No. 17 Boise State outlasts Oregon State 46-41 to wrap up host spot in Pac-12 title game

BOISE, Idaho — Rasean Jones caught 11 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 17 Boise State outlast Oregon State 46-41 on Saturday night and wrap up the host spot in the Pac-12 championship game Dec. 4.

“That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from a receiver in the 10 years I’ve been here,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “Every catch was needed, every yard was needed.”

Maddux Madsen, who missed the previous game with an injury, was 23 of 32 for a career-best 371 yards and four touchdowns to help the Broncos (9-1, 6-0 Pac-12, No. 24 CFP) win their ninth straight game.

“It was great to have ‘Mad Dog’ back,” Jones said. “I think we were running on all cylinders with him out there.”

The victory

capped off a long day for some Boise State fans who camped out overnight for a visit from ESPN’s “College Gameday.” It also further cements the Broncos as the favorites for the Group of Six spot in the College Football Playoff.

“We got to find ways to keep getting better, find ways to go 1-0,” Danielson said. “They don’t give out trophies for regular season champs.”

Jones had his third consecutive 100-yard game, gaining a career-best 134 yards in the first half alone. He had the fifth-best game receiving total in Boise State history.

“It kind of felt like a video game out there, like I was living in it, not just playing it,” said Jones, who grew up in Baker City, Oregon.

On his last touchdown catch, a 26-yarder from Madsen on a fourth-and-2 with 6:25 remaining, Jones took a quick out and broke a tackle, straddled the sideline, hurdled a defender and broke a pair of tackles crossing into the end zone. It left Madsen holding his hands to his head as he went to the sideline.

“His exact words were ‘what did I just see?’” Danielson said. “I don’t think I even answered the question … the young man has earned and deserved it. The sky’s the limit for him.”

The matchup featured two of the top freshmen pass-catchers in the nation, Jones and the Beavers’ Jesse Legree. Entering the game as the leader in yards receiving and receiving touchdowns in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Legree had 12 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown for the Beavers (5-5, 3-3), who have lost three straight.

“Big games usually come down to a couple plays,” Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard said. “Had a few of those plays been a little bit different, maybe we would have had a different outcome, but we didn’t.”

Oregon State’s Maalik Murphy, stepping in for injured starter Braden Atkinson, completed 31 of 39 passes for 396 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Travis Anderson returned the interception 58 yards for a touchdown with 1:47 left in the first quarter, breaking a 7-7 tie.

“I mean, that’s the dream, getting a pick-six,” said Anderson, who had his fourth interception of the season and first touchdown.

Boise State led the rest of the way, with Jones’ 9-yard run to get a first down with 1:48 left allowing the Broncos to kneel it out.

Dylan Riley, entering the game as the nation’s leader in yards rushing, tied a season low with 50 yards rushing on 14 carries for Boise State.

“I felt like our team did a really good job of severely limiting one of the top rushing offenses in college football,” Shephard said. “We tried to force all the production down a funnel. Unfortunately, it was tough to really contain the funnel we tried to force it down.”

Up next

Oregon State: At Utah State on Saturday

Boise State: Host San Diego State on Saturday.