SDSU Dominated by No. 15 Boise State, Which Piles Up 541 Yards in 56-24 Win

San Diego State suffered a tough loss last week. This week, the Aztecs never had a chance.

Ashton Jeanty, despite an apparent arm injury, ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns, Maddux Madsen threw for 307 yards and four scores — both career highs — as No. 15 Boise State routed SDSU 56-24 on Friday for its sixth straight victory.

Jeanty, a Heisman Trophy contender, had his eighth straight 100-yard game to break the school record set by Jay Ajayai in 2014. The star running back struggled in the first half with 37 yards on 15 carries before rushing for 112 yards in the third quarter and sitting out the fourth.

Madsen completed 24 of 32 passes without an interception for the Broncos (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West) as they amassed 541 total yards. Danny O’Neil, on the other hand, threw for 155 yards with two TDs and two interceptions.

The Broncos have won three straight against San Diego State (3-5, 2-1 MW) for the first time.

Head coach Sean Lewis called Boise State “a very complete team” – their only loss came against top-ranked Oregon in September – and told San Diego Sports 760 that “once you put yourself in a very significant hole, that’s going to be hard to overcome.”

And indeed, that’s what the Aztecs did.

Boise State scored on its first two possessions and O’Neil sent an errant pass that Bronco A’Marion McCoy returned 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

With the interception, the Broncos scored two touchdowns in under 10 seconds. They made it three straight possessions with a TD midway through the second.

SDSU got on the board after O’Neil, on third and long sent, a ball up the middle to Jordan Napier to get into the red zone. The Aztecs would settle for a 27-yard field goal from Gabriel Plascencia to make it 28-3. 

After Boise State’s first punt of the game, SDSU got the ball back on their own 35-yard line. Marquez Cooper broke into Bronco territory with a 45-yard run and the Aztecs had back-to-back first downs with a reception by Scripps Ranch High alum Mekhi Shaw.

Cooper finished the drive with a six-yard run and spin for the score, leaving the Aztecs trailing 28-10.

But Boise State would add another TD to lead 35-10 at the half. They shut out SDSU after the break, while adding a TD to go up 42-10. Napier and Shaw, each with 30-yard receptions, added TDs in the 4th quarter, but the Broncos still went on to win by 32 points.

Latrell Caples led Boise State in receiving with 90 yards and three TDs on six catches. Cooper had 94 yards and a TD on 16 carries for San Diego State.

Despite a disappointing start to the season, the Aztecs still have an opportunity to become bowl eligible.

They return home at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 to host New Mexico. The Lobos (3-5, 2-2 MW) face Wyoming (1-7, 1-3 MW) Saturday.