Boise State Dominates Western Michigan 32-7 In Playoff Push

Who would’ve thought Boise State would notch its largest margin of victory in a game where everything was on the line …

Well, they did just that, as the orange and blue stormed into Kalamazoo, Michigan, and beat the brakes off the Western Michigan Broncos 32-7, in what was functionally a “win-and-you’re-in” game.

While there are still eight more games left on Boise State’s schedule, this was the one they had to win to have a legitimate argument for a bid in the College Football Playoff (CFP).

Western Michigan, like Boise State, came close to taking down a Power 4 school in Week 1. Since then, both teams have won out on their way to meet each other in a Group of 6 (G6) showdown that would inevitably decide what their futures look like.

What followed was the first true rout of a team that Boise State displayed this year.

Boise State Steamrolls Western Michigan

Since the beginning of the 2026 season, Boise State has had good drives, good quarters and even good halves of football, but no complete games that showed true excellence from start to finish.

Saturday against Western Michigan, that changed, as the Broncos put together a near-flawless performance on the road to cap off the nonconference schedule.

“I think we had a chip on our shoulder after the showing at South Dakota,” junior tight end Matt Wagner said postgame.

The offense had another great day rushing, led by junior running back Dylan Riley, who was without his partner in crime, Sire Gaines, as he was out with a wrist injury from last week.

Riley led the team in rushing, as he has every week, with 138 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore backs Harry Stewart III and Juelz Goff followed the veteran up with a combined seven carries for 11 yards.

What no one expected was fifth-year senior quarterback Maddux Madsen’s contributions to the run game. On top of his 204 yards and three touchdowns through the air, Madsen carried the ball himself four times for 29 yards.

Madsen didn’t have a career day against Western Michigan, but he did have an efficient and deadly showing, as he had multiple intermediate-to-long strikes down the middle and a 70% completion rate.

Matt Wagner was his favorite target of the afternoon. The veteran tight end marks the first player on Boise State’s offense not named Rasean Jones to lead the team in catches and receiving yards.

His seven catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns all go down as career highs.

“Being able to just do my job at the best level possible is always a blessing,” Wagner said postgame. “It could be a 30-yard explosive, it could be a touchdown, it could be a block to seal the edge. No matter what it is, I have a lot of confidence and I have a lot of pride in what I have to do for the team.”

Sixth-year senior receiver Ben Ford also notched a first against Western Michigan, as the lone catch he had for six yards will go down as his first touchdown since recovering from an ACL tear last October against UNLV.

“When you see how a team celebrates with someone who makes a touchdown, that tells you a lot about how much that team loves that young man,” head coach Spencer Danielson said. “They’ve seen what he’s been through. They see him not going through spring ball, but helping out our receivers … so when he gets his play, awesome.”

Boise State Pitches a Shutout vs Western Michigan … Until They Didn’t

On the defensive side of the ball, Boise State posted its best outing of 2026.

Through 59 minutes of play, the Broncos held Western Michigan to zero points; however, the shutout narrowly escaped the Broncos’ grasp. When the team opted to get some second-string players into the mix late in the game, Western Michigan got into the end zone on a short field.

“As a competitor, I’m pi**ed that we didn’t get the shutout, I’ll be the first to [admit that], I mean I was hot,” Danielson said postgame. “But we got really good reps, and those guys needed those and we’re going to count on them at some point in the season, and they’re a part of our team and we gotta grow.”

What’s just as impressive as the seven points the Broncos held Western Michigan to was the defense’s performance on key downs. WMU was 0-for-3 on fourth-down conversions and just 2-for-11 on third down.

“It felt awesome, for real,” senior defensive lineman Mikaio Edward said postgame. “This was a big game, definitely a game that was circled on our schedule all year … It was good to come out here and just shut them out.”

In another first, junior defensive back Roman Tillmon snatched his first interception as a Bronco, marking the first interception by a Boise State player not named Travis Anderson.

What Does It All Mean?

Either in a stroke of luck or pure genius from Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey, Boise State has one of the strongest resumes of any G6 program.

The nonconference schedule for the 2026 Broncos ranks among the toughest in the nation, yet the program comes out the other end 3-1 after their statement win over Western Michigan, which had CFP hopes of their own.

“I think we said a huge statement,” Wagner said postgame. “I think we put together four really good quarters and I think we sent a message when it came to the G6 race.”

With quality wins over Memphis and Western Michigan, and what’s starting to look like a solid loss to Oregon, which just took down then-undefeated USC, Boise State sits firmly in the postseason driver’s seat.

Looking to the future, the Broncos return home to begin their inaugural Pac-12 slate against Utah State. Winning that game, along with the following seven, will earn Boise State an 11-1 record and a conference championship appearance, where the “win-and-you’re-in” stakes will become very real.

“We knew going into this season that this four-game nonconference was going to be tough, it was going to challenge us, and we wanted that,” Danielson said postgame. “In the Pac-12, every week we’re going to play teams that are talented, funded, [well] coached, great fanbases, and we gotta lot of stuff we gotta continue to grow in, going into the Pac.”

Before then, the AP Poll will come out, and I’ll be the first to say, anything less than a “No. 25” next to “Boise State Broncos” after noon Sunday will be shocking.