The Boise State Broncos had the table set for a nice win on Saturday afternoon against Mountain West Conference rival San Diego State. The fourth largest crowd in the history of Albertson’s Stadium was still settling in their seats at kickoff and the Broncos appeared ready. Appearances can be deceiving as BSU failed to move the football all afternoon. The Aztec defense completely befuddled an apparently predictable offense. Were it not for a fumbled punt by SDSU, the Broncos had a good chance at being shut out. Until late in the game the only score for BSU came on a four yard drive after punt muff.
The offense was so bad that BSU had only two yards of total offense in the first quarter. The Broncos did not surpass 200 yards in total offense until late in the fourth quarter in their worst offensive effort in years.
The BSU defense held SDSU to 19 points, but it seemed like a million with Boise’s inability to score. Still the Broncos got the ball back in the final minutes with a chance to win. The last two BSU plays were an intentional grounding call and a heave into triple coverage with was badly overthrown. Not the kind of Bronco magic ending we have come to expect.
Boise State is 3-2 after five games for the fourth time in the last six years. BSU has now lost eight games at home since 2000. That is unheard of for this program. Nonetheless, BSU went to the Vegas Bowl last year and beat Oregon after a 3-2 start and won The Fiesta Bowl, a New Years Six Bowl in Harsin’s first season here. So all hope for a very special season is not lost, but there is no margin for error left.
