Boise State is the only team outside the power conferences sitting in the AP Top 25, and the Broncos know exactly what that means: win out, and the College Football Playoff door stays open. The next test comes under the lights on the Blue Turf, where No. 20 Boise State hosts Texas State on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. ET on The CW at Albertsons Stadium.

The Broncos (6-1, 3-0 Pac-12) have won six straight since a 34-27 loss at Oregon in the season opener, and last week’s 31-10 win at Washington State showed their finishing kick — three fourth-quarter touchdowns after the game tightened late. Running back Dylan Riley, the national leader with 963 rushing yards, was quiet for three quarters in Pullman before breaking touchdown runs of 33 and 72 yards in the fourth, finishing with 128 yards on 13 carries for his fifth 100-yard game of the season. Quarterback Maddux Madsen has thrown for 1,445 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Texas State (4-3, 2-1) is not built to play a quiet game. The Bobcats rank 18th in the nation in scoring at 37.1 points per game, have won four of their last five, and have hung 66 points on Colorado State and 63 on Incarnate Word this season. Quarterback Brad Jackson has thrown for 1,606 yards and 14 touchdowns against five interceptions and added 382 yards and five scores as a runner — production that had Boise State coach Spencer Danielson raving this week. “That quarterback is big-time,” Danielson said. “He can make every throw. If everything is covered and he takes off, hold your stinkin’ breath, because he is explosive.” Jackson’s backfield mate, Torrance Burgess Jr., has 889 rushing yards of his own, among the top marks in the nation.

The matchup that decides it is tempo against physicality. Texas State, making its first visit to the Blue Turf, just beat Utah State while holding the Aggies to 17 points — the kind of defensive outing it will need again. Boise State allows 20.6 points per game and will try to lean on Riley and its offensive line to shorten the night. If the Bobcats turn it into a shootout, the Pac-12 race flips. If the Broncos control it, their playoff path stays exactly where they want it: in their own hands.

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