Boise State trounces Nevada 41-3, remains unbeaten in Mountain West play

The Boise State Broncos dominated the Nevada Wolf Pack 41-3 on Saturday night, keeping their unbeaten conference record in-tact. Let’s jump into some immediate takeaways from the game!

1. The Reno Snow Bowl

For an idea:

Plenty of snow, slips, dropped passes and mis-handled snaps in the less-than-ideal football weather on Saturday night! Welcome to the Mountain West in November!

2. Boise State keeps Mountain West title hopes alive

Entering Saturday night undefeated in conference play at 5-0, Boise State didn’t really need much help elsewhere in remaining atop the Mountain Division. But they still needed to beat the Wolf Pack, who were on a seven-game losing streak, to have the best odds. Now it cannot afford to lose to Wyoming, who beat Colorado State by a point (14-13) and a game back in the division (5-1), next weekend.

Grab your popcorn, folks....and every conceivable piece of warm clothing possible!

3. Nevada gashed in the run game

When I previewed this game, the biggest key for Nevada that I alluded to, in order to have any chance at a victory, was for it to stop the run, which they did against San Jose State two weeks ago.

They did not do that.

Boise State, who was third in the conference in rushing heading into Saturday — having averaged north of 200 over the last three games — rushed for 267 yards collectively (!!); George Holani recorded 115 yards on 6,8 yards per carry with a pair of touchdowns, including a 49-yard scamper that was one of the best runs this week; Ashton Jeanty added 9.1 yards per attempt yards per carry on eight carries (73 yards) with one touchdown; Tyler Crowe had 78 rushing yards on eight carries, too.

Boise State’s now 5-0 when they rush for at least 140 rushing yards. Conversely, Nevada’s 0-6 if they allow 140-plus rushing yards — not great!

Dirk Koetter’s offense totaled 528 yards on the evening, compared to Nevada’s 250 yards. Taylen Green played more mistake-free football, completing 11-of-22 for 218 yards and one touchdown, adding 22 yards on the ground with another rushing score of his own.

If you would’ve told Boise fans at the beginning of the season that Boise’s offense would look this crisp, with a quarterback that was a backup before the season, in snowy conditions, they would’ve likely laughed in your face. Now, this offense is humming and Boise is back to where they’ve been in year’s past: Dominating its competition.

4. Pack offensive line struggles in pass protection yet again

On paper, their dormant offense against the Mountain West’s top defense wasn’t a good matchup. The verdict: It tracked.

Nevada surrendered four more sacks on Saturday — making that 13 combined allowed over the last two weeks, the most over any two-game span this season. While that’s a function of not just The Union, the Boise pass generated plenty of pressure all evening.

The ground game was better, especially when the pressure was minimal late in the game. Not including sacks, its tandem of Toa Taua and Devonte Lee combining to rush for 124 yards on 5.4 yards per attempt.

5. Pack have now lost eight straight (in a single season) for the first time since 1964.

Eek! Yikes! As long as they win the last game of the season, all will be well in Reno. But right now? Not so much. At least the men’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start?!?