Washington and Boise State were locked in a defensive stalement for the first 15 minutes of the LA Bowl on Saturday at SoFi Stadium — the last game during the bowl’s short history. Each offense was held to under 60 yards, scoring their only points off of field goals.
But the moment Washington forced an error by the Broncos’ defense, the Huskies called checkmate.
During Washington’s second drive, sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. threw the ball down the middle to Denzel Boston. The receiver turned the catch into a 78-yard touchdown, the first big spark during a 38-10 Washington win over Boise State.
“I was just trying to make sure I made it as catchable as possible, so he can go and score,” Williams said.
The Huskies kept piling on points and limited the Broncos to just three points for most of the matchup.
“They treated the game as we asked them to, which was a championship game, championship opportunity,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said. “As we’re sitting here with nine wins, I’m really proud of our players and tonight was a great football game.
Fisch and Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters directed an attack that held the Boise State offense to three points up until the fourth quarter. The Huskies intercepted the ball five times. Meanwhile, Williams was 15 of 24 passing for 214 yards and four touchdowns.
“When you have an elite quarterback, you have a great opportunity to win a lot of games,” Fisch said of Williams.
Boise State extended its recent futility against Power Four teams, dropping its 10th consecutive game. The Broncos’ last win against a team from a major conference came in 2019 when they defeated Florida State. Their attack was no match for the Huskies’ defense, converting four times on third down and twice on fourth down.
Broncos starting quarterback Maddux Madsen, who has battled injury issues this season, was taken out of the game after the end of the first half.
“I’m just so proud of these seniors,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “[The seniors] are leaving Boise State better than they found it — three straight conference champions. I don’t know how many teams in the country can say that.”
The chances to score did not come often for the Broncos. With an opportunity in the fourth quarter, Boise State’s Max Cutforth threw a pass intended for Chase Penry, who was waiting in the end zone. The ball, however, was intercepted by Washington’s Leroy Bryant.
Boise State’s drought ended when Cutforth threw an eight-yard touchdown pass with 1:18 left in the game.
It was a little too late for any Bronco fans to see it happen.
Williams earned offensive most valuable player honors, while Xe’ree Alexander took the defensive MVP award after recording seven tackles and one interception.
“Defense dominated, we did our job,” Alexander said. “It’s just amazing to win.”
Williams attributed his dominance on the field to being comfortable with his voice as a leader of the team.
“I feel like it’s easy for a team to let one loss affect the next game and for our team, I feel like we had a great mindset this whole year of just bouncing back from adversity,” Williams said.
When Fisch was asked about his interest in the Michigan head football coaching vacancy, he responded: “I’m fully focused on our team. That’s all I would say on that.”
The post Washington snags five picks, pummels Boise State in LA Bowl appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
