Nevada welcomed a familiar rival into town in Boise State. Nationally televised game, the 2025 Nevada Hall of Fame class in attendance, and homecoming weekend.
All things to hype Wolf Pack fans up, and
for most of this game, it looked like Nevada had a fair shot of taking down the Broncos. But the offense couldn’t provide answers, and with a five turnover night, it ended in a sour 24-3 loss.
Nevada now has the most turnovers in the nation with 21.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter:
3:53: 40-yard FG by Joe McFadden
Boise State 0 – Nevada 3
2nd Quarter:
13:13: 22-yard FG by Colton Boomer
Boise State 3 – Nevada 3
1:35: Sire Gaines 1-yard TD run (Colton Boomer PAT)
Boise State 10 – Nevada 3
3rd Quarter:
1:41: Maddux Madsen 1-yard TD run (Colton Boomer PAT
Boise State 17 – Nevada 3
4th Quarter:
3:09: Dylan Riley 1-yard TD run (Colton Boomer PAT)
Boise State 24 – Nevada 3
Final: Boise State 24, Nevada 3
Offense
It only took three plays for the first interception to be thrown. Carter Jones was looking for wideout Marcus Bellon up the middle and was snatched in the air by A’Marion McCoy. It was McCoy’s fourth interception on the season and gave Boise State the ball at midfield.
Nevada’s second drive lasted much longer, going 12 plays for 57 yards, but it ended in a 40-yard field goal, which got the Pack on the board first.
Nevada was making a good stride in the second quarter, but Jones threw another interception on a deep ball to give Boise State the ball back at its own 13-yard line.
With eight minutes to go, Nevada faced a fourth and long and lined up for a field goal. Backup QB AJ Bianco was the placekicker as the Pack ran a fake and it failed horribly. The play didn’t move a yard and the Broncos got the ball back, keeping it tied 3-3.
“We were going to go for it no matter what,” head coach Jeff Choate said. “Whether we were going to leave the offense on the field or we were going to fake the field goal because we weren’t going to leave any bullets in the gun. There’s things that you have to do when you’re playing an opponent like that, that you have to maybe take a few more chances and take a few more risks.”
It was a tight first half as Nevada trailed 10-3. The Wolf Pack led the time of possession category with 15:19. Jones had 104 passing yards and two picks in the first half, finishing the game going 16-39 with 144 yards.
Jones has flashed his accuracy potential, but he wasn’t as on point as normal, especially in the second half. Nevada’s play calling also included several deep throws on third down that Jones struggled to put in his receivers’ hands.
One of those deep balls came at the 11:27 mark, as Jones targeted Dakota Thomas in the end zone, and it was picked off by Broncos cornerback Jeremiah Earby. It was the Jones’ third interception of the night and was yet another scoring opportunity thrown away by Nevada’s offense.
Choate described what he saw wrong with Jones’ three picks, admitting there were some bad throws, but it’s a growing process with a freshman quarterback.
“The first one, there’s a little bit of wind at the beginning of the game, obviously, and, he’s [Jones] got to do a better job of driving the ball into the wind a little bit,” Choate said. “And the second one, candidly, I feel like our receiver should have stacked. He threw the ball where it should have been thrown on a deep ball should be, faded to the sideline and out outside. And we’ve got to do a better job of stacking on that. And, you know, from there, that was the last one. He just under threw it. We knew we were going to have to try to stretch the field vertically on these guys. And so you’ve got to call those plays and and try to push the ball down the field a little bit.”
Nevada’s offense ended the night with 247 total yards and five turnovers. The run game was more involved than it’s been in the past few weeks, with Herschel Turner leading the game with 77 yards on seven carries.
Defense
After the first drive interception, Boise State picked up a few first downs before being forced into fourth down.
Boise State came a few yards away from scoring the first touchdown of the game at the beginning of the second quarter, but three straight runs were stuffed by Nevada’s defense. The Broncos settled for a field goal and the game went to a 3-3 tie early in the second quarter.
The second interception was once again wiped away by Nevada’s defense, pulling away with a three-and-out and keeping the ballgame tied early in the second quarter.
It seems like every time Nevada gave the ball away on offense, the defense had a quick answer. After the fake field goal attempt, Broncos QB Maddux Madsen threw a pass that was intercepted by Bishop Turner and kept Nevada in Boise State territory.
Boise State got down to the goal line again, and while Nevada had another chance to stop, an unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Broncos an easy path for the first touchdown of the game at the 1:35 minute mark of the first half.
Nevada managed to get another stop in the early third quarter, but a muffed catch on the punt attempt gave Boise State the ball back within Nevada’s five-yard line.
“That showed competitive character,” Choate said about his defense’s performance, specifically at the goal line. “I think what we’re asking these guys to do is not easy. For them to show up the way they do every week and prepare and continue to believe, play for each other, play with class and character, I think that’s all you can ask from a group of kids.”
Nevada’s goal-line defense was a brick wall for as long as it could hold. With Boise State inside the five after the muffed punt, Nevada’s defense pushed it to another fourth down. Unfortunately for Nevada, the defense got a stop on fourth down, but an offsides penalty gave the Broncos another shot at the end zone, ending in a QB keeper by Madsen to make it 17-3.
Boise State used a 15-play, 80-yard drive to wear down Nevada’s defense late in the fourth quarter. It ended in a Dylan Riley touchdown, pushing the score to 24-3.
What’s Next
Nevada will get another bye week before heading back on the road to face Utah State on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Aggies are hanging in the middle of the conference, pushing for bowl contention.
Kick-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST.
