‘We didn’t get it done’: Boise State-BYU rivalry ends in heartbreak for Broncos

Boise State defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson is fond of talking about the razor’s edge his unit must live on every week.

“On defense, you can play great for 20 plays and be off on three and give up 21 points, and everyone is like, ‘What’s wrong with the defense?’” Danielson said.

Boise State’s defense toed that edge with expert precision for the better part of three quarters Saturday against BYU, but the Broncos slipped in the fourth quarter — and there was no stopping the bleeding.

To cap off huge nights for both of them, BYU quarterback Jaren Hall lofted a 6-yard pass into the end zone with 1:46 to play and wide receiver Puka Nacua made an acrobatic, twisting catch near the sideline to give the Cougars a 31-28 victory.

It marked only the second time in a series that dates back to 2003 that BYU knocked off the Broncos at Albertsons Stadium. The first was a 51-17 win in 2020 during the COVID-shortened season.

“We made plenty of mistakes, but we were able to overcome them because of our belief and trust in each other,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake, whose team had lost four straight. “It felt good to get a win and get back to our identity.”

Nacua’s TD catch was reviewed and upheld, and the Cougars escaped with a win in the final chapter of the rivalry series. BYU and Boise State don’t have any future games scheduled because the Cougars are adjusting their nonconference schedule before joining the Big 12 next year.

“I have been dreaming about making a catch like that since I was a little kid,” said Nacua, who had 14 catches for 157 yards. “It wasn’t the best look to throw that go ball, but they threw it up to me. It’s my job to go out there and make plays, and I came down with it.”

A game that was 7-7 at halftime turned into a track meet in the second half.

BYU (5-5) took a 17-14 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Nacua in the closing seconds of the third quarter. The fourth quarter featured four lead changes, including Nacua’s game-clinching grab.

“This game came down to more than just one play,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “We didn’t play four quarters of our best football with both sides of the ball clicking.”

Boise State (6-3, 5-0 Mountain West), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, regained the lead early in the fourth with a 12-play, 79-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from running back George Holani.

It was short-lived, though. On the ensuing drive, BYU running back Hinckley Ropati turned a screen pass into a 48-yard touchdown play to put the Cougars up 24-21.

The Broncos needed just four plays to get back into the end zone on their next drive. Quarterback Taylen Green moved the chains with passes to Stefan Cobbs and Eric McAllister, and picked up another first down on a scramble. Holani then had an 11-yard touchdown run, putting Boise State ahead 28-24 with a little more than six minutes to play.

“We saw what we see out of Taylen every day in practice,” Boise State wide receiver Latrell Caples said. “We drove down the field multiple times and ended with scores. We just have to finish at the end.”

BYU had one more scoring drive in it Saturday than did BSU. Hall completed three passes and picked up a first down with his legs before ending the Cougars’ final drive with his go-ahead touchdown pass to Nacua on fourth down.

Hall completed 29-of-42 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two interceptions that killed drives in the first half. He targeted Nacua 19 times, and the junior snagged most of them.

“He’s one of the best players in college football,” Sitake said of Nacua. “He attracts so much attention that it opens things up for everyone else.”

Green had a chance to engineer a game-winning drive when the Broncos got the ball back with 1:46 to play, but a holding penalty set them back and Green’s fourth-down pass to Latrell Caples fell incomplete.

Green completed 17-of-23 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. His first TD pass was a 16-yard strike to Caples in the first quarter, and the second was an arching pass hauled in by McAllister for a 9-yard score, which gave the Broncos a 14-7 lead in the third.

Green, a 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman, didn’t get to be the hero at the end, but he’s going to learn from the experience, Avalos said.

“It’s promising to see him respond and get going and get stronger in the second half,” Avalos said. “Every time he steps on the field, every time he has a new drive, it’s a new experience. He’s going to grow from this.”

‘Can they stop it?’ Boise State redshirt freshman receiver becoming deep-ball threat

Boise State’s defense yielded a lot of yards in a first half dominated by BYU, but kept turning away the Cougars. BYU had a chance to break a 7-7 tie after driving to Boise State’s 24-yard line early in the second quarter, but junior college transfer Deven Wright forced Hall to rush a pass that was intercepted by JL Skinner.

The Cougars had another chance to take a lead into halftime, but the Broncos forced another turnover deep in their own territory. This time, safety Rodney Robinson intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone with 23 seconds left in the half.

BYU had one last chance after Green lost a fumble on the Broncos’ 10-yard line with 14 seconds left. Three plays later, the Cougars faced third-and-goal from the 1 with one second left in the half, and running back Lopini Katoa was stopped short of the goal line by linebacker Ezekiel Noa.

“It gave us a boost getting that stop,” Skinner said.

But it wasn’t quite enough. Skinner said it hurts a little more to lose to BYU than just about any other team, but Avalos said he was quick to remind his team after the game that its goal of winning a Mountain West championship is still very much alive.

“There are no moral victories,” Avalos said. “We set out tonight to protect The Blue. We didn’t get it done, but we can learn a ton from it.”

Boise State jumps back into conference play on the road at Nevada on Saturday (8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network).