’m no doctor but that man avoids those plays like the plaque. Scheme wise, it might make sense but boy is it frustrating to watch.
- Hot Take #2: Jeanty will finish with 200+ yards for the rest of the season. UNLV run D was crazy and he still had solid numbers. Nothing but up from here.
Evaluation of Bronco performance
Offense
- First and foremost, hell of a game from Maddux Madsen. 18 for 33, 209 yards and 2 total TD’s. Not going to say he was elite or that he won the game for us, but this was the biggest moment in his career so far and he did everything this offense needed him to do. Solid passes, great running ability and overall No Turnovers. Hats off to Mad Dog for this performance.
- Run game left much to be desired, but not much you can do when UNLV has a 8 to 9 man box every play. Jeanty still had a good game, and hopefully his Heisman hopes can stay high.
- Run game leads me to this next point and I’m sure those won’t cause some controversy: I’m starting to get pretty tired of Dirk Koetters run scheme. People can say everything they want to me and that isn’t going to change my opinion. I know he’s a hall of fame coach, I know he has more coaching experience than I’ve been alive, and I know he game plans for these game and I don’t. But would a toss play kill anyone? Would a stretch play to the wide side of the field someone cause an apocalypse? The creativity in our running plays leaves A LOT to be desired, especially when you have a Heisman hopeful.
- Thought the receivers had a good game, got open more, made some good plays after the catch. Nothing special but enough to help us get the W.
Grade: B+…