Boise, Idaho – No. 20 Boise State (7-1, 4-0) dominated Texas State in the first half to a 28-3 lead. Surprisingly, the TXST Bobcats (4-4,2-2) came back and outscored the Broncos in the third, 22-0. Eventually they led, 39-28, in the fourth after a 20-yard interception return by S Jayden Bradley. On Boise State’s next possession, starting QB Maddux Madsen (24 for 33, 236 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) completed a 22-yard pass. However, he left the game after a hard tackle, helped gimping slowly off the field. He never returned. Seen on crutches later with an ice pack on his left knee. Game over for Boise? A lot of drenched Bronco fans thought so as they headed for the exits. They missed an unbelievable finish they will regret.
7-0, with a six-yard TD in the first period.
Rainy start for our historical, epic game
When we found out that Texas State would visit Boise State this season for a “new “PAC-12” contest, we made phone call. Having a connection for several years with Texas State, even my wife, “Saint Laurie,” who basically just tolerates me going to games, and seldom wants to attend, said that she’d love to see a game on the “blue field.” Well, a Boise home game and a game in Idaho remained on the Collegefootballfan.com priority list. So, away we went.
And after a nice, late pregame lunch with both existing and new Texas State fans (Mark, Rachel, Monica and Seth) at 10-Barrel Brewing in downtown Boise, we headed out prepared for rain, dry gear on and in hand. Good thing! With an 8 pm Mountain Time kickoff, as we entered Albertsons Stadium for the first time, the rains came down hard. No turning back even for Saint Laurie. The venue marked our 102nd FBS Stadium (of 138) attended. Idaho became our 44th state (including Washington, D.C.) amongst our college football travels.
Boise doesn’t skip a beat with Cutforth at QB
Enter junior back-up Max Cutforth who subbed for Madsen after an injury last season. The Broncos lost that first game when he came in against Fresno State. He started the next game in Madsen’s place against San Diego State. The Broncos fell again. After that, he led them to three straight wins in the regular season. Tonight, he entered more prepared. Boise found new life and outscored the Bobcats for a 46-45 Pac12 win in the first meeting ever between these two.
Cutforth ended the night with three touchdown passes in the final seven minutes remaining. He finished brilliantly connecting on 8 of 13 passes for 131 yards and three TDs. The last came with 2:40 to play on an 18-yard pass to Akeem Wright on the right side of the end zone.
Boise Bronco domination at the start
Guest game Analyst Kent Pope (avid Texas State alum and season-ticket holder with his wife Karen we’ve known for several years) feared that Madsen would dominate the Bobcat defense. He understands that TXST HC GJ Kinne relies on his wide-open offensive style. Kinne figures they can outscore anyone no matter how many points an opponent puts on the board. Didn’t look that way in the first half. It started in a downpour and then drizzled and fizzled by the second. In the first half, Boise State scored TDs on all four possessions.
In the first period, Madsen topped off an 83-yard drive with six-yard run. To start the second, Bronco workhorse RB Dylan Riley (25 carries for 88 yards, 1 TD) capped another 83-yard drive with a five-yard score up the middle. Texas State finally moved the ball 62 yards to yield a Jacob Bonilla FG, good from 31 yards to trail, 14-3. From the 25, BSU continued to churn out the yardage ending with Madsen taking in with a one-yard plunge following a 30-yard pass to TE Keawe Brown. On their final possession of the half, Boise drove 77 yards to the TXST 12. There, Madsen connected with WR Rasean Jones (9 catches, 117 yards, 3 TDs) with :04 left.
Time for a strategic change?
So much for Kinne’s strategy to just outscore whoever they played at this point. Aside from the field goal drive, the Broncos punted three times. In those drives, they totaled only 27 yards on 11 plays. On the other hand, Boise State gained 318 yards on their four possessions in the first half. For the Bobcats, a botched fumble recovery of a punt recovered out of bounds and an interference call on an INT by the Bobcats put crimps in early opportunities to challenge. Flags flew early against the Cats in some key situations. They just didn’t seem up for today’s challenge against the PAC-12 pre-season favorite.
