Boise State handles Oregon in 2017 Las Vegas Bowl: Highlights, score and recap
Bowl season has begun. On Saturday, Boise State dropped Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Happy bowl season, everyone. We started on Saturday with four games, none of which looked to be more eye-popping than Oregon vs. Boise State. The Ducks, of course, switched coaches from Willie Taggart to Mario Cristobal after Taggart took the FSU job. The Broncos, meanwhile, remain who they are. They won the Mountain West, finished with 10 wins, and rolled into Saturday’s bowl game as winners of eight of their last nine.
By the end of the afternoon in Vegas, it was Boise State who celebrated. The Broncos earned their 11th win of the season with their 38-28 takedown of the Ducks.
Cedrick Wilson was integral in helping Boise win the game. The Broncos wideout caught 10 passes, amassed 221 yards and found the end zone once. He was nearly unstoppable any time that Brett Rypien threw him the ball, and quite clearly earned the Vegas Bowl MVP honor. Rypien himself was quite good, throwing for 362 yards on 38 attempts, completing 21 of them, with two touchdowns and two picks.
The score could’ve been worse for Oregon. But thanks to some savvy defensive plays, they kept the damage minimized. They weren’t ever really in the game, except for near its conclusion. But even then, the Broncos held strong and kept the deficit to just 10 going down the stretch. Justin Herbert, who figures to be a player to watch next season, went 26-36, threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Ducks had a very hard time running the football. While Royce Freeman sat out, Herbert was the leading rusher, but he only gained 17 yards. In addition, Tony Brooks-James gained only 13 on seven carries, while Kani Benoit only could amass 11 on eight. Defending the run is what the Broncos do best, and they sure showed why on Saturday in Sin City.
Highlights
Three Stars
The Boise State defense
It might be very easy to say this, but Boise State’s defense did a damn good job on Saturday. The Broncos stifled Oregon to their worst rushing output in quite some time, only allowing 47 total yards to the usually deft Duck runners. Boise came into the game as one of the best run defenses in the country, and they sure showed why. Herbert was able to get himself in rhythm, but they were still able to pick him off twice and limit him to just two scores through the air. There’s only one senior on this defense, so barring any of the juniors heading to the pros, this defense will be just as good, if not better next year.
Dillon Mitchell
Despite the loss for Oregon, the Ducks can find solace in how Dillon Mitchell played. Mitchell was one of the team’s leading receivers all year, and he gained more and more chemistry with Herbert every time he was in the lineup. That showed with his performance in the Las Vegas Bowl. Mitchell caught nine passes and chewed up 143 yards, good for a 15.9 yards per catch clip. That’s pretty dang good. Next year, Mitchell, a junior, should be one of the best receivers in the Pac-12, and he flashed his brilliance a few times on Saturday, even in the loss.
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Cedrick Wilson
This was an obvious one. Wilson was terrific in his finale as a Bronco. After racking up 1,290 yards on 73 receptions during the season, he put up an absolutely monstrous effort in his final game in blue and orange. Oregon’s much-improved defense was simply unable to handle him all afternoon. It was the second time in Wilson’s career that he put up over 200 receiving yards in a game, with the first coming back against Virginia, where he had 209. Needless to say, Wilson went out with a bang.