Less than two weeks ago the Boise State football team suffered one of the worst losses in program history with a 27-10 loss at UTEP.
The offense didn’t get to 100 passing or rushing yards and finished with just 177 yards and one touchdown for the game – unfathomable numbers for the No. 2 scoring offense in the past two decades.
Questions rarely discussed in Boise were gaining traction on social media: will the Broncos even get to a bowl game? Will Andy Avalos survive the season? How is Jeramiah Dickey going to raise $300 million for the new Athletics Master Village with this crap product?
Those already seem like distant memories. What a difference a good 30 minutes can make.
Tim Plough was fired as offensive coordinator the day after the UTEP loss, and two days later starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier entered the transfer portal. New offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and quarterback Taylen Green were both fan favorites – fueling optimism heading into the San Diego State game last week.
But then the first half was bad – real bad – and the unwanted questions from above only got louder. Heck, there were even a scattering of boos in the first half as the offense struggled to get the ball across midfield.
Things changed in the second half – and the Broncos have new life on their season because of it. Boise State scored 35 unanswered points thanks to a dominant three-headed rushing attack. Green, a more athletic, mobile and faster quarterback than Bachmeier, used his legs to spark the dominant second half and the Broncos also got 131 yards rushing from George Holani and 82 from freshman Ashton Jeanty.
In all the Broncos rushed for 316 yards and had five rushing touchdowns. At one point in the second half the Broncos ran the ball on 16 straight plays – and San Diego State couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Now, thanks to that impressive, out-of-no-where second half, fans are back on board and the outlook for the rest of the season looks much different. Saturday’s game against Fresno State sold out more than 48 hours prior to kick off – a rarity around here.
Despite two losses and two unimpressive early-season wins, the Broncos now sit at 3-2 overall. The more important record is 2-0 in Mountain West play. As bad as its been, Boise State sits in complete control of its own destiny with six Mountain West games to play.
Saturday’s game won’t be a gimme. And the game at Air Force in two weeks is the toughest league game left on the schedule. But if the Broncos can get through both of those, a trip back to the Mountain West title game suddenly seems likely.
Seemingly winnable games against Nevada, Colorado State, Wyoming and Utah State remain on the schedule. As poor as the Broncos started in 2022, it can still end like many hoped it would when the season started – with Avalos holding the Mountain West Championship trophy on The Blue on a Saturday in early December.
The dream is alive and well in part because of how bad the Mountain West is. Boise State, somehow, might actually be the best team in the conference at this point. Utah State lost to Weber State and sits at 1-4. Fresno State is 1-3, San Diego State is 2-3 and Wyoming is 3-3.
Air Force (4-1) is the only real contender to the Broncos in the Mountain Division, and even the Falcons suffered an odd loss at Wyoming.
Out West, the top two teams are UNLV at 4-1 and San Jose State at 3-1. Seems crazy huh?
Getting back into the Mountain West play following the ugly loss at UTEP was the best thing that could have happened to the Broncos. Both losses were nonconference games, and playing the Aztecs was a perfect chance for the Broncos to restart the year. It was a fresh start – and they took advantage of it.
The question is where what the Broncos did in the second half is sustainable the rest of the season. The offense was downright dominant – but was it just an impressive half or is a sign of things to come? If Boise State’s offense can produce like that, combined with a dominant defense, the Broncos might not lose another game all season.
Who would have thought that was possible two weeks ago?
PREDICTION
It’s Homecoming weekend at Boise State and with quarterback Jake Haener and a few key players missing for Fresno State, it’s a chance for the Broncos to build off the momentum of last week’s second half and move to 3-0 in Mountain West play. This game is winnable – as are nearly every game left on the schedule (one noncon game against BYU still remains).
One thing the Broncos need to do on Saturday? Show that Green can be a threat in the passing game. The Broncos only attempted four passes in the second half against San Diego State. Running the ball almost exclusively worked last week, but it won’t work moving forward if the Broncos can’t keep defensives honest. Green has to prove he can also be effective as a passer so teams won’t just load the box moving forward.
A huge crowd will help, and Koetter and Green should be more comfortable in their second games since taking over. The defense is elite and will win the Broncos some games this year, but the offense needs to take another step forward on Saturday.
Fresno State’s offense has some impressive skill position players, but losing Haener has proven to be hard to overcome. The Broncos should win this one – and maybe in blowout fashion. A strong defense, a sellout crowd and Boise State’s new-look offense get it done. Give me Boise State 34, Fresno State 17.