Boise State blows out NIU in Poinsetta Bowl

Jeremy McNichols finds plenty of room to operate in San Diego. (USATSI)

You knew it would happen eventually, as it always does, and on Wednesday afternoon it did. We had our first blowout of the bowl season.

Actually, I don’t know if blowout really does it justice. It was more of an obliteration, or an annihilation. Maybe even a decimation, or eradication.

Whatever you want to call it, Boise State absolutely dominated Northern Illinois.

When the dust and nuclear fallout had settled, Boise State had not only beaten Northern Illinois 55-7, but it outgained the Huskies 654 yards to 33. There’s no typo there. Northern Illinois’ yardage total isn’t missing a number. The Huskies finished with only 33 yards, which means Boise State had nearly 20 times as many yards as they did.

The Huskies averaged 0.6 yards per play.

It was ugly, folks. Really, really ugly. So let’s recap what happened, and then never speak of this again.

Story of the game: It was over early, and it only got worse from there. Boise State opened the game by going 75 yards in three plays for a touchdown on its opening drive, and the Broncos just steamrolled from there. It was 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, with Jeremy McNichols scoring all three touchdowns, and 31-7 at halftime.

Three turnovers from the Northern Illinois offense didn’t help much, but honestly, I don’t know that avoiding them would have changed much.

Player of the game : Brett Rypien certainly had a nice game for the Broncos, and did so in in only three quarters, but I’m going with McNichols. He left the game early himself, but still managed to rush for 93 yards and two touchdowns while also catching five passes for another 96 yards and a touchdown. The three scores improve McNichols’ touchdown total on the season to 26.

Play of the game: Ironically enough, the most exciting play of the game was the only good thing that Northern Illinois did. A 96-yard kick return by the MAC’s Special Teams Player of the Year, Aregero Turner in the second quarter made you think the Huskies might make a game of it. The feeling was fleeting, though.

Northern Illinois not going down without a fight! 95-yard kick return gets the Huskies on the board. 24-7, 9:32 2Q pic.twitter.com/Li45RulAJW

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 23, 2015

Tweet of the game: The Chicago Tribune‘s Teddy Greenstein voiced what we were all thinking as early as the second quarter.

running clock, pls https://t.co/HLnAzgXZnf

— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) December 23, 2015

Grade: If you’re a Boise State fan, you probably thought this was a fantastic game. Boise dominated the entire 60 minutes. As a neutral observer, however, I felt quite different. It was never close, and aside from the kick return, there really weren’t any exciting plays. So for the first time — and hopefully the last — I am giving out a failing grade this bowl season. Grade: F

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