The Boise State Broncos stormed past the UNLV Rebels 38-21 in the Mountain West Championship at home Friday night, becoming the first team in Mountain West History to win three consecutive conference championships.
This year’s title marks the seventh Boise State has won since joining the Mountain West, the most of any team in the conference. Defeating the Rebels in all three contests of the three-peat, a victory over the team from Sin City is not a rarity for Bronco Nation, who stormed the field as the clock hit triple-zeros.
The Broncos, who started the year ranked No. 25 in the final preseason AP Poll, fell in their season-opener to South Florida, a team they were highly favored to beat. A loss to Notre Dame in South Bend, followed by back-to-back in-conference losses later in the season, dampened the revamped energy Bronco Nation has carried since making a run in the College Football Playoff last season.
Despite a handful of tough losses, Head Coach Spencer Danielson, the rest of the coaching staff and his players’ determination never wavered. The team showcased the resilient blue-collar mentality that has represented the program for decades and been instrumental in their conference-leading seven Mountain West Championships.
“In life, you can be knocked on the mat, you can feel like things aren’t going your way, but when you trust the Lord and you stick with it and link arms like this team did, anything is possible,” Danielson said after the game. “It wasn’t easy. Nothing was given to us, everything was earned, and that’s hats off to our staff and players.”
In his first game back from injury, quarterback Maddux Madsen didn’t miss a beat.
The redshirt junior and heart and soul of the team threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns while also scoring one on foot. Completing 17-of-31 passes, Maddog was named the game’s Offensive MVP. His full-extension dive to the front right pylon of the endzone to score his rushing touchdown seemed symbolic of his eagerness to return to the team and play with the people he loves.
“Just being out there with this group of guys that I love so dearly, to go out and win a conference championship is a huge deal to me,” Madsen said when asked how it felt to win after his month-long absence. “A final staple as we leave [the conference] is a huge deal, and winning back-to-back-to-back is an even cooler feeling. Being able to experience all of this with this place is huge.”
The Broncos were full of life straight out of the gate.
On the first possession of the game, a hard hit from Boen Phelps jarred the ball loose from Rebels receiver Jaden Thomas. Ty Benefield, the game’s leading tackler and Defensive MVP, recovered the ball with one outstretched arm and gave the Broncos possession.
Madsen’s first-quarter rushing touchdown was set up by a 46-yard completion to Chase Penry that put the Broncos in the redzone, a place they found themselves all night long. Penry was the contest’s leading receiver, finishing with 96 yards.
The team’s next two offensive possessions ended with passing touchdowns to Dylan Riley and Cameron Bates, respectively. Bates’ score, which was the first of his career, came on a wide-open corner endzone shot after the Rebels’ coverage was busted and put the Broncos up 21-0.
The Rebels were then led by quarterback Anthony Colandrea down the field in a nine-play, 95-yard drive to cut their deficit to two possessions. However, the Broncos didn’t take long to answer.
Running back Sire Gaines showed shades of Jeanty when he broke countless tackles and bounced off multiple Rebels for a 35-yard gain in the ensuing possession. Madsen then found Malik Sherrod for a 39-yard touchdown reception to put the Broncos up 28-7 with 1:50 left in the half. Almost immediately after, UNLV scored a touchdown with less than a minute to go to make it a 28-14 ball game entering the break.
Two catches that were overturned to incompletions by Latrell Caples, along with crucial tackle-for-losses by Jayden Virgin-Morgan and Max Stege, created a close game for most of the third quarter. A UNLV touchdown late in the third made it a one-possession game, but Sire Gaines found the endzone and Colton Boomer drilled a 50-yard field goal before the Rebels could do anything else to seal the game 38-21.
Sixth-year Malik Sherrod spoke on what it means to be a part of this year’s impactful running back group and help the team win another championship.
“It feels amazing,” Sherrod said. “It’s my first time being a part of a three-headed monster. I feel like we showed that throughout the season, and it was definitely on display tonight as we all found the endzone. I love those boys to death.”
Friday’s win makes Spencer Danielson the second coach in FBS history to win three straight conference titles in his first three title game appearances, the other being current USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley. Additionally, the Broncos have defeated UNLV five times in the last 734 days, the shortest span between five consecutive wins over the same opponent by an FBS team since 1980.
With official bowl selection on Sunday, the Broncos are projected to play Washington in the LA Bowl on Dec. 13 at SoFi Stadium. After a dominant 15-year run and an extra-dominant 2023-2025 three-peat run as members of the Mountain West, the Boise State Broncos seek to cap off their membership with a bowl victory before heading to the Pac-12 in 2026.