When I asked Kent if he thought the Bobcats‘low-scoring, 20-17, win against Utah State the week before indicated they looked ahead to this game, he responded, “No.” He said Utah State’s defense has improved much under former BYU/Virginia HC Bronco Mendenhall. He came out of retirement in 2025. In his second year at Logan, the Aggie defense looks very tough. Look out for this program to improve even more with Mendenhall as their Head Coach in the near future.
Speaking of Quarterbacks
At halftime, Boise State honored former QB Kellen Moore (2008-2011), now HC of the New Orleans Saints. Visiting Boise on his team’s bye week, Boise unveiled a new statue to honor him at halftime. Moore holds the NCAA career record of most wins by an FBS quarterback with 50 wins. Happy to say that we experienced a game of Moore’s 50-3 Boise State Bronco history. On September 6, 2010, we attended Boise’s 33-30 win over Virginia Tech at FEDEX Field in Landover, Maryland. Just goes to show if you do this as long as we have, you get to acknowledge that you witnessed historical moments of college football that become a great moment that can be celebrated!
Bobcats bounce back in Third
Boise got the ball to open the second half based on their deferral to continue their scoring deluge on the field as the rain subsided. However, TXST came up with a 12-yard sack of Madsen by DT Tymere Jackson. It forced a Bronco punt. For the rest of the third, Texas State dominated. QB Brad Jackson (23 for 38, 327 yards, 4 TDs) led primarily through the air. He connected with WR Chris Dawn for a 67-yard TD. On Boise’s next series, the Bobcats caused RB Harry Stewart to fumble. LB Chris Niles recovered at the BSU 41. Driving to the three, Jackson tossed a three-yard TD to TE Ty Stamey. Jackson followed with a two-point conversion to Beau Sparks to trail now, 28-18.
Next, the Bobcat’s D held Boise to one yard to force a punt. On TXST’s next series, Jackson burst through a hole. He raced 35 yards to close the third period score, 28-25. Jackson had come into this game second to Torrance Burgess in Bobcat rushing. However, he didn’t seem to figure intentionally in today’s running game. He did, however, run for 54 of the Cats’ 102 yards on the ground.
Bad news, good news for Boise State
Early in the final period, the Bobcats finished off a 72-yard drive as Jackson connected with Sparks on a 44-yard TD pass to take the lead for the first time, 32-28. On Boise’s next possession, Madsen fired a pass over the middle. S Jayden Bradley stepped in front of it. He returned the ball 20 yards for a Texas State score to lengthen their lead, 39-28. Among the 34,429 announced in attendance, but not all there due to the weather, many Boise fans started to file out of Albertsons Stadium. With 6:15 left to play, Madsen was escorted slowly off the field with Boise’s hopes fading. Back-up Max Cutforth stepped in.
Boise Broncos off to Races
Cutforth completed four straight passes bringing the Broncos to Texas State’s nine. There, he hit Jones with a down and out pass. He headed into the end zone for the score to keep BSU in the game. A two-point attempt failed. Score now, 39-34, TXST started from its 25. On a third and 12 from their 22, Kinne called for trickery that backfired. Jackson lateraled to WR Tucker Cusano who looked to throw an option pass. He seemed to have a loose grip as the ball slipped out, and it ended up in the hands of LB Mana Tuioti. He returned it to the Bobcat 11. The Cats held Boise to no yards, but on fourth down HC Spencer Danileson knew his team needed a touchdown. Cutforth fired it to Jones who caught it just before stepping out of the back of the end zone. The Broncos took the lead, 40-39, with 4:14 left.
Bobcats and Broncos continue to Battle
On the second play of Texas State’s next possession, Jackson hit Zechariah Sample on a crossing pattern from the left. He hauled it in over the middle, then broke up along the right sideline. He outraced the Boise secondary all the way for a 72-yard TD. Up 45-40, they went for two but failed. With 3:47 remaining, Boise went right to work.
Cutforth completed a 44-yard strike to Jones. On third and ten, he threw short left to Akeem Wright (8 catches for 116 yards, 1 TD). He went 13 yards to the TXST 18. From there, Cutforth fired to Wright in the end zone to go back up, 46-45. The two-point conversion came up empty. On the Bobcats’ next series, they came up with a fourth and three from their 32. Jaden Mickey broke up the pass to Chris Dawn. Texas State turned to ball over on downs. With 1:55 left, the Cats used up their time-outs. Boise State went into victory formation. It turned out to be an exciting, topsy-turvy game. Big late plays by both teams, a successful, heroic injury substitution, and two teams playing hard right to the end.
