BOISE, Idaho — For the first time since 2001, the Boise State Broncos have a losing record five games into the season as they lost to Nevada 41-31 on Saturday.
The loss drops Boise State to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in the Mountain West as they play out of conference next week at 13th ranked BYU for a 1:30 kickoff on ABC.
The Broncos turned it over three times against Nevada, but the backbreaker that the Broncos were never able to recover from happened on the first play from scrimmage in the second half as Hank Bachmeier was sacked and fumbled.
“It’s even the little things, it is not the X’s and O’s, it’s the little things that have become the big things like ball security," said head coach Andy Avalos. "We all know what the standard is and that’s not it, and it starts with me."
Boise State had a difficult time protecting Hank Bachmeier who was sacked six times and when the two miscues on the snap get added in the Bronco's lost 97 yards.
"You know I’m coming up to check the play on a few of those last game and this game," said Bachmeier. "I take pride in communication, I got to get back to the drawing board and make sure I’m communicating with the center on a level he understands so we can be on the same page so it doesn’t happen again."
Because when Boise State wasn't shooting themselves in the foot the offense was very effective, Bachmeier threw for a career-high 388 yards and four touchdowns and the playmakers were making plays.
Anybody need a new wallpaper? 🤯 https://t.co/79oogbuoN0 pic.twitter.com/yFU2QR71wU
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 2, 2021
"We are hurting, Boise State has a lot of proud tradition and history here and we honor it every single day," said Bachmeier. "Obviously and losing back-to-back home games suck and for us it is the small details and it starts today."
The Broncos defense also had a tough day as Nevada was able to move the ball and score 41 points, even though Nevada's 393 yards were only two more than Boise State had the stats in this contest were pretty similar with the turnovers being the big outlier.
"Football is a humbling game this is an extremely tough loss losing on the blue is never acceptable," said linebacker Riley Whimpey. "So it is just getting back to it and reflecting on this game and moving forward so we can come out next week with a chance to respond against a very good BYU team."
Boise State set a record for attendance at Albertsons Stadium with 37,426 fans who were excited for a rare Saturday day game, but in the end, Bronco Nation left disappointed.
