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Monday Special…December 8, 2025.
I said it after the San Diego State game. When Boise State was installed as a 16.5-point favorite against Colorado State the following week, I noted that the Broncos would have to score 17 points to cover the spread. How was the offense we saw in Snapdragon Stadium going to do that? It was fair, though. Thing is, we haven’t seen that bizarre game plan since, as Boise State regained its mojo and won three straight games, including the 38-21 decision over UNLV Friday night to claim an unprecedented third straight Mountain West championship. Coach Spencer Danielson ramped up the discipline and tamped down the negatives, and—after another postgame lovefest on the Blue—the Broncos have a desirable matchup with Washington this Saturday night in the L.A. Bowl.
WHAT A WAY TO GO OUT
In the team’s final year in the conference, Boise State won its sixth MW Championship game and seventh overall championship title. Both are Mountain West records. And how about the handle the Broncos have on UNLV? They went 10-0 in the MW against the Rebels, with the last five victories coming in a period of 734 days. That’s the shortest span between five consecutive wins over the same opponent by an FBS team since 1980. (And it surely goes back a lot further than 45 years—that’s as far as records for such things go.)
IT WAS MAD DOG’S NIGHT
Maddux Madsen silenced the doubters Friday night. You’d think so, anyway. After a bad miss on Boise State’s first possession, Madsen got on a roll, throwing three first-half touchdown passes after scrambling for a 10-yard TD on the ground. Madsen threw for 289 yards on the night, including a pair of 46-yarders to Chase Penry to set up touchdowns. The first came on the Broncos’ second drive when they looked dead in the water (almost literally considering that rainy night) on a third-and-17 following a seven-yard sack. The offensive play of the night—and the call of the night by offensive coordinator Nate Potter—came later on the 39-yard screen for a TD to Malik Sherrod that produced two Madsen fakes, a play-action and a phantom fly sweep.
NOT FORGETING ‘BUCK’
With Madsen making such huge waves, the fact that Ty Benefield was Defensive MVP was almost an afterthought. Benefield led the Broncos with eight tackles, one for loss, and nabbed the lone fumble recovery of the game. Which brings me to tackling. It was evident from the get-go that Boise State was going to tackle as well as it has all season. Sure, there were some misses on slippery UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea. But in the first quarter, when the Rebels dearly needed a quick start, the Broncos denied it with sure tackling.
BRONCO NATION SHOWED WELL
Unlike the New Mexico game in mid-October, Boise State fans dressed for the occasion as the rain kept falling Friday. The rain stopped during the first quarter, and it was actually it was quite pleasant. But then, uh, the sky opened up again. The announced crowd of 27,152 hung in there, though. It was there for a reason, and you could hear it in their voices. UNLV didn’t seem fazed by the unfamiliar weather, but I do believe the Rebels were rocked by the noise—there were three false starts in the first quarter alone. And props to the student section. That was the one area of Albertsons Stadium that was completely full. And the scene at the end of the game was, once again, something to behold.
BLINK, AND BOWL SEASON IS GONE
Boise State’s matchup with Washington in SoFi Stadium is the first game of the 2025 bowl season. It’s the earliest in modern times that a bowl game has been played, so that part feels a bit strange. Both the Broncos and the Huskies are having to go without most of the 15 extra practices that are allotted to bowl participants, unfortunately. Boise State is 2-4 all-time against UW, and the past two meetings have been Washington blowouts, 38-7 in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl and 56-19 to open the 2023 season in Seattle. That game two years ago was against perhaps the best team in Washington history, though, the one that went on to the CFP championship game.
YOTES GET BETTER EVERY WEEK
College of Idaho is one win away from the NAIA national championship game after avenging its only loss of the season with a 41-26 decision over Montana Tech in frozen Butte. The Coyotes raced out to a 14-0 first quarter lead Saturday and never trailed. Former Meridian High standout Rylie Byington had himself a day, rushing for 145 yards and four touchdowns as the Yotes handed the Orediggers their first loss of the season. C of I is now 11-1 and headed to the semis for the second time, and they go to the same place they did two years ago: Keiser University in Florida.
BRONCOS HOOPSTERS NEEDED THIS ONE
Maybe it wasn’t must-win, but it was a necessary one. After competing well but not completely in dropping two of three games at the Maui Invitational, Boise State went into historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Saturday and knocked off Butler 77-68. The Bulldogs had come into the game ranked 22nd in the NCAA’s NET rankings, so this win mattered. The Broncos’ defense locked down when it counted, holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the game. Dylan Andrews led Boise State with 20 points, albeit on 4-for-19 shooting. But Andrews was part of the impressive defensive effort. Drew Fielder turned in his best game of the season against a quality opponent, putting up 16 points and going 7-for-11 from the field. The Broncos are back home Wednesday night against Duquesne.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by CORSO ITALIAN STEAK…it’s about food, cocktails and vibe.
(Note: see an extended story on this event in a separate post today.)
December 8, 1990, 35 years ago today: One of the classic games in Boise State football history is played in the semi-finals of the Division I-AA playoffs. The Broncos had a rematch with Nevada, a team they had beaten in Boise four weeks earlier. Boise State recovered from a shaky first half when Duane Halliday came off the bench to throw for a career-high 382 yards. The Broncos caught and passed the Wolf Pack in the third quarter—and the Pack returned the favor. Nevada would end up winning in triple overtime 59-52.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
