College football roundup: Hank Bachmeier helps No. 24 Boise State beat Marshall 14-7

Hank Bachmeier threw for 282 yards and a touchdown and No. 24 Boise State held its second straight opponent scoreless in the second half to grind out a 14-7 nonconference victory over Marshall on Friday night.

Boise State won despite the lack of explosive offense shown in its opener last week in a 36-31 victory at Florida State. The Broncos snapped Marshall’s streak of 19 victories when the Thundering Herd score first.

“Our defense played great, and our offense did just enough to take care of the football at the end of the game so we could run the clock out,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “It’s hard to be 1-0 every week. Like everybody, you like to dominate on all phases of the game, but it doesn’t always work out like that. It’s nice to be able to learn with a win.”

The Broncos’ running game came to life in the second half after starting running back Robert Mahone left in the first half with an apparent right shoulder injury. George Holani finished with 103 yards on 22 carries, the first running back to eclipse the 100-yard mark against Marshall since Southern Miss’s Ito Smith had 150 on Nov. 25, 2017.

In his second start as a true freshman, Bachmeier was 22 of 34 with an interception and a rushing touchdown.

Brenden Knox rushed for 71 yards on 10 carries to lead the Thundering Herd (1-1). They finished with 172 total yards.

“Our defense played well, but our offense needs to make more plays,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “I’m proud of the way we played, but not proud that we didn’t win the game.”

Pac-12

Arizona State 19, Sacramento State 7: Eno Benjamin caught a 72-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, Cristian Zendejas kicked four field goals and the Sun Devils labored past the Hornets in Tempe, Arizona.

Arizona State (2-0) overcame inexperience – 25 freshmen saw action – with a convincing 30-7 opening win against Kent State.

The Sun Devils had a few growing pains against the Hornets (1-1) after beating them 55-0 in the teams’ only other meeting.

Arizona State’s offense sputtered, plagued by off-target passes, drops and an ineffective running game against a team ranked 115th in total defense last season – in the FCS.

Arizona State’s defense was solid until Kevin Thomson hit Pierre Williams on a 40-yard pass, then Tao McClinton on a 9-yard TD that pulled the Hornets within 12-7 in the fourth quarter.

The Sun Devils finally broke it open late, when Benjamin slipped out of the backfield for a 72-yard catch-and-run TD from Jayden Daniels, who threw for 304 yards.

Until then, Arizona State had a hard time getting out of its own way.

Struggling early, the Sun Devils finally got a spark early in the second quarter when Brandon Aiyuk returned a punt 38 yards to Sacramento State’s 9.

A touchdown seemed imminent when A.J. Carter caught a pass from Jayden Daniels, but he fumbled just before crossing into the end zone and the Hornets recovered.