Bachmeier leads No. 16 Boise State past UNVL 38-13

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hank Bachmeier threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns and No. 16 Boise State used a strong defensive effort to beat UNLV 38-13 on Saturday night.

Khalil Shaker caught seven passes for 111 yards and a TD, John Hightower had four catches for 105 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown reception that make it 14-0 with 13:38 left until halftime.

Shaker’s touchdown came on a pass from backup Chase Cord, a 24-yard hookup with 5:31 left in the game.

Boise State (5-0, 2-0 Mountain West) is having a good week in its quest for a Group of Five bowl berth. On Friday night, the Broncos’ closest competitor for that spot, No. 18 UCF (4-2), lost at Cincinnati 27-24.

Bachmeier opened the scoring with 11:33 left in the first quarter, finding Garrett Collingham on the right side for a 2-yard scamper through a tackler.

Boise State added in a 52-yard field goal from Joel Velazquez to make it 17-0 on the final play of the first half, A Bachmeier-to-Shakir pass that covered 26 yards set up the field goal.

The Broncos increased their lead to 24-0 with 6:40 left in the third as Akilian Butler, on a reverse, scored on a 23-yard run around the right side.

OBLAD MAKES FIRST START

UNLV’s Kenyon Oblad, a redshirt freshman quarterback, made his first career start in place of Armani Rogers, who sprained a knee in last week’s 53-17 loss at Wyoming.

Oblad was 24 for 55 for 262 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Rebels (1-4, 0-2). He had one interception.

GOOD, BAD, UGLY

Boise State has now just given up 22 second-half points this season. After not allowing a point after halftime in their first three wins, the Broncos gave up nine in their win against Air Force in Boise 15 days earlier. On Saturday, Boise State was whistled for 130 yards of penalties.

UP NEXT

Boise State hosts Hawaii on Saturday.

UNLV travels to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

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