Boise State used a dominant fourth quarter and a steady rushing attack to pull away from New Mexico 41–25 on a rainy Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium. The win moved the Broncos to 4–2 overall and 2–0 in Mountain West play while extending their home winning streak to 15 games — tied with Alabama and Michigan for the longest in the nation.
On the first play of the game, linebacker Jayden Virgin-Morgan burst through the line and strip-sacked New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne. It resulted in a fumble, allowing linebacker Marco Notarainni to dive on it and recover the ball, giving Boise State instant momentum.
Boise State got on the board with a 24-yard field goal from Colton Boomer. A few drives later, Sire Gaines powered into the end zone from two yards out to extend the lead to 10-0.
Then, the skies opened up.
Heavy rain began pouring late in the first half, and Boise State’s rhythm on both sides of the ball started to slip. The Lobos immediately capitalized when Damon Bankston returned the following kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown — a game-changing play that flipped the energy in Albertsons Stadium.
New Mexico built off that spark, driving 75 yards and taking the lead on a short touchdown pass to Dorian Thomas, making it 14–10 midway through the second quarter.
But the Broncos regained control before halftime. Quarterback Maddux Madsen, who had one of his sharpest games of the season, engineered a 75-yard drive capped by a six-yard touchdown to Ben Ford, giving Boise State a 17–14 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Danielson leaned on his defense and special teams to steady the game. Colton Boomer knocked through a 50-yard field goal to make it 20–14, and the defense tightened its grip, allowing just a single field goal from the Lobos to keep the score at 20–17 heading to the fourth.
Virgin-Morgan led the charge with 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack and the game-opening fumble recovery. The sophomore said the defense’s growth has come from discipline and trust.
“We were just attacking the ball,” Virgin-Morgan said. “It’s great knowing we’ve got a defense full of guys who can make plays.”
The fourth quarter was all Boise State.
The Broncos opened the frame with a balanced 10-play, 71-yard drive, capped off by Gaines’ second rushing touchdown of the night to extend the lead to 27–17.
“We’ll take four yards, we’ll take five yards, and later those add up,” Gaines said. “Five turns to ten, ten turns to twenty — we just keep going from there.”
The running game wore New Mexico down as the offensive line started to dominate the trenches. Gaines finished with 93 yards on 17 carries, while Ford added 78 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Moments later came the play of the night: a botched field-goal snap that turned into a touchdown. Holder Oscar Doyle picked up the loose ball and threw a 10-yard strike to Troy Grizzle, stunning the crowd and extending the lead to 34–17.
“I’d love to tell you it was designed,” head coach Spencer Danielson said. “It absolutely was not. We fumbled the snap, but we practice that fire drill every Thursday just in case. The guys made a great play.”
Madsen and Ford connected again minutes later for a 25-yard score to cap Boise State’s offensive explosion. New Mexico added a late touchdown and two-point conversion to reach the final 41–25.
New Mexico tacked on a late touchdown and two-point conversion, but the game was well secured by the Broncos, up 16 with 1:16 left in the game.
Boise State finished with 396 total yards of offense and no turnovers, while the defense held the Lobos to just 86 yards rushing and forced one fumble.
Danielson notes the effort illustrated the team’s growth since early in the season.
“We’ve learned through some tough lessons,” he said. “There were a lot of times earlier this year where we’d let adversity carry over. Tonight, we just responded. That’s growth.”
The Broncos will stay at Albertsons Stadium next week to host UNLV, another key conference matchup that will test their momentum heading into the second half of the season.
