‘Stay in the fight’: Boise State defense overcomes costly penalty to stifle Air Force

An avoidable penalty midway through the fourth quarter nearly cost the Boise State football team a win against Air Force.

And the Broncos had only themselves to blame.

On fourth-and-4 from their own 34-yard line, with the Falcons were forced to punt, trailing 19-14 with a little over 5 minutes left. The punt went off, but the Broncos were whistled for an illegal substitution penalty for having two players on the field who were both sporting jersey No. 7.

That resulted in a 5-yard penalty and an Air Force first down.

Linebacker Ezekiel Noa wears No. 7, as does wide receiver Latrell Caples. The two normally would not be on the field at the same time, but Caples was in at punt returner for an injured George Holani.

“We didn’t catch two sevens on the field, as far as coaches and players,” Noa said. “... We practiced like that all week.”

The Boise State coaching staff failed to notice until it was too late.

“That is 100% percent on me,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “We’ll make sure that we get that squared away.”

While lucky No. 7 wasn’t initially so lucky, Noa made sure the Broncos got the last laugh. He broke up an Air Force pass on fourth-and-13 from the Boise State 21-yard line to end the drive that resulted from the penalty.

“Our defense, what we’re taught every day is to stay in the fight,” Noa said. “None of us were complaining. What happened, happened, so we always have to stay in the fight on the defensive side.”

Dalmas reaches milestone

Junior kicker Jonah Dalmas connected on four field goals against the Falcons and accounted for 13 of the Broncos’ 19 points.

Dalmas made field goals of 42, 29, 51 and 39 yards, with the 51-yarder tying his career long.

The Rocky Mountain High graduate is now 14-for-16 on field goals this season and has made 47 for his career, which ranks third all-time in program history.

“I call him automatic, because automatically he’s gonna get points on the board,” Boise State edge rusher George Tarlas said. “He’s a sniper ... and today he won the game for us. He was able to maintain that difference towards the end of the game, and that really helped us out.”

Broncos without two linemen

Boise State was without two offensive linemen at Air Force.

Guard Ben Dooley missed his seventh straight game with an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman Mason Randolph started in his place.

Center Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez was also out with an undisclosed injury. Texas Tech transfer Will Farrar started at center for the fourth straight game.

Air Force fullback sets records

Although the Broncos limited the nation’s top rushing team to 175 yards on the ground, Air Force fullback Brad Roberts reached a pair of milestones in the loss.

With 25 carries for 90 yards, Roberts became Air Force’s all-time leader in career yards as a fullback, with 2,726. The total also ranks fifth all-time in career rushing yards for all positions at Air Force.

Roberts’ fourth-quarter touchdown was the 31st of his career — most among Air Force fullbacks — and moved him to sixth on the program’s all-time rushing TD list.

Quick hits

The Broncos wore white jerseys, black pants and black helmets. ... Team captains Scott Matlock and John Ojukwu were joined by nickel Tyreque Jones and right tackle Cade Beresford as game captains. ... Boise State won the coin toss and elected to receive. ... Boise State was led on the field by left guard Garrett Curran, who carried the Dan Paul Hammer. ... Tight end Matt Lauter carried the American flag and edge Demitri Washington carried the Bleed Blue flag. ... Redshirt freshman Eric McAllister’s first career catch covered 44 yards and set up a 51-yard field goal by kicker Jonah Dalmas that gave the Broncos’ a 16-0 lead in the second quarter. ... The Broncos did not allow the Falcons a first down during the first quarter, marking the first time Boise State did not give up a first-quarter first down since Oct. 24, 2014, against BYU. ... The Broncos have outscored their opponents 55-10 in the second half over the last three games.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: KIGAB TAKEN IN G LEAGUE DRAFT

Former Boise State guard Abu Kigab was selected by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants with the 13th overall pick Saturday in the 2022 NBA G League Draft.

A three-year starter for the Broncos, Kigab was a two-time All-Mountain West selection, earning 2022 Mountain West Tournament MVP honors after averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game in Las Vegas.

Kigab started 78 games and scored 1,035 career points, averaging 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a Bronco.

As a fifth-year senior, he led Boise State to a sweep of the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles to earn the highest NCAA Tournament seed in program history.

After graduation, Kigab played for the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League this fall following an appearance for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA 2K23 Summer League.