Backup Max Cutforth rallies No. 20 Boise State past Texas State 46-45

Max Cutforth came off the bench late Saturday night and threw three touchdown passes in the final seven minutes, and No. 20 Boise State beat Texas State 46-45 at Albertsons Stadium after blowing a 25-point halftime lead.

Cutforth only got in because starter Maddux Madsen went down. Madsen took a hard hit near his left knee in the fourth quarter and watched the rest of the game on crutches, according to the AP. He had thrown for 236 yards and a touchdown and run for two more scores before he left.

Boise State looked finished well before that. The Broncos led 28-3 at halftime, then gave up the first 36 points of the second half. Texas State quarterback Brad Jackson threw touchdown passes of 67 yards to Chris Dawn Jr., 3 yards to Ty Stamey and 44 yards to Beau Sparks and ran for a 35-yard score. Jayden Bradley then returned Madsen's first interception of the season 20 yards for a touchdown, and the Bobcats led 39-28 with 8:58 left.

Then the last five minutes produced three lead changes. Cutforth hit Rasean Jones from 9 yards out, then found Jones again from 11 yards on fourth-and-10 to put Boise State ahead 40-39 with 4:14 to go.

Texas State answered 28 seconds later when Jackson hit Zechariah Sample for a 72-yard touchdown. Boise State got the ball back, and Cutforth threw an 18-yard strike to Akeem Wright with 2:40 left for the final margin. All three Boise State two-point tries in the fourth quarter failed, and Texas State's last try after the Sample score failed too.

Cutforth finished 8 of 13 for 131 yards and three scores. Jones caught nine passes for 117 yards and three touchdowns, and Wright had eight catches for 116 yards. Dylan Riley ran 25 times for 86 yards and a score. Jackson finished 23 of 38 for 327 yards and four touchdowns, according to the ESPN box score.

What's next: Boise State (7-1, 4-0 Pac-12) plays at Colorado State on Saturday, and the AP called the Broncos the front-runner for the playoff spot reserved for the top Group of Six team. The first thing to watch is Madsen's knee. Texas State (4-4, 2-2), still winless against ranked teams since moving to FBS in 2012, plays at Oregon State.