Blowouts on The Blue: Boise State bashes San Diego State for another convincing home win

Dominance probably is not a strong enough word.

From quarterback Maddux Madsen’s career night to star running back Ashton Jeanty’s big second half, from cornerback A’Marion McCoy’s pick-six to the defense’s smothering of San Diego State’s offense, everything came up roses back on The Blue for Boise State on Friday night.

The Broncos bolted to a 28-0 lead, amassed more than 500 yards of offense, and scored touchdowns on seven of nine drives to pummel the Aztecs 56-24 at Albertsons Stadium.

One week after squeaking out a win at UNLV, No. 15 Boise State (7-1, 4-0) maintained its place atop the Mountain West standings by handing San Diego State (3-5, 2-1) its first conference loss in convincing fashion.

The Broncos have been unstoppable at home this season, going 4-0 and winning by an average of about 31 points per game. Their lowest point total on the friendly blue turf of Lyle Smith Field is 45 against Washington State.

As would be expected, SDSU’s defense zeroed in on controlling Jeanty, just as UNLV did last week, and did a good job of it in the first half. Jeanty then rushed for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns in the second half. By that point, Madsen had made sure it didn’t even matter.

The redshirt sophomore QB set career highs in yardage and TDs, and finished the game 24-of-32 for 307 yards and four scores — all of those coming in the first two quarters as he picked apart a San Diego State defense that could not seem to find Boise State’s receivers to cover them.

“That was Maddux Madsen’s best game as a Bronco, absolutely meticulous,” head coach Spencer Danielson said.

Senior wideout Latrell Caples caught three of those TD passes (14, 18 and 19 yards) and had his best game of the season, with six receptions for 90 yards. Cam Camper had four catches for 50 yards, and Prince Strachan had four grabs for 49 yards and the other score.

Danielson called Caples “an elite route runner” who’s “going to continue to grow and improve.”

“We can put Latrell anywhere in the route tree,” Danielson said.

Jeanty averaged 2.5 yards per carry in the first half and had only 37 yards rushing, but he finished with 149 yards on 31 carries, including a 35-yard run in the second half. The nation’s leading rusher now has 1,525 yards and has scored 21 touchdowns, 20 of those coming on the ground, including a pair from 4 yards out Friday night.

Backup QB Malachi Nelson came in for Madsen in the fourth quarter and led a 75-yard scoring drive, accounting for the final score. It all added up to 541 yards of offense for the Broncos, who had four scoring drives of 75 yards and one that covered 90. They had 33 first downs to only 12 for the Aztecs, who were held to 256 total yards — with 129 of those coming on two meaningless fourth-quarter scoring drives.

San Diego State coach Sean Lewis talked about the concerted effort on Jeanty — and what risks came with that.

“We did a great job of where we wanted to put multiple hats in the box early on, and they have a lot of offensive weapons,” Lewis said. “I know Ashton Jeanty gets the lion’s share of the ink, and rightfully so with his ability. But because of his strength and the number of hats that you commit, it opens you up and exposes you to other aspects, like their throwing game.”

A run-first team with a back averaging over 100 yards per game, SDSU decided to start the game passing frequently, and it could not have gone worse. Quarterback Danny O’Neil threw a pair of interceptions, one of which A’Marion McCoy returned for a touchdown; was pressured often and sacked three times by the defense that leads the nation in that category; and finished 14-of-30 for 155 yards.

O’Neil did find Jordan Napier for a 40-yard play that set up a field goal in the first half, and threw two fourth-quarter TDs. On a drive in the first half when the Aztecs finally decided to utilize running back Marquez Cooper, he broke off a 42-yard run that set up his own 6-yard score. Cooper finished with 94 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Boise State is back home next weekend to play Nevada on Saturday. The kickoff time for that game will be announced Sunday or Monday. On Tuesday the Broncos will find out where they stand in the College Football Playoff committee’s first rankings of the season.