Listen: I’m not going to belabor this (or this article) but the Broncos just flat out did not play well in the first half. Playing against San Jose State should never be a miserable experience. But there we were.
The Broncos started with a three and out to open the game and, unfortunately, that turned out to be a preview of what was to come for the half. Though the Spartans did also punt away their first possession, the Broncos did not make them pay for it.
The Spartans then proceeded to score on five straight drives. Chevan Cordeiro could do almost no wrong amassing 255 yards passing on 11 of 16 attempts.
Broncos… not quite as good. On the second possession, the Broncos were driving when Ashton Jeanty lost the first of his two fumbles. When the Broncos did eventually get the ball back, Maddux Madsen immediately threw an interception. If he’s going to be ‘the guy’ then we are going to have to be “ok” with a bit of a gunslinger attitude. Broncos finally did score for the first time 13 minutes left in the second quarter.
San Jose State went into the half up 27-14. Not great!
To the Broncos credit, though, they did decide to figure out something during the half time. While the first Bronco possession was a three and out, Boise State was able to score on the next two possessions while keeping SJSU out of the endzone. The Broncos were able to take the lead 28-27 heading into the fourth quarter. (Why it took THIS long is annoying.)
After forcing another SJSU punt the Broncos took some momentum (which included going for it on fourth down), and offensive luck, to stroll down the field to extend their lead 35-27.
The Broncos made this game way more stressful than it had to be but eventually came out on top. Jeanty ended with 167 yards but no touchdowns. Eric McAlister ended with 170 yards receiving and one touchdown.
Hamden called a good game.
Madsen was pretty good.
It’s tough to make up for two fumbles but Jeanty did.
Green was pretty good.
McAlister is top drawer.
Oline was pretty good.
Defense–never mind. Good second half.
I would have to disagree about Hamden calling a good game overall. He did, however, make some really good calls on specific plays, using the QB draw to catch SJSU flat-footed.
He called a game that scored five TDs. Certainly, the two fumbles and the INT weren’t his calls. If (if) those would not have occurred and the D would have been dialed in during the first half, can we imagine three more Bronco TDs and three less San Jose TDs?
5 TD’s against a team that is not good. That’s not calling a good game. For the most part, we were predictable and vanilla on offense. 260 yards rushing, 230 yards passing. That’s not calling a good game.
If a vanilla offense produces 490 yards, I’ll take it. On the other hand, a defense that gives up 430 yards isn’t going to win a lot of games.
When I first read your reply I didn’t have my glasses on. Your first words looked like “STD;s.” What! I said. What has Hamden been making those guys do? Then I put my glasses on. Anyway, what I see is an Oline that really opens holes. I still see drops. I still see balls off-target. Minus those, the O would look anything but vanilla. However, your point is well taken. I don’t think we have to see “statue” or “circus.” We’re not hitting the short to medium-range passes between the hashes. I suspect the reason might be, at least in… Read more »
Hahahaha!! I’ve done the same thing once or a few dozen times! The OL has been opening holes, and it makes me wonder why were aren’t averaging a good 5-6 yards per carry. There were more than a few times Jeanty was caught in the backfield. This is what I mean by vanilla-the defense knew what was coming. Then, there were other times where it seems liked it was a TFL, and Jeanty turned it into a great run. Go figure-that’s football. I would have to agree with your comments on both QB’s. Green can throw that thing a mile,… Read more »
I agree with your comment about predictability. I swear, I can call the plays from my recliner. All and all we’re likely on the same page. Most of Bronco nation can read the stats and we all watch the same plays and results. The conclusions are pretty much the same.
Fun win. Would have rather a blowout. After celebrating the win for a bit, couldn’t help but think that we left this game with about as much uncertainty at the QB position as we entered it with (among many other questions).
Blech. We really stunk up the place during the first half. To not hear the crowd drowning out signal calling from the opponent was very telling. I think they were as shocked as me, and I was a TV fan! We did make some adjustments at halftime, obviously. What I did note is that SJSU did the same against us as they did against AF in the second half-nothing. I think that helped us quite a bit, as opposed to us having brilliant adjustments. I really have no expectations for this team. Having watched this team for years (since my… Read more »
True comparisons from decade to decade are nearly impossible. I, too, remember the Vanilla Prince years, (sounds like a cool name for a singer). Perhaps this might be the Apathetic Andy years. I know he doesn’t feel that way nor do the players but that’s what it almost feels like. This is always the problem when bringing in a coach with little HC experience. It worked in the past so why not now? Some have commented that Andy is a completely different person in front of the team than he is at pressers. However, it seems to me, the results… Read more »
It’s a win! And it was an exciting game to watch. We rallied and got the job done. Having said that…. The defense can’t tackle worth a damn. It has not improved. Easily the worst tackling team I have ever seen on the blue. Avalos is supposed to be a defensive coach. Need to get back to fundamentals. The quarterback swapping in the middle of a series is befuddling. If Madsen can run as effectively as green then why isn’t he starting.?Granted he can’t pull that stanky dead leg juke like green, but they obviously trust him to throw the… Read more »
If the tackling dummies at the Broncos’ practice complex could talk, they’d say, “So far, it has been a good year.”
Tube good example of someone who can’t tackle. He misses half of them.
I tell you 34 misses more tackles than he makes. Not sure why he starts. 31 a better tackler
Also, it looked like our guys were running their mouths a lot. Doing a lot of yapping, even when we were down. I’m not a fan. Let the pads do the talking. After the last play of the game, one of our defensive backs was talking at the San Jose head coach. It’s not necessary and it makes our program look poor. Also it doesn’t even make sense in the context of what happened last night. San Jose was absolutely gouging us, so why are you talking for?
Agreed! I played Lacrosse at the Air Force Academy, and our coach was big on that. He’d tell us to let the other team talk smack-just walk away, run them into the ground and score another goal. At the end of the game, the score would talk. It worked. I see that as more of a classy thing as opposed to smack talk. Then again, I’m from a different generation or two..
My coaches always said everything takes effort and energy; even talking smack and celebrating. The time to celebrate is after the win. And if you talk smack and get smacked, you’re even.
It looked to me as of one of the BSU players was yelling at the sjsu coach after the game as well
I had it recorded and rewinded it a few times. I couldn’t see his face but it really looked like the head coach. And when our player ran back towards our sideline, #8 yelled at him like have you lost your mind?!? So at least someone on our team knows that it wasn’t ok.
One thing I noticed; Green and Madsen seemed to genuinely get along with each other. They smiled and congratulated each other’s success. It was not phony. They were happy for each other. That shows the quality of competitors in the QB room. It says something about Hamden. Sometimes when two guys are competing for reps, it’s like juggling cats and nobody is happy.