Boise State Broncos vs Nevada Wolf Pack Football Recap

Boise State 30, Nevada 10

No, this wasn’t the 40- or 50-point beatdown that the Bronco Nation hoped for, but at the end of the day, the Boise State Broncos made it through a Saturday with a comfortable victory and a light afternoon of work for a quarterback whose knee must be preserved through the long grind of a full regular season. It’s the entirety of the journey that counts in college football, so even though the boys from Boise didn’t hang an obscenely large number on the Nevada Wolf Pack in an ultimate revenge game, the home team posted a solid win on smurf turf and maintained its place in college football’s pecking order.

Yes, even though quarterback Kellen Moore wasn’t quite as accurate as normal, battling a sore knee, Boise State’s offense was still good—its defense better—on the way to a 30-10 home victory over Nevada on Saturday afternoon.

Moore’s game wasn’t terrible, by any means, going 19-33 for 142 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions, however, which is something unusual for the efficient, accurate quarterback. In fact, in 43 starts, it was only the third time Moore had thrown more than one interception in a game, a testament to Moore’s otherworldly consistency in his hallowed collegiate career. Despite that relative dip in performance from Moore, running back Doug Martin rushed 21 times for 126 yards to help the effort for the Broncos, who still pounded Nevada into submission.

While Boise State’s offense was struggling—to Boise standards, at least—its defense was putting a stopper in Nevada’s pistol. When the first half was over, the Wolf Pack had punted seven times and committed one turnover. In 29 plays, Nevada netted just 45 yards of offense--so to call Boise’s abnormal inefficiency “struggling” would be overkill, in contrast. Despite the two interceptions from Moore that both came in the first half, the Broncos were still in control. Midway through the second quarter, Moore went 4-5 passing and Doug Martin ran four times for 28 yards on a scoring drive that made it 14-0, all the control Boise State would need in the game.

Despite only completing 19 passes, Boise State did have nine different receivers catch passes in the game. Despite being 1-2 before the game, Nevada still had one of the nation’s better run games, but on this day Mike Ball and company were held to 59 rushing yards. Nevada prepares to host rival UNLV next week, while Boise State will travel to Fresno State for a Friday matchup.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer