UTSA Stuns No. 1 Boise State 17-14 With Four First-Half Interceptions, Advances To Semifinals

Kyle Craig, The Stateline Gazette

BOISE, Idaho — The unbeaten juggernaut is out.

No. 8 seed UTSA intercepted Stateline Elite Heisman Trophy winner Maddux Madsen four times in the first half and held on for a 17-14 upset of No. 1 Boise State on Saturday night, delivering the biggest shock of the league’s postseason.

Boise State’s 8-0 regular season ended on its home field. UTSA moves on to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 4 Toledo and No. 5 UNLV.

“Turnovers decide playoff games,” UTSA coach Mark Hammerstone said. “We didn’t panic after they scored first. We just kept taking the ball away and giving ourselves chances. Our defense won us that game.”

Boise struck first, taking a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter. But Madsen, who entered the night as the league’s most decorated player, was intercepted four times before halftime as UTSA flipped the momentum and built a 14-7 lead at the break.

The Roadrunners added a fourth-quarter field goal to push the margin to 17-7 before Boise answered with a late touchdown to pull within three. UTSA’s defense preserved the lead from there.

Madsen finished 13 of 20 for 207 yards and two touchdowns but was undone by the interceptions. He added 38 rushing yards on four carries. Boise managed 282 total yards and ran just nine times for 75 yards, never fully establishing offensive rhythm.

“Can’t win ’em all,” Boise coach Devin Grade said. “We had a special regular season. But when you turn it over four times in a half, against a good team, you’re asking for trouble.”

UTSA, meanwhile, leaned almost exclusively on its passing game.

Quarterback Owen McCown was sharp and decisive, completing 17 of 22 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball efficiently while absorbing pressure, finishing with minus-19 rushing yards on four carries as Boise’s front disrupted the backfield.

Wide receiver David Amador II provided the biggest plays, catching four passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, repeatedly winning downfield against a secondary that had rarely been stressed all season. DJ Allen added four receptions for 97 yards, and Devin McCuin caught four passes for 63 yards.

Running back Robert Henry Jr. struggled to find space on the ground, gaining 23 yards on 17 carries, but contributed five receptions for 73 yards to keep the offense balanced. As a team, UTSA rushed 23 times for just nine net yards but finished with 365 total yards.

“We knew we had to stretch them vertically,” Hammerstone said. “People forgot how explosive we are because of the seeding.”

Boise’s most consistent production came from tight end Matt Lauter, who caught seven passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Running back Dylan Riley added a 33-yard touchdown reception and totaled 42 yards from scrimmage. Wide receiver Latrell Caples, the Mike Lelko Wide Receiver of the Year, was limited to one catch for 15 yards.

For a Boise team that averaged 60.1 points per game during the regular season, managing 14 underscored the disruption caused by UTSA’s defense.

The upset is likely to reignite debate about playoff seeding after Boise and Memphis were closely evaluated in the final rankings. UTSA entered as the No. 8 seed. It leaves as a semifinalist.

“We’ve felt all year like we were better than the credit we were getting,” Hammerstone said. “Tonight showed that.”

Boise’s dominant regular season — highlighted by Madsen’s Heisman-winning campaign — ends abruptly in the quarterfinals.

“We earned the No. 1 seed,” Grade said. “But you’ve got to earn four quarters in February too. UTSA did that tonight.”

UTSA 17, Boise State 14

Boise State 7-0-0-7 — 14 UTSA 0-14-0-3 — 17

Team statistics Total yards — UTSA 365; Boise State 282 Rushes-yards — UTSA 23-9; Boise State 9-75 Passing — UTSA 17-22, 356 yards, 2 TD; Boise State 13-20, 207 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT Turnovers — Boise State 4; UTSA 0

Individual statistics

UTSA Passing — Owen McCown 17-22, 356 yards, 2 TD Rushing — Robert Henry Jr. 17-23; A’Marion Peterson 1-6; Patrick Overmyer 1-(minus-1); McCown 4-(minus-19) Receiving — David Amador II 4-123, 2 TD; DJ Allen 4-97; Devin McCuin 4-63; Robert Henry Jr. 5-73

Boise State Passing — Maddux Madsen 13-20, 207 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT Rushing — Malik Sherrod 3-28; Dylan Riley 2-9; Madsen 4-38 Receiving — Matt Lauter 7-98, TD; Chris Marshall 2-54; Dylan Riley 2-33, TD; Matt Wagner 1-7; Latrell Caples 1-15