Boise State Holds Off South Dakota Comeback Bid With Defensive Stand

Boise State maintains its undefeated streak over FCS programs, but did it while posting the tightest margin of victory since 2005.

In case you had to be up early on Sunday morning, here’s a quick breakdown of the game.

South Dakota Almost Stuns Boise State

Saturday night, the Broncos welcomed South Dakota to The Blue and skated by with a 38-24 victory.

Believe it or not, this technically counts as a comeback victory for the Broncos. Twice during the game, the team trailed by seven and only led the Coyotes by more than two scores twice

“Obviously tonight, there’s a lot of stuff we need to clean up,” head coach Spencer Danielson said postgame. “But I do believe we’re building. There’s gonna be a lot of things that have to get fixed, but I do believe we’re building.”

Alec Simeone

To start the game, Boise State looked like they’d popped a melatonin before kickoff.

The mistakes started when senior running back Dylan Riley coughed up the ball in Boise State’s red zone, which led to a one-play drive: a 16 yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Austyn Modrzewski.

Following that, Boise State would trade touchdowns over the course of a couple of drives. Tied at 14, junior defensive back Travis Anderson intercepted a deep ball.

“[Travis] is probably the hardest worker in practice on the team,” senior edge Max Stege said postgame. “Success leaves clues and when you watch [Travis], the way he works every day, it’s no surprise to me that he’s the man of the moment.”

Loren Orr, Getty Images

Anderson, who has the lone interception of the season for the defense single-handedly shifted the momentum of the game. The Bronco offense would go down to score a touchdown, giving them their first lead of the game, 21-14 late into the second quarter.

Once out of halftime, Boise State would extend their lead to 10 at one point, only to let the Coyotes back in to tie it at 24.

What followed was an emotional rollercoaster that kicked off with a muffed punt by junior receiver Cam Bates deep in Boise State territory. 

Alec Simeone

Fortunately for the Broncos, the defense rallied and forced a turnover on downs after a fourth-and-nine pass from Modrzewski fell incomplete.

The very next play, Dylan Riley would make a house call via an 83 yard breakout run to the end zone.

Silver Linings

The light at the end of the tunnel for Boise State, aside from the scrappy win, is redshirt freshman Rasean Jones, who is quickly becoming one of fifth year senior quarterback Maddux Madsen’s favorite targets.

Alec Simeone

On the night, Jones was targeted eight times, had eight catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. Tonight's outing for him and the Broncos marked his first receiving touchdown in a Boise State uniform.

“Yeah I can’t really describe it,” Jones said postgame. “I just got in the end zone, I was just looking up at the fans and it was cool to see kind of everybody supporting and cheering on the Broncos.”

On the defensive side, Travis Anderson is slowly becoming the most, if not the only consistent defensive back in the Boise State secondary.

Against South Dakota, he racked up two more interceptions, taking his season total to three. The final one was a game-sealing pick inside of two minutes.