Boise State Beats up Oregon

Las Vegas is a city to have fun in. On Saturday afternoon, the Boise State Broncos let everybody know that the Broncos came to Sin City on business.

Coming into this game most people thought that Oregon would walk out of Sam Boyd Stadium with a win. Many people looked at Oregon as the superior team with a better quarterback, a better running game, and just more talented. I talked with a few writers from Oregon who cover the Ducks all the time and they all agreed that Oregon should win easily.

“The team had one of the best weeks of practice I’ve seen in a long time.” Said an Oregon radio personality.

Practice? We are talking about practice?

Don’t get it mixed up, I know how much practice means with football prep, but when you mix in a sudden coaching change that affects a team in more ways than one.

People will make excuses for the Ducks, but in reality if you’re that good of a team, you overcome difficulty to win games.

Oregon came out flat, confused, and never recovered.

On the other hand, Boise State came and punished the Ducks. The rivalry between these two schools has been quite intense at times. Boise State has the feeling that they get slighted by Oregon fans. That creates a bit of a chip on the shoulder of the football players and their fan base. The Broncos

On Saturday afternoon, Boise State made Oregon look like they didn’t belong on the same level as Boise State.

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Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin is a no-nonsense type of coach. He’s young, smart, and he has his football program rolling right now. He’s not afraid to play any Power 5 school. The Broncos play Oklahoma State next year in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Coach Harsin has this confidence about him that rubs off on his players and his coaching staff.

“Any time, anywhere.” Coach Harsin has said in the past when referring to playing Power 5 schools.

Harsin had his quarterback, Brett Rypien, taking shots down field all game. They missed on some, connected on others. However, the Broncos were going to put pressure on the back end of that Oregon defense.

Boise State went down the field on their first possession on a 13 play, 67 yard drive and served notice on Oregon that they were not intimidated by the flashy Oregon program.

It was 7-0 Boise State.

Then Boise State was provided a short field by Oregon and scored in three plays and just like that it was 14-0.

Oregon was going to win the game right?

Boise State could have gone up 21-0 if Rypien didn’t throw an interception in the end zone.

Oregon couldn’t get anything going. At. All.

Justin Herbert, Oregon quarterback, looked confused and had no confidence.

The Boise State defense held Herbert to 43 yards passing in the first half, but more importantly, Boise State intercepted Herbert twice.

Taking advantage of those extra possessions, the Broncos jumped out to a 24-0 lead. It appeared the Broncos were going to run and away from the Ducks and hide.

In the span of 30 seconds, the Ducks scored two defensive touchdowns. It made the score 24-14 heading into halftime.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

If it wasn’t for the Broncos shooting themselves in the foot, the Ducks would have been blown out in the first half.

The Broncos defense was smelling out everything the Ducks were trying to do offensively. It was like Boise State had the Oregon playbook on their sidelines. Boise State was bullying the Ducks all over the field. The Broncos were more physical by far.

Oregon had no answer to the physical play. The Ducks are not a physical team.

Just a little food for thought, Boise State has the possibility that all 11 guys on their defense return for 2018. Let that spin around in your head for a bit.

Boise State imposed their will on Oregon with their physical style of play. It was an impressive showing by Boise State and a very unimpressive showing by the Ducks.

For all of the bravado that the Oregon program puts out their they got their butts handed to them yesterday. Boise State was clearly the better team on Saturday afternoon.

The Broncos showed it, proved it, and let anybody who wants to put them on their out of conference schedule that they may want to reconsider that thought.