A positive perspective from the Texas State side
Even Kent summarized, “If you had told me that we would have been ahead of Boise in the second half 39-28, I would never have believed it. Especially after being down 28-3 in the first half.” Still disappointed, he was amazed that his Bobcats made it this close following his team all the way up from Houston. Texas State gave Boise all they could handle in the second half. I suggested that GJ Kinne must know somebody in his long career as NFL QB and college coach who could really shore up his Bobcat defense to support his high-scoring offense.
Unlike the many Boise fans who left, the much smaller contingent of Texas State Bobcat fans stayed right up until the bitter end. The second half featured many chants of “Eat ‘em up! Eat ‘em up! Go Cats! Go!” Couldn’t beat this game for all the excitement. Even for Saint Laurie, who gladly came to see “the blue field,” and stayed up way past her bedtime in a game played in the rain to start! Amazing what that blue field can do. Definitely a memorable game in Boise. Glad to get together with Kent and Karen again. Maybe more TXST, PAC-12 games with them again in the future.
Key games for all involved coming up in Week 10
Boise heads to face Colorado State (3-5, 1-3). We will venture to see CSU visit Washington State in two weeks under first-year and former UConn HC Jim Mora. Maddux Madsen’s injury status of his left knee was confirmed to be not long term by his HC Spencer Danielson. His status for CSU is pending, but Max Cutforth appears to be readily available to step in if needed. Texas State has another top PAC-12 team coming up, surprising Oregon State (5-3,3-1). Kent and Karen are already on their way to that one while in the Pacific Northwest. The Beavers under new HC JaMarcus Shephard have come a long way since we watched them fall to California in their opener last season, 34-15.
As for Collegefootballfan.com – No. 8 Kentucky at No. 16 Tennessee!
For the first time since relocating to Tennessee five years ago, we finally get to see the Tennessee Vols at Neyland Stadium. It’s hard to get tickets to any UT game based on the ticket prices. We got ours early and against Kentucky at a price that fit into our budget. The Vols have just dominated the Wildcats over the years. Ticket demand started low. Well, things have changed this season. Kentucky comes in ranked No. 8 against the No. 16 Vols. Under new, first-year ever HC Will Stein, former OC at Oregon, Kentuck is 7-1, 5-1, good for first place in the SEC. Tennessee falls behind in the SEC standings (6-2, 4-2).
The Vols have fallen to Texas and at improving South Carolina in their last game two weeks ago, 27-24. They defeated Alabama, 26-10, at home the game before. The Wildcats lost early to Alabama, 45-17. Since then, they woke up. They’ve beaten Texas A&M, South Carolina,35-34, Kiffin’s LSU,35-34, Oklahoma and Vandy. This should be a good one, too. Again, close and possibly high scoring. We like them all that way.
More reasons to tailgate!
As a matter of fact, St. Laurie is joining us for the second week in a row. Probably her last game this season among record of five for her. Even though she only tailgated at Auburn’s upset over Georgia, not attending the actual game. This week, our tailgate includes a party with Mike Pirrello and family whose daughter Taylor is graduating from Tennessee this year. He invited us to Purdue in 2022 for his other daughter Julia’s senior year when the Boilermakers fell to PSU. Also, we are joining a great friend and work colleague from years past, Mary Jean Shannon with husband Bruce and kids, who bleed Orange from their years supporting UT. Looks to be another great game and tailgate party weekend in Knoxville!
Read more fun history of many games attended our first 42 Seasons!
If you haven’t already, please click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 753 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person. In 2026, in case you aren’t aware, North Dakota State and Sacramento State join the FBS this season. “Fifty Years” tells our story of how we got to attend our first 652 games!
Read the reviews on the book page and order your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023. Hopefully, you’ll understand how much we love this sport and what we propose for it to survive successfully. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.
Capture some memories
Please buy your copy today and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe some will bring back some of the same memories you encountered when we did. And to us this isn’t a job. It’s our lifelong adventure!
Written and edited by Steve Koreivo, member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of tailgate Tales: The Good, the fun and the Ugly.
