Washington Huskies vs Boise State Broncos Match Player Stats On Sep 04, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 5, 2015

BOISE, Idaho -- The No. 23 Boise State Broncos snuck past former coach and the Washington Huskies 16-13 on Friday night at Albertsons Stadium.

The Broncos secured their 10th straight win with a dominant first half (16-0 lead) that was enough to overcome a lackluster second half, which included a missed 47-yard field goal by Huskies kicker Cameron Van Winkle with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game.

The game was hyped as the return of coach Chris Petersen, who won two Fiesta Bowls in eight seasons as the Broncos head coach. Forty-nine current Boise State players were on the roster under Petersen.

Both teams struggled to throw the ball with new quarterbacks: sophomore Ryan Finley for Boise State and true freshman Jake Browning for Washington.

Boise State took a 6-0 lead with a 16-play, 92-yard drive on its second possession of the game. Sophomore tailback Jeremy McNichols, making his first career start, ran for 16 yards to give the Broncos some room to work and added 11 yards on a swing pass on third-and-10. Senior tailback Kelsey Young, a Stanford transfer, kept the drive alive with a 23-yard reception on third-and-3 near midfield. The Huskies missed him coming out of the backfield and he was wide open. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Finley, also making his first start, scrambled for 4 yards on fourth-and-2 at the Washington 25. McNichols converted another third down one play before he ran wide right for a 7-yard touchdown.

The Broncos expanded their lead to 13-0 with 10:26 left in the first half. Junior tailback Devan Demas gained 13 yards on second-and-12 after losing 2 yards and a shoe on the previous play. That sparked a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by McNichols' 1-yard scoring run.

Boise State squandered opportunities to blow the game open after that. Senior safety Darian Thompson intercepted Browning to give the Broncos the ball on the Washington 24, but McNichols was stopped on fourth-and-1. Finley threw an interception in Huskies territory on the next possession and on the final drive of the half the Broncos appeared to mismanage the clock. They settled for Tyler Rausa's 24-yard field goal on second down.

Boise State running backs accounted for 181 of the 254 yards in the first half. Washington only gained 56 yards.

The Broncos' offense went to sleep as they came out of the halftime break and the Huskies got back into the game with special teams.

Van Winkle kicked a 40-yard field goal after a short punt and good return set the Huskies up in scoring position and sophomore wide receiver Dante Pettis returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-10 with 1:37 left in the quarter.

The Broncos had just one first down on their first three possessions of the half.

Washington snuck within 16-13 in the fourth quarter. That field goal was set up by a blocked punt.

NOTES: Boise State held four players out of the game for unannounced reasons: WR Rick Smith, OL Travis Averill, WR D.J. Dean and CB Raymond Ford. Averill was a starter last year. ... Boise State redshirt freshman TE Chase Blakley tore an Achilles tendon in practice this week. ... Washington announced true freshman Jake Browning as its starting quarterback about a half-hour before the game. ... Washington coach Chris Petersen and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin didn't meet at midfield before the game. Harsin is Petersen's former offensive coordinator at Boise State.