Stampede in the stadium

To say that the Mustangs (0-7, 0-4) were dominated by BoiseState (6-1. 3-0) in their 3-45 loss would qualify as anunderstatement. Boise State’s quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie andhis corps of receivers exploited an injury-ridden andoft-inconsistent secondary to rack up 560 passing yards.

Despite having the ball for nearly three minutes more than theBroncos, the Mustangs failed to put together a successful set ofdowns for a touchdown.

“This is the most disappointing loss since I’ve beenhere, we played with no intensity and no passion,” head coachPhil Bennett said.

From their first possession, it was clear that the Broncos werenot intimidated by the Mustangs as they opted to go for it onfourth and seven. The Mustang defense came up with the stop turningthe ball over to the Mustangs on the SMU 33-yard line.

After two offsides penalties on Boise State, the Mustangsreceived an automatic first down, but the next four plays yieldedonly two yards and the Mustangs were forced to punt.

The next set of downs for the Broncos was well orchestrated asBoise State gained steadily to the Mustangs goal line. The Mustangdefense came up with three successful stops forcing the Broncos tosettle for a field goal. The field goal capped an 11-play, 77- yarddrive.

Hoping to counter the Broncos’ field goal, the Mustangoffense sputtered once again gaining only five yards beforepunting.

After a 40-yard punt from SMU punter Ryan Mentzel, the Broncosstarted on their own 40. Following a three plays in which Dinwiddiepassed for 53 yards, the Broncos earned another first and goal.After a run for a loss of four by the Broncos’ David Mikell,Dinwiddie completed an 11-yard pass to Tim Gilligan for the Broncosfirst of six touchdowns.

On the Mustangs’ next drive, Keylon Kincaide broke downthe field for a 42-yard run putting the Mustangs at midfield. Afteranother rush for 3 yards by Kincaide, Mustang quarterback RichardBartel attempted two passes unsuccessfully, forcing the Mustangs topunt once again.

Following a 46-yard punt from Mentzel that pinned the Broncos ontheir own 1-yard line, it felt like the Mustangs were slowlyworking their way back into the game. Unfortunately, on the nextplay Dinwiddie connected with Lawrence Bady for a 98-yard pass thatput the Broncos on the Mustang one. Two plays later, Dinwiddierushed into the end zone to make the score 17-0. The 98-yard passfrom Dinwiddie to Bady was the longest pass in Boise State teamhistory.

The next Mustangs’ drive, Kincaide rushed for two moreyards and Bartel threw two more incompletions before the Mustangspunted the ball away again.

On offense for the first time in the second quarter, the Broncosmoved the ball to the SMU 6-yard line before the Mustang defensedenied them of a touchdown and forced the Broncos to turn the ballover on downs again.

Despite Kincaide’s rushing efforts, the Mustang offensefailed to gain a first down on their next possession and punted theball.

With the Mustang defense back on the field, a defensive stop wasneeded badly. However, a pass interference call for 15 yards putthe Broncos on the SMU 40. Boise State’s Donny Heck rushedfor 17 yards and a touchdown two plays later to put the Broncos up24-0.

On the Mustangs’ next set of down, Bartel completed hisfirst pass of the game for nine yards to Jay’Mond Cleveland.Bartel completed two more passes to move the Mustangs to midfield.Kincaide rushed for 12 to put the Mustangs on the Broncos’47-yard line, but on the next play Bartel pass bounced off the backof a Mustang player and into the hands of a Bronco.

After a 22-yard pass from Dinwiddie, the Bronco offense stalled.On fourth- and-one, the Broncos went for it and were denied by theMustang defense.

The Mustangs received the ball on their own 29, but gained onlyeight yards before punting.

Following two incompletions, Dinwiddie completed four out of hisnext five for a total of 59 yards and a touchdown to put theBroncos up 31-0.

The next set of downs of the half for the Mustangs failed toyield a first down, and the Mustangs retreated to the locker roomdown 31-0.

With the crowd virtually non-existent in the second half, theMustangs came out hoping for anything that could turn the game intheir favor.

The first set of downs of the second half for the Mustangs saw athree yard run by Kincaide and a sack by the Broncos for a loss ofnine yards before the Mustangs punted.

The Broncos steadily worked their way to the Mustang goal lineled by Dinwiddie who eventually completed a pass to Gilligan for acommanding 38-0 lead.

Bartel completed two passes in a row on the Mustangs nextpossession to move the Mustangs to the Boise State 45. After aKincaide rush for three and two more Bartel completions to MattRushbrook the Mustangs found themselves on the Broncos’10-yard line, but had to settle for a Chris McMurtray field goal toget on the scoreboard 3-38.

The Broncos scored their final touchdown on their nextpossession as Dinwiddie completed a 33-yard pass to T. J. Acree anda 40-yard pass to Lawrence Bady for a touchdown.

The Mustangs were forced to punt on their next two possessionsand the Broncos offense stopped producing after Dunwiddie wasremoved from the game. The final score was 3-45.

The Mustangs were forced to punt 10 times and were outgained onoffense 214-641. One statistic the Mustangs controlled was the timeof possession. The Mustangs controlled the ball 31:32 compared withthe Broncos’ 28:28.

Boise State’s Dinwiddie passed for 509 yards and accountedfor five touchdowns.

The Boise State offense scored five out of six times when insidethe red zone. The average play for the Broncos’ offensegained 8.3 yards.

The crowd of 10, 109 was the smallest crowd since the opening ofGerald J. Ford Stadium.

“This is the most underperforming team I’ve beenaround,” Bennett said, “We’re non-threatening onoffense and to say the least, I’m displeased.”

The upcoming game against Tulsa will be lead by freshmanquarterback Chris Phillips. According to Bennett, his passingskills and his strong arm are what led to the change.”I’m looking for better execution. I’m not askinghim to be our savior,” Bennett said.

Bennett also confirmed that Tate Wallis will be Phillips’backup and that Bartel will be transferring at the end of the fallsemester.

Against Tulsa, the Mustangs are hoping to revive their offenseand cure their defensive woes. Only two weeks ago, the Mustangdefense was ranked first in the WAC, but has given up over athousand yards in the past two games.

“We expect to win at Tulsa; we’re just working ontrying to put everything together,” defensive end DonIeremia-Stansbury said.

The Mustangs hope to win their first game at 2 p.m. on Saturdayat Tulsa.

Stampede in the stadium