The Sports Xchange
Oct 25, 2015
BOISE, Idaho -- Boise State bounced back from an ugly loss to beat Wyoming 34-14 on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium for its 18th straight home win.
The Broncos improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West. With Utah State's loss on Friday, the Broncos are tied for the Mountain Division lead and only need one more Aggies loss to regain control of their destiny in the conference race. Utah State beat Boise State last week.
The Broncos featured sophomore tailback Jeremy McNichols from start to finish. McNichols, who missed the Utah State game after a helmet-to-helmet hit the week before, set career highs with 33 carries and 166 rushing yards. He added seven catches for 36 yards and scored two touchdowns -- giving him 16 touchdowns this season, which is second most in the nation.
True freshman quarterback Brett Rypien, who committed five turnovers against Utah State, was back to the crisp form he showed in his previous starts. He completed 22 of 28 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover.
Rypien's favorite target, as he has been all season, was junior wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck, who made six catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Sperbeck set up another touchdown with a juggling, one-handed catch as he went out of bounds.
Wyoming's two touchdowns were the first offensive scores allowed by the Broncos at home this year. Tailback Brian Hill rushed for 76 yards, topping 1,000 for the year, but quarterback Cameron Coffman left the game with an injury.
Coffman had been the Mountain West's top-rated passer. Rypien might take over that spot next week.