Boise State wins in four overtimes, 69-67

BOISE, Idaho -- Ian Johnson scored from a yard out in the fourth overtime and Taylor Tharp lofted a short pass to Jeremy Avery on the two-point conversion to help Boise State beat Nevada, 69-67, on Sunday night.

Nevada matched the touchdown in the fourth extra period on Luke Lippincott’s eight-yard run up the middle, but Boise State’s Tim Brady ended the game by sacking Colin Kaepernick on the two-point conversion attempt.

It was a wild game from the start, with the teams combining for 1,266 yards of total offense as the Broncos, 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference, beat the Wolf Pack (2-4, 0-2) for the eighth straight time.

The Broncos forced overtime on Kyle Brotzman’s 27-yard field goal as time expired.

Johnson ran for 205 yards and scored three touchdowns, including a career-long 72-yard scamper in the second quarter. He also caught his first career touchdown pass in the fourth to put the Broncos up, 41-34.

Tharp completed 26 of 35 passes for a career-high 320 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those came in the first two overtimes, 25-yard scoring passes to Sherm Brasser and Jeremy Childs.

Kaepernick, a red-shirt freshman making his first start, ran for 177 yards and two scores and passed for another 243 yards and three touchdowns.

The Wolf Pack trailed most of the game but grabbed their first lead late in the fourth when Brett Jaekle made a 35-yard field goal.

But Brotzman countered for the Broncos.

The teams traded touchdowns through the first two overtimes. In the third, Jaekle put Nevada on top with a 27-yard field goal, but Brotzman answered with a 29-yarder.

Nevada rolled up 639 yards in offense and had no turnovers, compared to 627 yards and one interception for Boise State.

The 136 combined points set the NCAA record for most points scored by both teams in an overtime game. The previous mark was 134 points in Arkansas’ 71-63 seven-overtime victory over Kentucky on Nov. 1, 2003.