Boise State Broncos vs San Jose State Spartans Match Player Stats On Dec 19, 2020

Nick Starkel threw three touchdown passes and set a conference title game record with 453 passing yards to lead No. 24 San Jose State to a 34-20 victory over Boise State on Saturday in the Mountain West championship game at Las Vegas.

Tre Walker caught seven passes for 137 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans (7-0), who prevailed in the program's first-ever championship game appearance. Isaiah Hamilton and Derrick Deese Jr. also caught touchdown passes from Starkel, who completed 32 of 52 passes and surpassed the conference title-game record of 404 yards set by former Fresno State star Derek Carr in 2013.

Matt Mercurio kicked four goals as San Jose State opened a season with seven straight wins for the first time since the school's 1939 squad went unbeaten in 13 contests. The victory also marks San Jose State's first win over the Broncos (5-2) in 15 all-time meetings.

Boise State's Avery Williams returned a punt 69 yards for a score to match the FBS career return touchdowns record of nine that was held by Washington's Dante Pettis.

Hank Bachmeier rushed for a touchdown and completed 20 of 41 passes for 221 yards for the Broncos.

San Jose State's domination included a 498-233 edge in total offense. The Spartans held the Broncos to 12 rushing yards and received two sacks from Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Cade Hall.

Boise State trailed 19-6 late in the third quarter when Williams fielded a punt near the right sideline, maneuvered to his left and then jetted up field. He cruised down the sideline with only punter Elijah Fischer to beat and he dove toward the end zone with the ball scraping the pylon for a touchdown that brought the Broncos within 19-13 with 2:48 remaining in the period.

San Jose State answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive in which Starkel threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Hamilton and a two-point conversion toss to Sam Olson to make it 27-13 with 14:17 left in the game.

Bachmeier scored on a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal to pull Boise State within 27-20 with 10:51 left. The Spartans boosted their lead back to 14 when Starkel threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Deese with 3:48 remaining en route to finishing off perhaps the biggest win in school history.

Mercurio kicked all four of his field goals in the second quarter to help the Spartans take a 19-6 lead.

San Jose State struck first when Walker caught a short pass from Starkel and eluded Boise State safety JL Skinner and raced down the left sideline for a 55-yard touchdown with 8:36 left in the opening stanza.

Jonah Dalmas booted a 51-yard field goal with 3:31 left in the quarter. Mercurio connected from 24, 36, 26 and 32 yards to give the Spartans a 19-3 advantage before Dalmas kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

--Field Level Media