Texas State Falls 46-45 at No. 20 Boise State: a 36-Point Second Half, Then a Backup Quarterback's Three Touchdowns Undo It

Texas State lost 46-45 at No. 20 Boise State on Saturday night in one of the wildest finishes of the season, according to the Associated Press recap carried by Texas State Athletics. The Bobcats (4-4, 2-2) trailed 28-3 at halftime, then scored the first 36 points of the second half — 22 in the third quarter alone — to take a 39-28 lead with 8:58 to play when Jayden Bradley returned an interception for a touchdown, Maddux Madsen's first interception of the season.

Brad Jackson had Texas State poised for the upset, throwing for 327 yards and four touchdowns. But the game turned on an injury: Madsen, who had thrown for 236 yards and a touchdown and run for two more scores, left with 8:19 remaining after taking a hit to his left knee, Reuters reported. His replacement, Max Cutforth, threw three touchdown passes in the final seven minutes, the last an 18-yard strike to Akeem Wright with 2:40 remaining that put Boise State (7-1, 4-0 Pac-12) ahead for good. Cutforth finished 8 of 13 for 131 yards.

The loss carries a hard historical edge for San Marcos: since moving to FBS in 2012, Texas State has never beaten a ranked team in 13 attempts, the AP noted — and never came closer than this, in front of 34,429 in Boise. The Bobcats stay on the road next, at Oregon State on Saturday, November 7, while Boise State, winners of seven straight, travels to Colorado State as the front-runner for the Group of Six playoff spot ahead of Tuesday's first College Football Playoff rankings.