How Boise State's rally against Wyoming saved its CFP chances

Entering the game as a 22.5-point favorite, Boise State went into the fourth quarter needing to find some kind of spark after a first half where they were badly outplayed by 2-8 Wyoming and a third quarter where their offense simply didn't click.

Tied 10-10 at halftime, the 12th-ranked Broncos had been outgained in the first half 214-179. Outside of a 61-yard first-quarter touchdown run, Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty had been bottled up for just 42 on his other nine carries by a Wyoming defense that was 10th out of the Mountain West Conference's 12 teams in rushing yards allowed per game.

However, with Wyoming ahead 13-10 and 9:03 left in the game, Jeanty returned from a third-quarter injury to post 53 of his game-high 169 rushing yards to propel Boise State to a 17-13 win that kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

After totaling 275 yards of offense through the game's first three quarters, Boise State pieced together an eight-play, 75-yard drive that would prove to be the difference. Of those 75 yards, 71 came on the ground as Jeanty and Jambres Dubar proved to be a lethal one-two combination, with Dubar scoring from two yards out with 5:02 remaining.

"We executed our plays. We didn't have any self-inflicted wounds," said Boise State WR Latrell Caples, who hauled in three catches for 51 yards. "I feel like that was the story of the whole game. We would get a good play and go back. Being able to go forward the whole drive, that's how we wanted to operate the whole game."

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said it was his team's mindset that finally allowed the offense to click on the game-winning drive.

"Stay in the fight. Stay in the moment," Danielson said about his message to his team on Saturday night. "If we had 50 points on the board and 600 yards offense prior to that, it doesn't matter. What we do next is all that matters. One play at a time. Learn from the past. Learn from some things they've done to attack us. And I think (Wyoming) had a really good plan, but our guys stayed true to what we want to do."

What Boise State wants to do is run the ball and force defenders to try to contain Jeanty, who went over the 2,000-yard mark on the season with his 169-yard performance on Saturday. 

"With (Jeanty) being able to come out there (after his injury), we were able to execute our blocking assignments much better," Caples said. "I mean, it's Ashton Jeanty. When he has the ball, we know he's going to do something incredible with it every time. To have him come back in there and finish off that drive and help us score was really huge."

Boise State's defense also clamped down in the fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on downs and then forcing an incomplete pass on Wyoming to finish off the Cowboys' final chances for the upset.

"We have a great, resilient defense," Caples said. "I see it with our defense. They're getting better and they get better throughout the game too."

It took a drive when it mattered most coupled with a defense that allowed just three second-half points for Boise State to escape Laramie with a win that proved to be their closest of the season so far.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.