On a night that could have turned ugly, Boise State digs out ‘great team win’ at Hawaii

The road to glory is rarely smooth, as Boise State found out Saturday night at Hawaii.

The Broncos (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) entered the game as 21-point favorites against the Rainbow Warriors (2-4, 0-2). But despite a pretty lopsided stat sheet and final score that saw Boise State hit that spread on the nose, it didn’t come easily.

The Broncos ran out 28-7 winners in Honolulu, but the game was comfortably in hand only in the final five minutes, after Hawaii turned the ball over on downs after failing on 4th-and-goal from the 18-yard-line. A touchdown on that drive would have made it a one-score game.

“I’m proud of our team. … It was a great team win. It was not perfect,” BSU coach Spencer Danielson said in postgame interviews. “But on the road, with the travel, you’ve got to find ways to win in our conference, and I’m proud of our guys. … We left a lot on the table, though.”

Here were the stats of Boise State’s two primary playmakers: Maddux Madsen: 17-for-25 passing, 221 all-purpose yards, two passing TDs. Ashton Jeanty: 31 carries, 217 rushing yards, three catches, one TD in each half Boise State had 450 total yards of offense and was a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions. The last of those was the game’s final score, when redshirt sophomore quarterback Madsen found redshirt senior Austin Bolt for a 44-yard touchdown.

And that’s just the offensive side of the ball.

The Broncos’ defense gave up one scoring drive, recorded eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss, held Hawaii to 5-for-14 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down, and made the Rainbow Warriors go 0-for-2 in red zone possessions.

Despite that, this was a game that was up for grabs entering the fourth quarter, when it was 13-7 — the same lead Boise State had at halftime. But the Broncos had 91- and 81-yard TD drives to put the game away against the top-ranked defense in the Mountain West, and their own defense kept Hawaii at bay.

“We build our team to win games in the fourth quarter, especially in our conference, on the road. …You’ve got to find a way to finish,” Danielson said.

Jeanty scored the game’s first touchdown on a 54-yard run, but otherwise, the typically unstoppable running back was finding some tough sledding. He averaged 7 yards per carry on the night — a stellar number, to be sure, but this is a back who entered the game averaging over 10 yards a run.

“Tough team,” Jeanty told CBS Sports Network after the game. “They fought with us for four quarters. We played a great game, we were able to finish.”

Jeanty’s first-half touchdown helped the Broncos to a 13-7 lead, the least amount of points Boise State scored in the first half this season. It came on one of his trademark big plays, where he cut to the right to find space around the end, and got great blocks to race down the right sideline.

That score was sandwiched by a pair of drives that covered 130 total yards, but finished with field goals.

Fifth-year receiver Cam Camper was good for seven catches and 111 yards against Hawaii, and he has emerged as Madsen’s favorite target. Of the QB’s 25 pass attempts, 11 targeted Camper. Madsen also found redshirt junior tight end Matt Lauter three times for 16 yards, including a big fourth-down pass in the final quarter to keep the chains moving.

“Our passing game has only gotten better and better each and every weekend,” Jeanty said in his TV interview. “I think that’s helped us lighten up the boxes and be able to be a dynamic offense in both ways.”

Defensively, it was a big night for sacks and dynamic plays. Boise State pressured Brayden Schager relentlessly, with redshirt sophomore edge Jayden Virgin-Morgan securing 2.5 of the eight sacks. Schager completed 21-of-36 passes for 264 yards, and the Rainbow Warriors had only 15 rushing yards. The Broncos attacked with pressure on nearly every play in the second half.

“Got to give a shout-out to our defense,” Danielson said. “Shut them out in the second half. … There’s been times this year that they’ve been really good. We’ve been a little bit inconsistent. So proud of our defense.”

The Broncos now get a second bye week before traveling to UNLV on Oct. 25 in what likely will be Boise State’s toughest remaining game on the schedule. The winner will have the inside track to taking the conference’s regular season title, hosting the league championship game and forcing its way into the College Football Playoff.

“We’re gonna look at our first six games, and on a bye week, it’s all about us,” Danielson said. “Where do we need to improve, where can we be better.”