The No. 20 Boise State Broncos beat the Texas State Bobcats 46-45 on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium. Max Cutforth's 3 fourth-quarter touchdown passes decided it, the last an 18-yarder to Akeem Wright with 2:40 left.
Boise State nearly gave this one away. After trailing by four touchdowns to a field goal at the half, Texas State answered with 4 offensive touchdowns and an interception return for a score to take a two-score lead.
How It Happened
Maddux Madsen opened the scoring with a 6-yard run late in the first quarter. Dylan Riley added a 5-yard run early in the second, and Jacob Bonilla's 31-yard field goal got Texas State on the board.
Boise State then put the half away. Madsen scored from 1 yard out, and with 4 seconds left he hit Rasean Jones for a 12-yard touchdown.
The third quarter belonged to Brad Jackson. He found Chris Dawn Jr. for 67 yards, hit Ty Stamey from 3 yards out with Beau Sparks running in the two-point try, and then ran 35 yards for a score. Boise State's lead was down to a field goal.
Jackson's 44-yard strike to Sparks gave Texas State the lead early in the fourth. At 8:58, Jayden Bradley returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown to stretch it to two scores.
Cutforth answered. He hit Jones for 9 yards and then 11 yards, and Boise State was back in front by a point despite missing both two-point tries. Jackson came right back with a 72-yard touchdown to Zechariah Sample, but Texas State's two-point pass failed.
That miss mattered. It meant Boise State needed only a touchdown to go ahead, and Cutforth delivered it to Wright. A third straight failed two-point try left the margin at 1, and Boise State held on.
Key Performers
Boise State Broncos
Max Cutforth: 3 fourth-quarter TD passes (9, 11 and 18 YDS)
Maddux Madsen: 2 rushing TD (6 and 1 YDS), 1 TD pass (12 YDS)
Rasean Jones: 3 receiving TD (12, 9 and 11 YDS)
Team passing: 32-46, 367 YDS
Team rushing: 40 ATT, 117 YDS
Texas State Bobcats
Brad Jackson: 4 TD passes (67, 3, 44 and 72 YDS), 35-yard TD run
Jayden Bradley: 20-yard interception return TD
Team passing: 23-39, 327 YDS
Team rushing: 24 ATT, 102 YDS
What It Means
Boise State controlled the clock and the chains and still nearly lost. The Broncos held the ball for about 37 minutes, piled up 29 first downs to Texas State's 16, and went 3-for-3 on fourth down.
The problem was the other side of the ball. Texas State averaged more than 8 yards per pass and hit touchdowns of 44, 67 and 72 yards through the air. Boise State's ground game didn't help close it out, managing under 3 yards per carry on 40 attempts.
The Broncos move to 7-1 and stay perfect at home at 4-0. For a ranked team hosting an unranked visitor, a one-point escape is a warning sign about the pass defense, but the record stays intact.
Texas State falls to 4-4, and the road split is now stark: 4-1 at home, 0-3 away. The Bobcats had the lead in the final minutes here, and only Boise State's last touchdown kept them from their first road win.