BOISE, Idaho — Monday Special…October 28, 2024.
Ashton Jeanty’s first two carries Friday night went for minus-five yards on Boise State’s first possession of the game. But sandwiched in between was a third-down conversion for the ages, Maddux Madsen’s 49-yard run to the UNLV 26-yard line. That became the theme of the night: the play of Madsen. In the passing game, Madsen made plays in crucial situations, like the fourth-down touchdown throw to Matt Lauter. Madsen’s rushing stats: three attempts for 58 yards (and no sacks). His other two carries were just as impactful—his seven-yard scramble for a TD, and his two-yard dive on fourth down during the Broncos’ final drive that allowed them to finish running out the clock. Jeanty rushed for 128 yards and the winning TD, but Boise State showed that it could win with other weapons in a big, big game.
THE KNOCKOUT
Raise your hand if you thought UNLV was bound to get one more shot after Boise State got the ball back with 8:07 left in the game. To think the Broncos could milk that much time and end the game was a reach. They were on their own 14-yard line, after all. But it was a clinic in clock management, helped by the fact the Rebels burned two of their timeouts earlier in the second half. Jeanty, playing through his arm injury, carried the ball on seven of the 14 plays for 26 yards and caught a seven-yard Madsen pass on another. Next thing you know, Madsen keeps to convert the fourth down, UNLV calls its final timeout with 1:56 left, and Boise State does the math, taking three knee-downs to finish it. “I’m proud of the guys, especially ending that way,” Madsen said. “That was a knockout.”
SACKS ARE THE BRONCOS’ SALVE
There’s plenty of angst every time the Boise State defense takes the field it seems. Then the smoke clears. You see UNLV quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams glide 71 yards to the Broncos three-yard line on the Rebels’ second offensive snap. Then Alexander Teubner sacks Williams on third down, and UNLV settles for a field goal. Yes, the Broncos gave up big plays, but they offset them with sacks—six of them to the Rebels’ zero. And it was Boise State that collected the only turnover, resulting in the play of the night when Andrew Simpson picked off Williams with a minute and a half left in the first half and took it to the UNLV seven. What a time for the Broncos’ second interception of the year. They held the Rebels’ high-flying offense to 367 yards and 24 points. Kind of like the Hawaii game: not all that bad.
BOISE STATE BUMPS BACK UP
After the slobberknocking 29-24 win at UNLV, Boise State is back up to No. 15 in the AP Poll and stays at No. 19 in the Coaches Poll (and it should be pointed out that the Rebels are still receiving votes in both). And while the Broncos’ performance at No. 1 Oregon continues to pay dividends, there’s another resume-builder. Washington State, 7-1 after rallying past San Diego State 29-26 Saturday night, is ranked for the first time this season at No. 22 in both polls. Interesting that the Cougars’ 21-point loss on the blue turf isn’t considered that bad.
THE ESSENCE OF ASHTON
Of the hundreds of articles written on Ashton Jeanty this season, the best has been the in-depth one published in The Athletic by Brian Hamilton last week. It was headlined, “Boise State and Ashton Jeanty: The Cinderella in a steel-toe boot.” That comes from a Marine trying to give Jeanty his prestigious “Achievement Medal.” Hamilton was in town two weeks ago and trailed Jeanty for a day. Too many cool stories to go into here.
But this from Hamilton basically sums everything up: “Ashton Jeanty has outrushed 90 teams so far in 2024. He has created a frenzy that’s spilled far out of the Treasure Valley, and boggling highlights only partly explain why. He is doing things nobody does in this top-heavy and transactional age of college football. He may end up disrupting structures tilted to the power programs, on the field and off of it. Or he may be a blip. A glitch in the system. It’s why no one looks away. They can’t be sure they’ll see anything like this ever again.”
DEGGIE PROPS PILE UP
We’re nine days away from the Boise State men’s basketball season opener, and the spotlight is shining brighter than ever on Tyson Degenhart. The senior star has been tabbed as the No. 41 player in the CBS Sports Top 100. CBS calls Degenhart “a tough matchup for opponents as he's both physical and perimeter-savvy.” I’ll buy that. He’s also part of Jay Bilas’ preseason men’s basketball All-America team at ESPN.com. Degenhart is on Bilas’ fourth-team, but that still makes him one of the top 20 players in the country if you do the math. “Poised to become the Broncos' all-time leading scorer, Degenhart is among the more versatile players in the country,” writes Bilas. He’s 584 points away from breaking Tanoka Beard’s Boise State career record of 1,944 points.
‘ORIGINAL JACK’ SPARKS THE VANDALS
Quarterback Jack Layne made a triumphant return to the Idaho lineup Saturday night, leading the Vandals to a 38-28 win over Eastern Washington. Layne, who was injured in the opener at Oregon, threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns, while Deshaun Buchanan rushed for 118 yards on only eight carries with two touchdowns. Idaho, which rolled up 487 yards of total offense, improved to 6-3 (3-2 in the Big Sky) and—at long last—has a bye week now.
EXPLOSIVES BURN THE YOTES
College of Idaho’s defense was bitten again by the big play bug Saturday, and the Coyotes came away with a 43-29 loss to Frontier Conference leader Carroll College at Simplot Stadium. The Yotes allowed touchdown passes of 93 and 65 yards as their league title hopes—and NAIA Playoff chances—took a hit. Meanwhile, the C of I men’s basketball team fell 80-63 in an exhibition matchup against Wyoming Friday night, but more important was the Yotes’ collaboration with the Cowboys to support the Jae Foundation to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention, particularly for young people.
THE BATTLE-TESTED STEELIES
Maybe the Idaho Steelheads will see the Toledo Walleye sometime in the Kelly Cup Playoffs next spring. The Steelheads were able to take two of three games in their series with Toledo in Idaho Central Arena, but the Walleye challenged them every which way. Last Wednesday, the Steelies were solid, getting 41 saves from Ben Kraws in a 5-2 win. Friday it took overtime for Idaho to rally past Toledo with a goal from former ECHL MVP Hank Crone. And it was the Walleye taking care of business Saturday in a 5-2 decision. The Steelheads travel to face the new Tahoe Knight Monsters for the first time this week, and they’ll be doing it without Kraws, who was recalled Sunday by the AHL’s Texas Stars.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…October 28, 2018:
Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri becomes the leading scorer in NFL history when he boots a 25-yard field goal in a 42-28 win at Oakland. The three points jumped Vinatieri past Hall of Famer Morten Andersen’s record of 2,544. The 45-year-old Vinatieri already held the NFL record for most career field goals. He played in five Super Bowls—four with New England and one with the Colts—and won four of them. Vinatieri connected on two-game winning field goals to win championships for the Patriots, against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl 36 and versus the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 38.
(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.)
