BSU CLINCHES MW, OFF TO VEGAS TO FACE COACH PETE

Posted on December 8, 2019

BY KTIK STAFF AND BSU MEDIA SERVICES

Hawaii scored first and last.

Boise State scored the most.

The 19th-ranked Boise State football team pieced together a series of scoring drives and beat the Rainbow Warriors 31-10 in the Mountain West championship game Saturday at Albertsons Stadium.

Boise State is 12-1 heading into bowl season, and finishes with a 9-0 record against Mountain West teams. Hawaii, which lost to Boise State twice this season by a combined score of 90-47, falls to 9-5.

On Sunday, Boise State accepted an invitation to play Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 21, 5:30 p.m. on ABC, KTIK & KBOI). The Huskies are led by former coach Chris Petersen, who is resigning after the bowl game.

Hawaii opened with a field goal, and closed with a touchdown. In between, it was the Jaylon Henderson show for Boise State. The quarterback, who started the season third on the depth chart, has won all four of his late-season starts and outscored opponents 160-64.

Henderson tossed TD passes to Khalil Shakir (36 yards) and John Hightower (36). Henderson added a 5-yard TD run, and Shakir scored on a 4-yard run. Eric Sachse had a 34-yard field goal to open the scoring for Boise State, which outgained Hawaii 364-320.

Nose tackle Sonatane Lui led Boise State’s defense with four solo tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Boise State stopped Hawaii twice inside the 5-yard line, and the Warriors were a combined 6-of-17 on third/fourth-down conversions.

NOTES: Boise State has won three MW titles in six seasons under Harsin. The Broncos captured their fourth MW title overall, tying for the most in conference history with former members BYU, TCU and Utah. … The Broncos won their 12th game in a season for the first time since 2014, Harsin’s first season as head coach. … Henderson added 14 rushes for 51 yards. … Hawaii came into the game averaging 480.8 yards a game – tops in the Mountain West and 11th in FBS. … Boise State won its seventh game against a bowl-eligible team. … The Broncos defeated the Rainbow Warriors for the eighth consecutive time and improved to 14-3 all-time against Hawaii. … The Broncos posted their eighth come-from-behind win. … Boise State turned Hawaii away on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the second quarter, marking the 16th time this year the Broncos have recorded a turnover on downs. … Senior safety Kekoa Nawahine’s interception in the second quarter was his team-leading third of the season the sixth of his career.

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