Fresno State vs Boise State Mountain West Championship game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Championship Week game on Saturday, December 3
Fresno State vs Boise State Mountain West Championship prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. Championship Week, Saturday, December 3
Fresno State vs Boise State Mountain West Championship Prediction Game Preview
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Fresno State vs Boise State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, December 3
Game Time: 4:00 ET
Venue: Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
How To Watch: FOX
Record: Fresno State (8-4), Boise State (9-3)
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Why Fresno State Will Win
Fresno State didn’t have its guy the first time around.
It held up well in the meeting with Boise State with the score tied at 20 late in the third quarter before allowing 20 unanswered points in the 40-20 loss. Bulldog QB Logan Fife struggled without a slew of downfield completions with no touchdowns with two picks.
That was the last time Fresno State lost.
Fife and the team picked it back up with two straight wins after losing in Boise, and then star QB Jake Haener returned and everything took off.
Starting with a miraculous comeback to beat San Diego State, the Bulldogs got rolling from there. The O led the Mountain West in yards and scoring, it’s great on third downs, and it lost just one turnover in the last four games.
Boise State was able to get by Utah State last week despite allowing over 300 passing yards. It lost the other two games when it for over 200 passing yards – BYU threw for 377 and Oregon State went for 292 – and faced no one else that could throw, a Haener-less Fresno State team aside.
However …
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Why Boise State Will Win
There’s something about San Diego State that allowed the stars of the Mountain West to find themselves.
Fresno State’s season kicked it into gear with two touchdowns in 13 seconds, and Boise State’s run to the Mountain West title game got rolling in the second half of the 35-13 win over the Aztecs. That’s when the rushing attack became almost unstoppable.
Air Force was able to keep it down, and BYU allowed just 104 yards in Boise State’s only loss over the last eight games, but it has been dominant on the ground with 200 yards or more in six of the last eight games after sputtering a wee bit to start the season.
The Broncos are 7-0 when running for 140 yards or more. Fresno State is 1-4 when allowing 160 rushing yards or more.
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What’s Going To Happen
It’ll be cold in Boise on Saturday, but the weather won’t affect the Fresno State passing game enough to matter.
The Boise State defense might be fantastic, but it also piled up big stats against a slew of teams that couldn’t do anything offensively.
It got San Diego State before Jalen Mayden took over – the O hit just 2-of-16 passes.
New Mexico finish the regular season with the nation’s worst offense. Colorado State wasn’t far off, Nevada was 122nd in the nation, Wyoming 117th, San Diego State 116th.
It beat the teams with struggling offenses and lost or had problems with the ones that could get past 300 yards. Fresno State will get past 300 yards.
It’s not like Fresno State beat a slew of teams with killer offenses, either – it played a lot of the same teams Boise State did. But Boise State will be able to run the ball.
The passing attack will overcome the running game in a fun 60-minute fight.
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Fresno State vs Boise State Mountain West Championship Prediction, Line
Fresno State 30, Boise State 27
Line: Boise State -3.5, o/u: 54.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Fresno State vs Boise State Mountain West Championship Must See Rating (out of 5): 4
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