Boise State gave the rebuilt Pac-12 exactly the kind of win it needed in Week 2, and it did so in convincing fashion. The Broncos rolled past Memphis 38-20 at home on Saturday, then slammed the door with a 35-3 finish that turned the afternoon into a showcase for their ground game.
Dylan Riley was the engine. The junior running back turned 19 carries into a career-best 206 yards and made sure the Broncos kept hammering away until the Tigers had no answer. Sire Gaines added 93 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries as Boise State piled up 357 rushing yards.
“I would say we made a statement, but … we’ve still got a lot of games left,” Riley said. “It’s only the second week. I would say there’s a lot more games to be played and we’ve still got more to show.”
For a Pac-12 looking to battle the American Conference for a spot in the College Football Playoff, that kind of win matters.
Elsewhere, Oregon State came painfully close to knocking off another ranked opponent before Texas Tech slipped away with a 35-24 win at Reser Stadium. The Beavers had a fourth-quarter lead over No.
13 Texas Tech, only to see a late fourth-down conversion erased by an offensive pass interference call that drew plenty of attention. The Red Raiders then added a last-second touchdown to pad the final margin.
Freshman wideout Jesse Legree was electric for Oregon State, hauling in eight catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Braden Atkinson filled up the stat sheet too, throwing for 413 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a receiving TD.
“That was a great football game,” first-year Oregon State head coach JaMarcus Shephard said. “I tell you what, I expected this out of our team, and I expect more.
And I know that there are some that don’t, but I’m excited about the direction that we’re going as a football team. We know what we’re capable of, we know what’s possible here, and I think we showed a lot of that today.”
The Pac-12 also watched Utah State nearly pull off an upset of No. 19 Washington.
The Aggies fell 16-14 after they couldn’t complete a Hail Mary at the buzzer, and three interceptions from Grady Brosterhous helped sink them. Utah State had already thrown four picks in Week 1.
The conference picked up a pair of comfortable wins over Big Sky teams, too. Fresno State beat Sacramento State 49-3 to move to 1-1, while Colorado State stayed unbeaten with a 58-24 win over Southern Utah.
Not every result was as encouraging. San Diego State managed only 189 total yards in a 28-10 road loss to UCLA, trailing 7-3 midway through the fourth quarter before giving up back-to-back touchdowns.
Texas State let a fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 31-26 home loss to UTSA, and Washington State dropped to 0-2 after a 34-7 loss at Kansas State. The Cougars’ only touchdown came on a pick-six right before halftime.
After two weeks, Boise State’s surge stands out as the signature result for the Pac-12’s new look. The Broncos delivered the league’s clearest proof yet that it can still land a punch against a quality opponent, even as several other teams kept working to find their footing.
Kirby Moore defended offensive coordinator Matt Miller after the game.
“We’ve just got to work together to improve, that’s the most important thing,” Moore said. “We’ve got to have a better product on offense.”
In Other News...
Washington States Offensive Debate Just Got Harder To Ignore
Washington States 0-2 start has put the spotlight squarely on an offense that has had trouble finding any rhythm, and the latest game only sharpened the concern. Caden Pinnick managed just 65 passing yards, while the protection in front of him has become a clear issue, with Ashton Tripp and Kyle Martin drawing low pass-blocking grades as the Cougars have struggled to give the quarterback time or space to operate.
With the schedule moving on, the debate inside the program is no longer whether the offense needs a reset, but how far that reset should go. Changes in playcalling are being considered, and lineup adjustments are now part of the conversation as Washington State looks for any combination that can make the passing game more functional before the early-season slide gets harder to fix. [Read more 🡒]
Cougars Showed Fight Against Washington But One Problem Still Looms
Washington State showed some grit in its matchup with Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena, but the result still tilted the wrong way in a 3-1 loss. The Cougars put together 46 kills and hit .228, which was enough to keep stretches of the match competitive, even as Washington finished with 61 kills and a .289 hitting percentage.
Kambree Rodriguez did a little of everything with 19 digs and seven assists, while Naomi White added 10 kills and four blocks and Audrey Hollis chipped in 15 assists and 15 digs. The effort was there, but the gap in offensive efficiency remained the issue, and it is the kind of problem Washington State will need to clean up if it wants to turn tight nights into wins. [Read more 🡒]
WSU Salvaged A Road Result But One Big Concern Remains
Washington State left Titan Stadium with a 1-1 draw against Cal State Fullerton, a result that at least kept the Cougars from leaving empty-handed on the road. Fullerton struck first, but WSU answered before halftime and settled in enough to steady a match that could have slipped away early.
The equalizer came from a player who had been waiting for her moment, and the Cougars also leaned on Ashlyn Dvorak to hold the line when the pressure kept coming. Her night included a career-high save total, plus a penalty stop that preserved the point, but the bigger question for WSU is whether the team can clean up the kind of defensive stretches that put so much on its keeper in the first place. [Read more 🡒]