3 takeaways from Boise State’s hard-fought victory over New Mexico

Broncos smother Lobos, 41-25

Boise State | Boise State Athletics

Boise State extended its home winning streak to 15 games on Saturday with a 41-25 Mountain West victory over New Mexico.

The Broncos (4-2, 2-0) piled up 397 total yards of offense while limiting the Lobos (3-3, 0-2) to 231 yards, 75 of which came on their final possession. 

Here are three takeaways from Boise State’s decisive MWC victory. 

1. Body blows add up

Despite a relatively anemic offensive performance, New Mexico hung tough with Boise State for three quarters at Albertsons Stadium before the dam finally broke. 

The Lobos returned a kickoff for a touchdown and put together an eight-play, 58-yard TD drive in the second quarter to seize a 14-10 lead. After Boise State went ahead 20-14 early in the third, New Mexico made it back to the red zone with a 10-play drive but settled for a field goal. 

Outside of those two drives and mop-up duty, the Lobos barely had the ball while Boise State controlled the clock. 

The Broncos won the time of possession battle 40:35 to 19:25 and ran 86 plays to New Mexico’s 54. 

Playing with immense energy at the beginning of the game, the Lobos recorded 10 tackles for loss in the first half with four sacks of Maddux Madsen. But the New Mexico defense was gassed by the fourth quarter as Boise State pulled away with three straight touchdowns, including a 25-yard connection between Madsen and Ben Ford on fourth down that made it a 41-17 game. 

Boise State’s persistence paid off as Dylan Riley (18 carries, 101 yards) and Sire Gaines (20 carries, 65 yards, two touchdowns) finally wore down a physical New Mexico defense.

2. Defending on The Blue

Boise State’s defense has risen to another level at Albertsons Stadium this season. 

After holding Eastern Washington and Appalachian State to 14 points apiece with six total turnovers created, the Broncos were back at it against New Mexico. 

Boise State created takeaways on the Lobos’ first two drives and finished the game with three. The Broncos surrendered just 49 yards on the ground and made life miserable on New Mexico starting quarterback Jack Layne, who finished 7 of 17 passing for 115 yards with one TD and two interceptions. 

The defense hasn’t been the same away from home, but Boise State appears to be a defensive juggernaut on The Blue. 

3. Discipline concerns remain

Boise State still has plenty to clean up with UNLV (6-0, 2-0) coming to town next week. 

After going up 10-0 in the second quarter, the Broncos were caught napping in kickoff coverage by New Mexico returner Damon Bankston. Bankston brought the ball out of the end zone, slipped around the left side and outran the coverage unit to the end zone. 

On the Lobos’ next possession, a third-down Jayden Virgin-Morgan unsportsmanlike conduct penalty kept the drive alive. New Mexico went on to score a touchdown to take its only lead of the game. 

The Broncos did reduce their penalty total from last week but were still hurt by seven accepted penalties for 50 yards, including back-to-back false starts on their first drive of the third quarter.

Penalties and special teams miscues will not be as easy to overcome against high-powered UNLV.