Boise State Football: Takeaways from Mountain West title loss to Fresno State
By Zach Bigalke
3. Fresno State played championship defense to win Mountain West
Yes, Alexander Mattison went over 200 rushing yards against the Bulldogs. And the Broncos managed to force overtime against Fresno State. But ultimately the MWC West winners came out on top of the game thanks to a defense that held Brett Rypien largely unable to dominate them through the air.
They also did a great job of forcing the Broncos to go for field goals when they needed touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Haden Hoggarth’s first attempt in regulation was blocked, and he scored on his second try in overtime from just 23 yards out as the Bulldogs prevented a touchdown in the extra period.
Everything keyed off the defense in the inclement conditions, as they kept a strong Boise State offense largely in check and unable to do much damage from their yardage gains. That afforded Fresno State the opportunity to punch in the winning score on their drive in overtime.
Next. A brief history of the conference championship game. dark
Now Marcus McMaryion, the former Pac-12 quarterback, will get to play one more opponent from his former league as Fresno State earned the Las Vegas Bowl berth as Mountain West champion. Boise State likely missed its last chance to get a Power Five opponent this season after UCF closed out the American Athletic Conference title earlier on Saturday.