BOISE, Idaho -- Another big game came down to a painful missed kick for Washington coach Chris Petersen as he returned to the scene of some of his greatest successes.
Petersen, who spent eight years as the head coach at Boise State, lost to the No. 23 Broncos 16-13 on Friday night at Albertsons Stadium. Cameron Van Winkle's 46-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right with 15 seconds left.
"This is a really good team we played, we had a chance," Petersen said. "That's when it gets really frustrating, that we couldn't do a little bit more."
Boise State built a 16-0 lead in the first half with a strong running game and dominant defense. But the offense faltered in the second half and Washington made three huge plays in the punt-return game: a 17-yard return that set up a field goal, a 76-yard return for a touchdown and a blocked punt that set up a field goal.
Boise State held Washington to 179 yards of offense. The defense made one last stand on the Huskies' final drive, recording two sacks to increase the degree of difficulty on the field goal.
"We were saying, 'This is what we work for. We want the game on our shoulders,'" senior safety Darian Thompson said. "We were able to perform and come through."
Boise State quarterback Ryan Finley, who won his first start, didn't watch the ball float through the air. He hid his eyes.
Thompson turned at the line of scrimmage and watched the ball drift right. Petersen knows that feeling well -- arguably his two best Boise State teams lost Bowl Championship Series opportunities on missed field goals wide right against Nevada (2010) and TCU (2011).
"It looked like it might have had a chance," Thompson said. "At the last second I guess a little gust of wind just knocked it right."
The Broncos secured their 10th straight win with a dominant first half that was enough to overcome the lackluster second half.
The game was hyped as the return of Petersen, who won two Fiesta Bowls in eight seasons as the Broncos head coach. Forty-nine current Boise State players were on the roster under Petersen.
Both teams struggled to throw the ball with new quarterbacks: Finley for Boise State (129 yards) and true freshman Jake Browning for Washington (150).
Boise State took a 6-0 lead with a 16-play, 92-yard drive on its second possession of the game. Sophomore tailback Jeremy McNichols, making his first career start, ran for 16 yards to give the Broncos some room to work and added 11 yards on a swing pass on third-and-10. Senior tailback Kelsey Young, a Stanford transfer, kept the drive alive with a 23-yard reception on third-and-3 near midfield. The Huskies missed him coming out of the backfield and he was wide open. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Finley, also making his first start, scrambled for 4 yards on fourth-and-2 at the Washington 25. McNichols converted another third down one play before he ran wide right for a 7-yard touchdown.
The Broncos expanded their lead to 13-0 with 10:26 left in the first half. Junior tailback Devan Demas gained 13 yards on second-and-12 after losing 2 yards and a shoe on the previous play. That sparked a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by McNichols' 1-yard scoring run.
Boise State squandered opportunities to blow the game open after that. Senior safety Darian Thompson intercepted Browning to give the Broncos the ball on the Washington 24, but McNichols was stopped on fourth-and-1. Finley threw an interception in Huskies territory on the next possession and on the final drive of the half the Broncos appeared to mismanage the clock. They settled for Tyler Rausa's 24-yard field goal on second down.
Boise State running backs accounted for 181 of the 254 yards in the first half. Washington only gained 56 yards.
The Broncos' offense went to sleep as they came out of the halftime break and the Huskies got back into the game with special teams.
Van Winkle kicked a 40-yard field goal after a short punt and good return set the Huskies up in scoring position and sophomore wide receiver Dante Pettis returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-10 with 1:37 left in the quarter.
The Broncos had just one first down on their first three possessions of the half.
Washington snuck within 16-13 in the fourth quarter. That field goal was set up by a blocked punt.
NOTES: Boise State held five players out of the game: WR Rick Smith (health), OL Travis Averill (suspension), WR D.J. Dean (injury), CB Raymond Ford (suspension) and DT Tutulupeatau Mataele (injury). Averill was a starter last year. Mataele was expected to start this year. ... Boise State redshirt freshman TE Chase Blakley tore an Achilles tendon in practice this week. ... Washington announced true freshman Jake Browning as its starting quarterback about a half-hour before the game. ... Washington coach Chris Petersen and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin didn't meet at midfield before the game. Harsin is Petersen's former offensive coordinator at Boise State.
