“Hard feelings” and “pretty quick” handshakes: Boise State survives the pesky wolf pack

After Boise State’s first two drives Saturday night, the Broncos were up 14-0 and in cruise control.

Boise State had gained 122 yards on offense, redshirt sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen had a touchdown pass and junior running back Ashton Jeanty had already rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Everything seemed to be business as usual for the Broncos, who entered the game as 24-point favorites and were hoping to pull off another blowout win at home.

But then the Wolf Pack pulled the Broncos back to reality and reminded everyone that this streak — which ends with Boise State moving to the Pac-12 — can throw surprises.

No. 12 Boise State (8-1, 5-0 Mountain West) emerged as a 28-21 winner over Nevada (3-8, 0-5), but it was anything but a walk. It was more like being in a park after dark and coming across something spooky.

“I feel like there are hard feelings between the two schools,” Madsen said after the game. “And then there’s the fact of where we are in college football right now. That’s why I think we’ll do our best every week.”

These hard feelings seemed to be out of control for the players. Boise State coach Spencer Danielson and first-year Nevada coach Jeff Choate — a BSU assistant from 2006-11 — exchanged a curt handshake after the game, which Choate quickly moved past.

“It happened pretty quickly. One of the quickest I’ve ever had,” Danielson said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Wide receivers coach Matt Miller, who played for the Broncos in a couple of knockdown, drawn-out games against Nevada, said earlier this week that he expected a “bloody knuckle battle over four quarters.” He wasn’t wrong. The teams combined for four turnovers and several other plays that could have changed the game, and Boise State had to hold on for dear life after twice building a two-touchdown lead.

At halftime, Nevada erased one of those two touchdown deficits to make it 14-14, the first time Boise State didn’t lead at halftime this season.

The Wolf Pack, whose last win came against Oregon State on Oct. 12, didn’t score again until the final three minutes of the game, on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Nevada quarterback Brendon Lewis to receiver Jaden Smith . But even up to then the competition was exciting.

“We knew we were going to have a fight, they’re a good team,” redshirt junior linebacker Marco Notarainni said. “They played really hard against every team they faced on their schedule, so we knew it was going to be a tough one and we came out on top today.”

The Broncos’ defense forced Nevada into two turnovers, including a fumble at the goal line in the fourth quarter and a fumble in the first half that was recovered by Notarainni.

It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Broncos, but teams that want to achieve their goal – a conference title, the College Football Playoff – know that sometimes they have to hustle and get a W.

“We are coming out victorious, there is no reason to sulk,” said Madsen. “We can learn from certain things and be proud of the team’s victory.”

Madsen had one of his most challenging games of the season, going 9-for-20 for 119 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also had two interceptions overturned – one due to defensive pass interference and the other after replay review determined it was an incomplete pass.

Danielson acknowledged it was a tough game for Madsen and much of the team, pointing out dropped passes, quarterback misreads, fumbles – including two that the Broncos recovered – and other mistakes.

He also referred to November as a “competitive month” and said it doesn’t matter what teams did at the start of the season as the schedule for many teams calls for “now or never” games.

“You don’t have to lose a game to come here and improve,” Danielson said.

“It’s about 1-0 every week. And we know we’re going to get the best from everyone, but I promise they’re also going to get the best from the Boise State Broncos.”