Coming off a good-sized win against Memphis, the Broncos came into this week with a sweet new helmet and an FCS opponent. While it is easy to overlook an FCS opponent, South Dakota IS good and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
So the Broncos wouldn’t do that here, would they?
Well…. after spotting the Coyotes two separate leads, the Broncos capitalized on a Travis Anderson interception to take their first lead of the whole game in the second quarter.
Maddux Madsen had a decent first half going 10-16 with two TD passes. Rasean Jones showed why he’s a true freshman starting for the Broncos: he’s good. Jones caught five of Madsen’s completions for 68 yards and a touchdown. This Jones kid is going places (hopefully it’s back to the Broncos locker room to stay hydrated).
On the Broncos’ second series of the game, Dylan Riley fumbled the ball for a Coyotes recovery (and subsequent score). He got put in timeout for a bit so Sire Gaines could put some work in. That series did end with a turnover on downs so, you know, not exactly stellar.
The Broncos did end the half with three-straight touchdown series to go in the half with the 21-14 lead and receiving the ball to start the third quarter.
The second half really didn’t help the Broncos all that much as the Coyotes kept hanging around. A Canaan Moore 38-yard field goal did put the Broncos up 24-14, the Coyotes answered with a three-play strike to get back within 3 and pull back to 24-21. It took another Bronco turnover on downs for South Dakota to march down the field to knot it up 24-24.
Dylan Riley scored to put the Broncos back up 31-24. And the Broncos defense held the Coyotes to a punt. However a pretty egregious muff by Cam Bates gave the ball back to South Dakota in dangerous Bronco territory. The defense held, however, and forced a turnover on downs.
The next possession saw Dylan Riley call ‘game’ and house an 83-yard touchdown run to officially ice the game 38-24. Way too close for comfort.
Maddux Madsen ended the game 22-31, 208 yards and two touchdowns.
Rasean Jones had eight catches, 95 yards, and a touchdown.
Dylan Riley had 198 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns.
Next week the Broncos face Western Michigan in Kalamazoo.
Go Broncos.
That was really a terrible game. A “win is a win,” but man I’ve never felt so bad with a W. A few random thoughts: Our pass defense is atrocious. Our pass rush is almost non-existent through 3 games, and this is part of the big reason why QBs look like Joe Montana against us … they’ve got ALL DAY to let a receiver get open. JVM and Sire hurt (thank goodness Carreon was back in the game after a scare). Special Teams is starting to fester toward hot garbage again. I guess they/we just flush it and move on.… Read more »
I wonder if they watched any game film last week? Holy cow! This was really bad. Is SD a good team? Yep. They are nowhere near as good as we made them look. On the positive side first, our run defense was really stout. 36 yards says it all. Dylan Riley had another terrific game (despite the uncharacteristic fumble), especially with that run at the end. 2 yards shy of back-to-back 200 yard games is quite a feat. Rasean Jones is the real deal. Sire Gaines runs hard. Now for the rest. Maddux Madsen is still playing to his potential.… Read more »
I understand going for it on fourth down and not taking the FG since they needed to build up a lead but after not making once, doing it a second time was an absolute head scratcher. I guess we’re just going to have to get used to the defense especially the secondary giving up big plays every game. I was incredibly excited after Riley finally got a big play for our team to finish off the game. Not sure my heart can handle too many games like this…
This was South Dakota’s Super Bowl. They had this one circled for a while and it was their shot to make the case for an FBS jump. Saying we played terrible and that’s the only reason they won is disrespectful to them. That’s the same bullspit other teams say when we beat them. They showed up to play. We did not and we pulled it out. Having said that, I agree that we have some major holes. If anyone watched Oregon State play, their game plan is “everyone go deep” and that QB can sling it. They will be a… Read more »