RENO, Nev. – Snowy conditions didn’t bother the Boise State football team Saturday night at Nevada.
In fact it fired them up.
The Broncos embraced the wintry conditions and heavy snow, starting fast and not looking back in a dominant 41-3 win over Nevada at Mackay Stadium in Reno.
“I loved it,” defensive tackle Scott Matlock said. “I was having a blast out there. … That was a football game. It’s snowing, we’re slipping everywhere, it’s cold. You’re just out there with your brothers and your family and having a good time. It was kind of like backyard ball in a way. It was fun.”
Boise State racked up 528 yards of offense and 41 points – one of its best offensive games of the season – despite blizzard-like conditions for most of the game. Snow began falling about an hour before kickoff and didn’t stop until after halftime. Numerous times stadium workers had to try and clear off the yard lines on timeouts and at halftime.
The Boise State defense fed off the conditions as well against a subpar Wolf Pack offense, limiting them to just 250 yards and three points in a strong bounceback game after struggling against BYU.
“The guys certainly enjoyed playing in the snow,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “They were excited about it. We know in this conference when you go play on the road certain places in November there’s a good possibility you’re going to play in some weather, and we trained all the way back in January, 6:30 in the morning outside in pretty cold conditions when the field was frozen over to get ourselves ready for when these things come up.”
Boise State took a 7-0 lead on a 31-yard pass from Green to Billy Bowens just 2:09 into the game. The Broncos pushed it to 14-0 when Green scored on a 9-yard run with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
George Holani’s 49-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter extended the Boise State lead to 21-0, and the lead was 21-3 at the half after Nevada connected on a 26-yard field goal late in the half.
“It was really cool to see the way the guys started fast,” Avalos said.
Jonah Dalmas made it 24-3 with a 35-yard field goal with 10:34 left in the third quarter, and a Holani 9-yard run with 5:44 left in the quarter extended the Boise State lead to 31-3.
Ashton Jeanty scored on a 6-yard run, and Dalmas connected from 31 yards out to make it 41-3 early in the fourth quarter.
Green finished 11 of 22 for 218 yards and a touchdown, while Holani rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Boise State is back on the road and could face rough weather again Saturday when they visit Wyoming for a 5 p.m. kick off on CBS Sports Network. After starting 2-2, the Broncos can now clinch a spot in the Mountain West title game with a win over the Cowboys.
This is one of the funnest teams I’ve ever been around,” Avalos said.
Complete postgame coverage from Bronco Nation News is below…