Boise State loses final game of the season to No. 21 San Diego State 27-16

Boise State football
Photo by Corissa Campbell

In the final game of the season, Boise State football lost to No. 21 San Diego State 27-16 on Friday, Nov. 26 in Carson, California.

Boise State had a chance to make it into the Mountain West Championship game prior to this loss, only needing to beat San Diego State and for Air Force to lose to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to get in.

This loss ends all of the Broncos’ hopes to make it to the Mountain West Championship and secures a spot for Utah State and San Diego State.

“This season has molded us for the good,” said head coach Andy Avalos when asked about the Broncos’ tough season. “We’ve been through it this year, we have battled. Obviously, it did not go the way we wanted it to go today, but we won’t let that stop us from growing what we have.”


With this, their final game of the season, Boise State’s final record is 5-3 in their conference and 7-5 overall. 

After carrying over the momentum from their four-game winning streak, the Broncos silenced the Aztecs at the beginning of the game.

Boise State football
[Photo from the Boise State home football game against the New Mexico Lobos on Nov. 20]
Photo by Corissa Campbell | The Arbiter

Boise State scored off of a 20-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Hank Bachmeier to redshirt senior tight end Kurt Rafdal, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier to senior receiver Khalil Shakir, and a 22-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Jonah Dalmas.

These scores put the Broncos up 16-3, but the momentum quickly shifted in favor of the Aztecs from that point forward.

After leading by 13 points, Boise State had gone scoreless for the rest of the game and allowed San Diego State to outscore them 24-0.

“We just could not execute,” Shakir said when asked about the Broncos’ second-half performance. “We could not execute and do our jobs. Ultimately, it comes down to us as players to go out there and do our job. We were able to put 16 points on the board fast, but we just couldn’t execute and finish the game.”

Although the season is over, Boise State has one more game because they are bowl eligible this year. 

“We will digest this loss and see what we need to fix going forward, knowing that we have another opportunity to finish this season,” said fifth-year defensive back Kekaula Kaniho

All bowl game selections will be announced on Dec. 5.

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