Some bowl games are good because they’re close. The 2015 Poinsettia Bowl was good because it was a dang destruction. Boise State dominated Northern Illinois, 55-7, in San Diego, for the fifth-largest bowl win ever.
Holy crap, Boise State outgained NIU by more than 600 yards in the Poinsettia Bowl
That’s NSFW right there.
It was one of the worst beatdowns ever, from a yardage standpoint. The Broncos outgained the Huskies BY 621 YARDS!
| Team | Total Yards | Passing Yards | Rushing Yards | First Downs | Third Downs Conversions | Yards Per Play |
| Boise State | 654 | 377 | 277 | 35 | 10-16 | 6.74 |
| Northern Illinois | 33 | 38 | -5 | 7 | 1-12 | 0.65 |
This was a blowout at halftime, as the statistics gap shows, when the Broncos led 31-7. But NIU actually had more yards at halftime than it did after the game!
| Team | Total Yards | Passing Yards | Rushing Yards | First Downs | Third Downs Conversions | Yards Per Play |
| Boise State | 353 | 252 | 101 | 18 | 5-7 | 7.06 |
| Northern Illinois | 36 | 35 | 1 | 6 | 1-6 | 1.16 |
But the carnage just kept getting worse and worse.
Worst part of NIU's 33 total yards is that the Huskies gained 42 yards in their first drive of the game.
— Brian Fremeau (@bcfremeau) December 24, 2015 Northern Illinois has 0.83 yards per play, which is not good.
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) December 23, 2015 UPDATE: Northern Illinois is now at 0.58 yards per play, which continues to be not good. https://t.co/7UjuqM3fKy
— SB✯Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) December 24, 2015 They've only outgained you by a third of a gd mile so far, NIU
— R2-DTRUUU (@JasonKirkSBN) December 24, 2015 The individual stats were just as impressive. Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien was 29 for 40 for 377 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. The Broncos also had two running backs over 90 yards. Meanwhile, Northern Illinois’ longest run was seven yards and its longest pass was 11 yards.
This is a nice ending to a somewhat disappointing season for Boise State, which went to a New Year’s Six bowl last year and expected to be back in a New Year’s Six bowl again. However, after four losses and failing to win a division title, the best the Broncos could do was show their potential, and show why they looked like the best Group of Five team before the season. They did just that, gaining some momentum for next year on both sides of the ball.
And they did it against a good team. Northern Illinois made the MAC Championship game, beating Toledo and Western Michigan along the way, and the Huskies nearly beat Ohio State. This game wasn’t indicative of how NIU played this season, which says a lot about Boise State, too.
Congrats on your POINTSettia Bowl, Boise State. And condolences on your PoinSADia bowl, Northern Illinois.
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