Boise State Football: Takeaways from Mountain West title loss to Fresno State
By Zach Bigalke
Down at halftime to Fresno State in the Mountain West championship, Boise State football rallied to force overtime before succumbing in the extra period.
Meeting for the fourth time in the past two seasons, Milk Can rivals Boise State and Fresno State matched up at Albertsons Stadium on Saturday night to battle for the Mountain West title. With snow blanketing the Smurf Turf in Boise, the Bulldogs came out ahead in a first half dominated by defense. Jeff Tedford‘s team went to the visitor’s locker room at halftime with a slim 10-7 lead despite finishing the first two quarters with five fewer first downs and 41 fewer yards.
After the half, Fresno State kept things going from the opening drive of the third quarter. The game turned into a defensive struggle marked by shifts in field position and the work of the kickers and running backs. In the end, the MWC West champs avenged last year’s title-game loss to the Broncos with a 19-16 overtime victory on the road on Saturday night.
With the win, the Bulldogs earned a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl to face off against a Pac-12 opponent this bowl season. With the loss at home, Boise State is left to wait and see where they fall in the Mountain West bowl pecking order on Selection Saturday.
What can we take away from the showdown in the snow for the Mountain West title on Saturday night? Here are three things we learned from the Boise State’s loss at home against their interdivisional rival as they failed to successfully defend their 2017 MWC crown.