Erik Chinander was pleased to see Boise State win the only real stat that mattered last Saturday in Statesboro: the final score.
That was one of the few things he was happy with.
The Broncos won 56-45 at Georgia Southern but Boise State’s defensive coordinator knows his group has plenty to improve upon heading into Saturday’s game at No. 3 Oregon.
“We got a victory, but that’s not the standard anyone wants to play with,” Chinander said Monday. “There was some good, there was some bad, so let’s get this thing fixed and let’s get it tightened up for next week.”
Boise State’s defense started fast – they held the Eagles scoreless in the first quarter – but gave up 45 points in the final three quarters.
The Broncos allowed Georgia Southern to put up 461 yards of offense, including 322 passing yards. Georgia Southern also went 7 for 7 in the red zone and 12 of 19 on third down.
“I think it’s always good to fix things after a win and there’s a lot of we have to fix,” Chinander said. “Early in the game guys were lined up correctly, communicating correctly and everything was being done at a very, very high level.
“As we got tired as the game went on, a few things didn’t happen our way in terms of leverage, some communication pieces and some things I definitely could have corrected. I don’t want to get into that because that will be game plan stuff for next week, but definitely things I didn’t do as far as following the game plan I could have helped those kids with.”
Boise State did have four sacks – Chinander noted it would have been five had Boise State not accepted a penalty to nullify the play. The Broncos also forced four fumbles for the first time in a game since 2006.
But the Broncos only grabbed one of the fumbles and had no interceptions. After having only 19 takeaways in 14 games last season, Boise State had just one in Statesboro.
“Way too inconsistent and I think everybody understands that,” head coach Spencer Danielson said. “A lot of missed opportunities in regards to takeaways. Four forced fumbles and only able to get one. Fired up we’re creating them, but now we have to get more than one of those. In regards to interceptions, we had two or three different opportunities when the ball is in the air where we have to come down with it.
“We have to take the ball away. We were even in regards to the turnover margin. We have to make sure we work to get that fixed.”
Chinander noted that Boise State has worked a ton on forcing fumbles and tipping balls in practice, but may need to spend more time on recovering or catching them.
“Very close to those takeaways,” Chinander said. “We worked very hard on that, but we all know close doesn’t count in football. Now we’re getting those balls out and we’re getting some hands on some passes, but we need to find a way to finish that deal.
“We’ve been drilling forcing the fumbles like crazy. We probably need to drill recovering the football a little bit better.”
Only five teams in the country allowed a higher percentage of third-down conversions over the weekend than the 63.16 Boise State’s defense gave up on Saturday.
Georgia Southern converted six third downs of at least seven yards, including four of at least nine yards. Twice the Eagles converted on third-and-10.
“It’s very frustrating,” Danielson said. “That’s the reason we played as many snaps as we did on defense. We couldn’t get off the field on third down. We have to be smart.”
Boise State’s pass defense, which was one of the worst in the country last season, struggled again as well. Only 12 teams in the country gave up more passing yards to an FBS opponent in week one than the 322 given up by the Broncos.
The Broncos better make some big corrections – and fast. Saturday’s opponent, No. 3 Oregon, ranks No. 14 in the country in passing offense at 380 passing yards per game.
There’s plenty to correct, and not a lot of time. But Boise State’s coaches are confident they can get out done.
“We have the answers and we know what needs to get fixed,” Danielson said. “We’re going to continue to work our tail off to do so.”
Kick off Saturday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene is set for 8 p.m. MT. The game will stream on the Peacock app.
