Championship Game: Boise State versus Marshall
In the matchup everyone has been waiting all season for, the Boise State Broncos and Marshall Thundering Herd meet in the inaugural G5 championship game. Boise State, as the top seed, defeated Western Kentucky in the first round, Toledo in the quarterfinals, and outlasted Georgia Southern in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship game. Marshall, the #2 overall seed, defeated Utah State in the opening round, held on versus Memphis in the quarterfinals, and pulled away from Cincinnati in the semifinals to earn their spot in the final game of the tournament.
In the neutral site game, Boise State and their high powered offense won the coin toss, choosing to receive the opening kickoff from Marshall. Starting on the 27-yard line, the Broncos started with a steady stream of stud running back Jay Ajayi to quickly move into Marshall territory before quarterback Grant Hedrick ever had to throw a pass. Facing a 3rd-and-7 at the Marshall 34, Hedrick connected on the long ball to wide receiver Chaz Anderson to open the scoring at 7-0 with 9:34 left in the opening quarter. Marshall, having struggled on the opening drive throughout the tournament, finally found success in the early minutes as running back Devon Johnson had his way with 6 carries for 66 yards to pull the Thundering Herd inside the Boise State 10-yard line. Quarterback Rakeem Cato finished off the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Shuler to tie things at 7-7 with 4:14 left in the opening period of action. After such success in the opening drive, the Broncos were stuffed in a three and out giving the ball back to Marshall with 2:09 left in the quarter. Marshall earned one first down of their own but faced a third-and-14 as the first quarter came to an end with the score tied 7-7.
Looking to keep the drive alive, Marshall looked downfield for a pass but never saw safety Darian Thompson slip in front for the interception. Thompson returned the interception to the Marshall 24-yard line before slipping out of bounds. Two plays later, Ajayi found the endzone for the first time on a six yard run to pull Boise State back in the lead at 14-7. The Thundering Herd immediately fought back in the next drive with Cato going 4-4 for 63 yards and moving Marshall inside the Boise State 15. Two stuffed runs by Johnson and a third down pass batted to the ground forced Marshall kicker Justin Haig to drill a 32-yard kick from the left hash to cut the Boise State lead to 14-10 with 6:04 left in the first half. The Broncos took the ensuing kickoff and returned it to the Marshall 46-yard line, setting up great field position for a second straight drive. Two first downs later, Boise State faced a third-and-7 at the Marshall 18 with Hedrick nearly intercepted by AJ Legett to force fourth down. The 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right to give Marshall the ball at their own 25-yard line and 3:36 left in the half. The Thundering Herd moved downfield but just missed out on the endzone, settling for a 28-yard field goal from Haig to send the game to halftime with Boise State leading 14-13.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Marshall finally took their first lead of the game on an 8 play, 77 yard drive that ended with Eric Frohnapfel catching a 12 yard pass from Cato to give the Thundering Herd a 20-14 lead with 7:55 left in the third quarter. Boise State earned a couple of first downs on the ensuing drive before punting away to Marshall once again. Looking to extend their lead over the Broncos, Cato threw a pass on the right sideline that was deflected in the air with cornerback Donte Deayon picking off and returning 55 yards for a touchdown. The extra point swung momentum and the lead in favor of Boise State at 21-20. In the ensuing two drives, both defenses stepped up with sweltering pressure, resulting in two consecutive three and outs that saw the the third quarter end with Boise State still leading 21-20.
With 15 minutes left to take the lead and win the inaugural championship, Marshall wasted no time in rolling downfield versus the tiring Boise State defense and faced a third-and-4 at the Bronco 12 yard line. After another third down conversion unsuccessful inside the Broncos 20, Marshall settled for another field goal to take the lead once again at 23-21 with 9:39 left in the game. The Broncos, as any high level team would, responded with a big play from a star player as Ajayi capped a 9-play, 82 yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run that again swung momentum in Boise State's favor at 28-23 with only three minutes left in the game. Needing a touchdown to pull out the win and championship, the Thundering Herd slowly crept downfield versus the Boise State offense, pulling into Bronco territory with 1:14 left in the game. Three passes from Cato to Shuler moved the ball to the 17 yard line with :14 left as Marshall spiked the football. Cato, showing an ability to make a play with everyone covered, scrambled for an 11-yard gain that took up :09 seconds with Marshall spiking the ball with :04 left on the clock. After a Boise State timeout, both teams to the field for the final play of the game and of the season. Cato took the shotgun snap and rolled to his right seeing Davonte Allen open in the corner. As the ball sailed towards Allen, a blue glove slid in the way to deflect the ball over the head of Allen and out of bounds as time expired.
Boise State 28, Marshall 23.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Boise St. 7 7 7 7 28
Marshall 7 6 7 3 23
Can't argue with your scenario, although I would say that the only time MU's offense was limited like you suggest was during the C-USA chmpshp during a driving rain. Nice job on this.
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