Boise State at New Mexico

The Sports Xchange

November 14, 2018 at 6:27 pm.

GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Friday, 9 p.m. ET
SITE: Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, N.M.
TV: CBS Sports Network
SERIES: Boise State leads New Mexico 8-1. The Broncos won 28-14 last season.
RANKINGS: Boise State No. 25

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Broncos

–RB Alexander Mattison, a junior, came alive in the second half, when he ran for 91 yards and two scores to lead the Broncos back from a 17-3 deficit in the win over Fresno State. He finished with a career-high 30 carries for a season-high 144 yards and is on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. He’s at 870 yards, to go with 12 rushing TDs.

–QB Brett Rypien is first among active FBS players in career passing yards (12,924) and is in no danger of being caught from behind, as the next guy on the list (Washington senior Jake Browning) has 11,347 yards. Rypien has 20 career games with 300 passing yards, tied for the most in Mountain West history with former BYU QB Max Hall.

–DE Curtis Weaver doesn’t usually start, but it doesn’t matter. Coming off a fabulous redshirt freshman season, he has continued to be a terror off the edge, leading the Mountain West with 8.5 sacks. Weaver has one of the best motors in the country as a pass rusher.

Lobos

–QB Coltin Gerhart started for the second time this season last week against Air Force, but that position is still up in the air. Three quarterbacks have started at least two games for the Lobos, with Gerhart and Sherion Jones (five starts) seeming to be the most likely for playing time this week. New Mexico, with new offensive coordinator Calvin Magee (a Rich Rodriguez disciple), has moved away from heavy use of the option offense in favor of a Rodriguez-like zone-read spread attack.

–RG Aaron Jenkins, a senior and team captain, is close to wrapping up his standout career. He has allowed one sack and one hurry in 691 snaps this season. On Friday night, he will set the school career record for games played with 51 and most starts (50). It helped that he played in two games as a true freshman in 2014 before receiving a medical redshirt.

–P Tyson Dyer, a 26-year old sophomore from Australia, has more than capably replaced Corey Bojorquez, who was the Buffalo Bills starting punter before going on IR this season. Dyer got off a school-record 84-yard punt last week at Air Force and is averaging 44.7 yards per punt to lead the Mountain West. He has six punts of at least 60 yards.

KEYS
TO THE GAME

A week ago, Boise State senior quarterback Brett Rypien spoke hopefully about a “storybook ending” to the No. 25 Broncos’ season.

With one giant slain, the possibility remains.

Rypien set Mountain West career records for passing yards and pass completions in Boise State’s 24-17 home victory over then-No. 23 Fresno State last Friday, the opener of a three-game stretch critical to the Broncos’ chances of repeating as the Mountain West Mountain division champion.

Next up, New Mexico.

Boise State (8-2, 5-1) will take a five-game winning streak into a meeting against New Mexico (4-7, 1-5) on Friday night, and a victory would assure the Broncos of winner-take-all game for the division title at home against No. 23 Utah State (9-1, 6-0) next week, regardless of the Aggies’ result at Colorado State on Saturday.

“We all know what our goal is,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “We want to play in that championship game.

“It’s time to finish the season. Every year you have to find a way to win your division. A lot of work goes into where we are right now. It’s a chance to finish it (and) finish it right. It starts at New Mexico.”

Boise State has won two of the five championship games since the league went to a two-division format in 2013, and the Broncos had to overcome a 17-3 third-quarter deficit to beat Fresno State in the first do-or-die game last week.

No one played a bigger role than Rypien, who had 269 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception and rushed for 30 yards. His 49-yard touchdown pass to freshman Khalil Shakir with 9:22 remaining in the fourth quarter broke a tie at 17.

“He stepped up and guys are barreling down on him,” Harsin said. “He was able to deliver a perfect ball in that situation. You think about all that going on, and you can deliver a perfect throw like that in a tight ball game, that’s a lot of hard work.”

Rypien passed former San Diego State quarterback Ryan Lindley’s league record for career passing yards with a 41-yard completion on the first play of the San Diego State game and has 12,924 yards. Rypien, whose father, Mark, was a long-time NFL player, has 981 completions.

Halfback Alex Mattison rushed for a season-high 144 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries last week and has 870 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing this season. He has 369 yards rushing and five touchdowns in the last three games, when he also has caught eight passes for 55 yards.

“The running game, it takes everyone to go out there and do it,” Harsin said. “I thought he elevated his game.”

Wide receivers Sean Modster and A.J. Richardson have been Rypien’s primary targets, combining for 94 receptions, 1,442 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Despite the five-game winning streak following early losses to Oklahoma State and San Diego State, Harsin did not want to go there when asked if his team has hit its stride.

“Some teams are doing that right now, the really good teams,” he said. “We just haven’t had that. There are some simple things we can execute better.”

A home loss to New Mexico in 2015 helped derail the Broncos’ chances of winning the division that season, a defeat Harsin said “still stings” and can serve as motivation for this week.

The Lobos have lost five straight since beating UNLV 50-14 in the conference opener and have had trouble with the cream of the conference, losing 38-7 to Fresno State and 61-19 to Utah State. Air Force had 623 yards total offense, 478 rushing, in a 42-24 victory last week.

The Lobos have given up an average of 482 yards a game this season, ranked 119th of the 129 FBS schools, although the defense has been opportunistic the last two weeks while recovering three fumbles and returned one for a touchdown in each.

“At some point, something good has to happen for us,” coach Bob Davie told reporters. “We just have to continue to accept the challenge and fight to get better, and just win a game.”

Boise State has averaged 43.0 points and undefeated in four games at New Mexico, scoring 60 points in 2014 and 49 in 2016.