ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Boise State expected its receivers to have a big day against New Mexico, and they did.
Brett Rypien threw five touchdown passes - three to Cedrick Wilson and two to Thomas Sperbeck - and No. 19 Boise State overwhelmed New Mexico 49-21 on Friday night.
“We expected a lot of cover zero, man, so we knew if we had the time to throw, we would get open,” he said. “It getting a lot easier for us to see the coverages and what’s coming and the blitzes. And I think our o-line did a great job picking it up.”
The Broncos (5-0, 2-0 Mountain West) scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions. New Mexico (2-3, 1-1) scored on its second possession, and didn’t reach the end zone again until the midway through the fourth quarter.
Rypien was 21 of 28 for 391 yards. Sperbeck had nine receptions for 198 yards and Wilson had nine catches for 167 yards.
Rypien said it was gratifying to have the two receivers complementing each other.
“We got into a rhythm,” Rypien said. “The game plan called for us to make plays. The first four games we relied on Jeremy (McNichols), but we had to step up and we did.”
In the last two seasons, Sperbeck has totaled 29 catches and 479 yards receiving against New Mexico. His performance last season wasn’t enough to prevent the Lobos’ upset, but it was a conference record for yards.
The unexpected loss last season wasn’t much of a motivating factor, but it did make the victory feel a little sweeter, according to Sperbeck.
“It is a little bit of factor,” he said. “It does feel good to get a win against anybody, obviously. But it feels little better since they beat us last year, but you can’t think too much into that. I think we did a great of preparation all week and it showed (Friday).”
It helped that Boise State was stifling New Mexico early.
“When the defense stands its ground like it did (Friday), it takes lot of pressure off the offense,” Sperbeck said. “It allows us to operate more smoothly. There’s not as much pressure to move the ball down the field. We can take the shots we want.”
THE TAKEAWAYS:
Although Boise State downplayed last year’s loss to the Lobos was any kind of motivation, the Broncos certainly played like they meant to put New Mexico in its place.
“A lot of guys didn’t really like how the Lobos celebrated last year so I think it was kind of a chip on our shoulder for last year,” Wilson said. “We played pretty hard.”
This was the first game this season that New Mexico did not have a double-digit lead at some point in the game.
The Lobos came into the game having allowed nine scoring plays of 40 or more yards and Boise State added two more to that total.
UP NEXT
Boise State: Hosts Colorado State on Oct. 15. The Broncos have readily handled the Rams in all five meetings since joining the conference. The closest game was 42-30 in 2013. Coming up, Boise State faces BYU at home Oct. 20 in a nationally televised game that could be the Broncos best chance to make a lasting impression against a name opponent - at least until the regular-season finale Nov. 25 against Air Force.
New Mexico: The Lobos travel to Dallas to face Air Force in the Cotton Bowl. For New Mexico, a loss to the Falcons would effectively end its chances at winning the Mountain Division.
KEY NUMBERS
Boise State had 391 yards passing, 368 of those coming in the first half.
“We could have had more if we cut them loose,” said Broncos coach Bryan Harsin. “This show could have gone on all night.”
New Mexico became the first team this season to top the century mark rushing against the Broncos, totaling 382. Lobos quarterback Lamar Jordan became the first player to rush for 100 yards against Boise State, finishing with 139, but he completed just four passes for 39 yards.
INJURY REPORT
Boise State suffered no injures of note.
New Mexico played the game without leading rusher Teryion Gipson, who injured his hamstring last week against San Jose State. Cornerback Isaiah Brown was lost to a foot injury in the first half. He was replaced by true freshman Elijah Lilly, who Lobos coaches had hoped to redshirt.
LAST WORD
“I tried to just block it out as much as I could and focus on the game,” Rypien said, speaking of losing his grandmother Terry Rypien this week. “Now I can go home and focus on family stuff that I need to focus on. It was hard the first part of the week, but having the team around me and the coaches around me made it lot better.”
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