Boise State Football: 3 takeaways from overtime win over Wyoming

2. George Holani and the running game disappeared

Boise State suddenly saw its running game fade away against Wyoming a week after seeing it return in full force against San Jose State. The Broncos were unable to get much of anything going consistently in their ground game, and that was a big reason why they struggled to put away Wyoming at home on the Smurf Turf.

Especially surprising was the vanishing performance of George Holani. Picking up the slack after Robert Mahone was injured, Holani stepped up and made noise in recent weeks. Against BYU he ran for 97 yards in the loss. Last week against San Jose State, the freshman racked up 126 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

He came nowhere near that level of production against a tough Wyoming front seven. Holani received 11 handoffs and managed to gain just 30 yards for his troubles. The back also caught five passes out of the backfield for 31 yards. Boise State survived for the win, but it was hardly an inspiring effort from the lead back.

Nobody else in the backfield picked up the slack. A wide receiver led the team in rushing, and the offense finished with 91 combined yards rushing on 33 carries. Holani’s shutdown was a big part of Wyoming’s game plan as they looked to force Chase Cord to beat them with his arm. The plan almost worked, until the errant kick in overtime ended the upset dream.