No. 20 Boise State survives Texas State 46-45 as Max Cutforth throws 3 late TDs after Bobcats' 36-point run

At halftime on the blue turf, this looked like the kind of night Boise State has turned into a habit. The Broncos led 28-3, Maddux Madsen had accounted for three touchdowns, and Texas State's offense had spent most of the half watching.

Then Texas State scored 36 straight points. Then a backup quarterback took over. Then the last six minutes turned into a track meet.

No. 20 Boise State survived Texas State 46-45 on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium, blowing a 25-point lead and winning anyway. Max Cutforth took over at quarterback midway through the fourth quarter and threw three touchdown passes in the final 6:15, the last one with 2:46 left, and Texas State's final chance died on a fourth-down incompletion. Boise State improved to 7-1 and 4-0 in the Pac-12. Texas State fell to 4-4 and 2-2.

A first half that went entirely one way

Boise State owned the first half. The Broncos opened with a 13-play, 83-yard march that ended with Madsen scoring on a 6-yard run, a drive on which a Texas State interception at its own 3 was wiped away by a personal foul.

Three more long drives followed. Dylan Riley, the nation's leading rusher coming in, scored from 5 yards out, Madsen added a 1-yard sneak, and Madsen found freshman Rasean Jones for a 12-yard touchdown with 4 seconds left in the half.

Texas State's lone first-half points came on a 15-play, 6:11 drive that stalled and ended with Jacob Bonilla's 31-yard field goal. For a team that came in averaging 37.1 points per game, according to Field Level Media, it was a strangely quiet half.

The third quarter flip

The comeback started with the defense. On Boise State's first possession of the second half, Madsen was sacked for a 12-yard loss and the Broncos punted. Texas State needed only 1:29 to answer, and Jackson found Chris Dawn Jr. behind the coverage for a 67-yard touchdown. It was 28-10.

Three plays into Boise State's next drive, safety Michael Patterson III punched the ball loose from Harry Stewart III, and Cole Nilles recovered at the Boise State 41. Seven plays later, Jackson hit tight end Ty Stamey from 3 yards out, and Beau Sparks ran in the two-point conversion. Suddenly it was 28-18 with 4:58 left in the third.

The Broncos went three-and-out. Zechariah Sample returned the punt 23 yards to midfield, and four plays later Jackson pulled it down and ran 35 yards for a touchdown. In a span of six and a half minutes of game clock, a 25-point lead had become a field goal: 28-25 with 2:49 left in the quarter.

Texas State takes over

Boise State went three-and-out again, and Texas State went 72 yards in six plays on the drive that straddled the quarter break. A Boise State holding penalty extended it, and Jackson lofted a 44-yard touchdown pass to Sparks with 13:48 remaining. Texas State 32, Boise State 28. The Bobcats had not led all night until that moment.

The next blow came a few minutes later. After a 51-yard Tom Flintoff punt pinned the Broncos deep, Madsen threw from the Boise State 7, and linebacker Jayden Bradley jumped the route, picked it off and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown with 8:58 to play. It was Madsen's first interception of the season, after 189 attempts without one, per Field Level Media.

That made it 39-28, capped a run of 36 unanswered points and looked like the dagger. It was not.

Max Cutforth to the rescue

Boise State refused to go quietly. Max Cutforth took over at quarterback in the middle of the next possession, and the Broncos went 67 yards in eight plays. Cutforth converted a third down with an 11-yard throw to Cam Bates, hit Akeem Wright for 24 yards to the 9 and then found Rasean Jones for a 9-yard touchdown with 6:15 left. The two-point pass failed, and it was 39-34.

Then Boise State's defense gave the backup another chance. With Tucker Cusano in at quarterback for Texas State on third-and-13, Mana Tuioti intercepted the pass and returned it 15 yards to the Texas State 11. The Bobcats held for three downs, but on fourth-and-10, Cutforth threw over the middle to Jones again for an 11-yard touchdown with 4:14 left. The two-point try failed again, but Boise State led 40-39, and the blue turf was loud again.

It stayed loud for about 27 seconds of game clock. Jackson was back at quarterback, and on second down from the Texas State 28, Jackson found Zechariah Sample for a 72-yard touchdown, a two-play, 75-yard answer that put Texas State back in front with 3:47 left. The Bobcats missed their own two-point try, so it was 45-40.

Cutforth answered that, too. Boise State went 75 yards in six plays and exactly one minute, and Cutforth hit Wright for an 18-yard touchdown with 2:46 left. The Broncos missed a third straight two-point try, but they led 46-45.

Texas State had one more chance, starting at its own 25 with one timeout. After an incompletion, Jackson hit Torrance Burgess Jr. for 7 yards, but Boen Phelps broke up a third-down throw to Sparks, leaving fourth-and-3 at the Texas State 32. Jackson's fourth-down pass for Dawn fell incomplete with 1:55 left, and Boise State ran out the clock.

Two quarterbacks, two stories

Jackson finished 23-of-38 for 327 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and added 54 rushing yards and a score. After halftime, Jackson turned nearly every possession into a scoring threat, hitting Dawn deep, Stamey in tight, Sparks down the sideline and Sample on the 72-yard strike, then taking off when Boise State dropped into coverage.

Cutforth was just as sharp in a much smaller window, going 8-of-13 for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Jones caught nine passes for 117 yards and three scores, and Wright finished with eight catches for 116 yards.

Sparks finished with five catches for 63 yards and the touchdown that gave Texas State its first lead, and Dawn had five catches for 71. Burgess, the nation's fourth-leading rusher coming in, was held well under that pace, which made Jackson's second half even more necessary.

The defenses had their moments

Texas State's defense gave up 28 points in the first half and then took over the game. Boise State's first six drives of the second half produced a punt, a lost fumble, three more punts and a pick-six. When it mattered most, though, Boise State's defense delivered: Tuioti's interception set up the go-ahead score, and Boise State held on the final fourth down.

Patterson led the Bobcats with 10 tackles and forced the fumble that started the avalanche. Bradley added nine tackles to go with the interception return.

The numbers that matter

Boise State finished with more first downs and controlled the ball for more than 31 minutes. Texas State won the turnover battle 2-1 and scored 14 points directly off its two takeaways, a 41-yard short field and a pick-six. Riley, who entered with 963 rushing yards, was held to fewer than 80 yards on more than 20 carries. Madsen threw for 236 yards and ran for two scores, but the Broncos' offense went dormant for most of the second half until Cutforth's three late scoring drives. Boise State also failed on all three of its two-point tries and still won. Every snap is in ESPN's box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For Boise State, a win is a win, and this one kept the Broncos unbeaten in Pac-12 play at 7-1 and 4-0. They were the only team outside the power conferences in the AP Top 25 coming in, per Field Level Media, and they stretched their winning streak to seven since the opener at Oregon, following a fourth-quarter pullaway at Washington State a week ago. Next up is a trip to Colorado State on Nov. 7.

For Texas State, this one will sting. The Bobcats fall to 4-4 and 2-2 in their first Pac-12 season, but they also showed they belong near the top of the league after last week's escape against Utah State. They visit Oregon State on Nov. 7.

The last word

Boise State built a 28-3 lead the way it has built leads for years: long drives, a smart quarterback and a back who can break it. Texas State took it apart with 36 straight points. Then a backup quarterback, a forced turnover and three late touchdown passes took it back. The blue turf has rarely seen a night like this one.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, Field Level Media and Texas State Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Texas State Athletics.