Boise State vs. Northern Illinois: Score and Reaction for 2015 Poinsettia Bowl

Boise State cruised to a 55-7 win over Northern Illinois in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Wednesday at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.      

The 48-point margin of victory is the largest so far during bowl season. According to Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman, the 55 points are also the most in Poinsettia Bowl history.

The Huskies simply had no answer for the Broncos offense, which moved the ball almost at will. Boise State amassed 654 total yards and averaged 6.7 yards a play.

Quarterback Brett Rypien threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns on 29-of-40 passing, while running back Jeremy McNichols ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 96 yards and a TD.

Boise State managed to score more points than Northern Illinois gained in total yards (33). The Huskies also averaged 0.6 yards a play, further illustrating their offensive futility. Northern Illinois' only points came on a 96-yard touchdown from return man Aregeros Turner.

Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman argued the game set the new standard for bowl-season supremacy:

For one Northern Illinois fan on Reddit, the Poinsettia Bowl was all about embracing the small victories, per RedditCFB:

Almost anything that could go wrong did for Northern Illinois in the first half. The Huskies were outgained 353-36 through the first two quarters and turned the ball over three times, including twice when they were deep into Boise State territory.

ESPN CollegeFootball compiled a helpful lowlight reel:  

To say the offense was struggling would've been an understatement, per CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli:

"

NIU is averaging 1.0 yards and 0.11 turnovers per play.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 23, 2015"

Boise State, on the other hand, found the end zone on its first three first-half possessions and scored on five of eight possessions before halftime. Even the Broncos' social media team was taken aback by how quickly Boise State gained a foothold in the game:

McNichols had a hand in each of Boise State's three first-quarter TDs, with two rushing scores bookending a four-yard touchdown reception. The Broncos continued with the Anchorman theme on Twitter:

Northern Illinois looked to be building some momentum after forcing a turnover on downs early in the second quarter. On their second play of the ensuing drive, though, the Huskies turned the ball over at their own 15-yard line, leading to a Broncos field goal.

Wideout Chaz Anderson closed out Boise State's first-half scoring and put his team ahead 31-7 with a 16-yard touchdown reception with a minute and 51 seconds left in the half.

The Broncos' onslaught continued into the third quarter following Rypien's third passing TD of the game and a Tyler Rausa field goal. Running back Kelsey Young padded the lead even further with a 24-yard touchdown run with 14:52 left in the game.

USA Today's Dan Wolken thought Boise State's dominant performance only strengthened its case as one of the biggest Jekyll-and-Hyde teams in college football:

Closing out the season with a bowl win is always nice, but Boise State has set expectations so high for itself that any year in which it fails to compete for what is now termed a New Year's Six bowl feels like a disappointment.

Winning nine games is a bit of a step backward for the Broncos after they beat Arizona in last year's Fiesta Bowl. But head coach Bryan Harsin had to replace his leading passer, Grant Hedrick, and leading rusher, Jay Ajayi, from that team, so some regression was expected.

Boise State should be in a great position to win 10-plus games in 2016, with Rypien, McNichols, and defensive standouts Ben Weaver and Tanner Vallejo, who missed the bowl game, set to return.

No matter the result of this game, Northern Illinois was bound to reach fewer than 10 wins for the first time since 2009. The Huskies are also on a four-game losing streak in bowl games.

Head coach Rod Carey's job should be slightly easier next year, as he gets back quarterback Drew Hare, running back Joel Bouagnon and wideout Kenny Golladay in addition to FBS interceptions leader Shawun Lurry and linebacker Sean Folliard, the team's leader in sacks.

The Huskies should rebound from this defeat nicely in 2016.

Postgame Reaction

Harsin might have led Boise State to a second straight bowl win, but all he got was drenched in Gatorade for his trouble, per the Mountain West:

"We were running on all cylinders," said Rypien, per Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "It felt like anything that was called was going to be the best play possible."

"They were a great team and defensively they were rock-solid," said Northern Illinois center Andrew Ness, per the Associated Press (via FoxSports.com). "But we played our worst game when we wanted to play our best."

"Give credit to Boise State. That's a good football team and today they made all the plays," said Carey. "They were certainly the more physical team. When you can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball it makes for a good day for them. It wasn't a good performance for us."