MEMPHIS — Andy Avalos sprinted down the sideline. He wanted a timeout. Needed a timeout. And he got to the official just in the nick of time. The side judge blew his whistle just as Taylen Green snapped the ball.
During Boise State’s 35-32 loss to Memphis (4-1), Avalos wanted to change the call. Change his mind.
On 4th-and-1 from the Memphis 7-yard-line, Avalos didn’t want to take the risk. He called timeout. Kicker Jonah Dalmas got warm on the sideline.
The decision, to that point, was odd. Because Boise State snapped the ball, it was clear the Broncos (2-3) weren’t just trying to get Memphis offsides. They were going for it.
“We called the timeout and by the time the refs in the middle of the field heard the whistle blown, (Taylen) had already snapped the ball,” Avalos said. “We wanted to go for it.”
“We had a certain play called to take advantage of a certain look we were anticipating,” he continued, “and we weren’t able to get that look. The goal there was to absolutely get points on the board.”
Avalos was pressed on that answer. At the time, the Broncos were up by 3. Even with a field goal, the game was still a one-possession difference.
“It’s not that complicated,” he said, as if someone asked him what 2+2 was. “If we get the look we want we go for it on fourth. if we don’t, we kick the field goal. We have a very good field goal kicker.”
The Broncos also have a very good running back. You know, Ashton Jeanty? The guy who racked up 135 all-purpose yards and found the end zone four times? Yeah, him. Also, did Boise State only have one play? Did one Memphis look throw off the Broncos’ entire plan? They couldn’t have just called a different play?
Then catastrophe occurred. Dalmas’ kick was blocked and recovered by Memphis linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku. He sprinted 80 yards into the end zone. Boise State’s momentum was dead. Liberty Stadium had life. And Memphis had a lead.
After Boise State punted from the Tigers’ 38-yard line, Memphis hit what looked like the dagger. Quarterback Seth Henigan reared back and unloaded a Memphis moonshot that landed right in the hands of receiver DemeerBlankumsee. Touchdown Tigers. In about five minutes, a 3-point Boise State lead turned into an 11-point Boise State deficit.
Then, facing disaster, Avalos made another choice. He pulled Green and threw in backup Maddux Madsen. The redshirt freshman had played a bit already on Saturday. Late in the first quarter, Madsen led one drive for the Broncos and, according to Boise State, it had planned for that all week.
“We’ve got two quarterbacks who are very capable,” Avalos said, “and so now finding the mixture of what that looks like, what’s best for our offense and ultimately what’s best for our team is what we’ll decide on as we move forward.”
Asked if there was a quarterback competition, Avalos kept repeating the line: “We’ll look at what’s best for our team and we’ll move forward.”
Madsen’s first drive ended in a punt. It also seemed to light a fire under Green. For the first time all year, Boise State seemingly evened the scales of running and passing.
The Broncos were beating Memphis on the ground — Jeanty scored a pair of touchdowns — and testing the Tigers’ secondary. Heck, even Matt Lauter got in on the action. Yes, a tight end caught a pass! Lauter snatched a ball up the seam and ran for almost 60 yards.
Green led the Broncos on back-to-back touchdown drives and had the Broncos up 17-0 on the Tigers. For a second, it looked like Boise State was headed toward the ultimate college football confidence booster: A blowout.
But the Broncos defense — which has been one of the worst units against the pass this season— kept the game close. Memphis drove 75 yards on four plays. Then 66 yards on eight plays.
That was foreshadowing.
With Boise State needing a miracle midway through the fourth quarter, Madsen almost delivered. This is a guy with ice in his veins. Remember the UCF game? Madsen led a go-ahead touchdown drive that was spoiled when the Knights kicked a field goal as time expired.
In Memphis, he was just as smooth. Madsen hit receiver Billy Bowens over the middle for a 52-yard gain. Then he floated a pass to Jeanty, who bulldozed a defender for his third touchdown of the day. The Broncos got the two-point conversion. Their deficit was just three.
Hope was alive. It rested in the hands of the Boise State defense. One stop and Magic Madsen would have a chance to solidify his argument as the Broncos’ future quarterback.
But, just like when the Broncos could have put the game out of reach at the end of the first half, the defense let them down. Memphis ate up more than six-and-a-half minutes of clock, going 75 yards in 13 plays when Memphis’ tailback Blake Watson, who nearly fumbled, scored.
Making matters more interesting: Madsen led the Broncos on a 7-play, 75-play drive that ended with another Jeanty touchdown. It gave the Boise State a tinge of hope before Mmephis recovered the onside kick.
But the drive did something else, too.
As ESPN announcer Beth Mowins said on the broadcast: “Are we witnessing the arrival of Maddux Madsen?”
The offense looked ok at times and that was encouraging. But our defense continually gives up big plays and long drives at crucial times. The last six minutes of the second quarter were devastating.