Late catch helps Broncos pull away from Rebels
There isn’t usually a fourth-quarter play that could have changed an entire game when a team wins by four touchdowns.
There was one such moment in UNLV’s 55-27 home loss to Boise State on Saturday, though.
Facing a third-and-12 and leading 34-27 with just over 10 minutes remaining, Brett Rypien fired a strike to Chaz Anderson on the right sideline beyond the first-down marker for the Broncos.
One official ruled the play a completion, but another came running in to offer his opinion that Anderson was not able to make the catch before going out of bounds.
The incompletion would have meant UNLV would be getting the ball back needing a touchdown to tie the game.
After much deliberation, the officials decided Anderson had indeed caught the ball.
Boise State took advantage of the delay and went for a big play right away. Anderson got free down the middle and hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass on the very next play.
“That was huge. We felt he was in and he said he was in. He was and to come right back and hit the touchdown,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “You always talk about the nail in the coffin and try to get separation and especially late when it’s a tight game and get some momentum. When you can get the momentum and when it’s the last quarter of the game, you’re probably going to be in great shape and that’s exactly what we did on that play.
“From there we started to separate more.”
Instead of having a chance to tie, the Rebels found themselves down 41-27. UNLV had its next drive stall inside the 5-yard line and Boise State added two late touchdowns to make the score appear lopsided.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
