It’s been bad. Really bad. But for the Boise State football team, four subpar games could be forgotten with a strong eight-game finish.
And that’s made it easier to push on this week.
First came an ugly 27-10 loss to UTEP last Friday night. A day later offensive coordinator Tim Plough was fired. Two days after that on Monday, quarterback Hank Bachmeier announced he was transferring.
Talk about a rough 72 hours.
A 2-2 record is not what the Broncos wanted through four games. Even in the two wins things still weren’t right. It’s been four games – and we’ve yet to see the Boise State team most expected to see in 2022.
But a change in offensive coordinator and the switch to the exciting, more-athletic Taylen Green at quarterback has reenergized a fan base starving to see improvement on the field. Fans that were ready to give up on the season after the UTEP loss have bought back in, at least for another week.
Within the program? The jump back into conference play certainly will help. Both losses were nonconference games for the Broncos, who are 1-0 in Mountain West play already with a win at New Mexico.
Winning the Mountain West Championship and a bowl game are the two big goals for the program each year. And despite the ugly start, both remain firmly attainable heading into a huge game tonight against San Diego State.
“The best part is that our goals are still ahead of us,” safety Seyi Oladipo said. “Getting back to work was good for us this week. We know what we need to work on and we’ve been working hard. … We came back (from the UTEP loss) ready to work. We have to respond. We have a game Friday and we have to come ready.”
There would be reasons to be concerned about the attitude and mood in the locker room given a rough start and the sudden news that both the offensive coordinator and four-year senior starting quarterback were gone.
The Broncos could come out and look like a completely different team and dominate. Or they could continue their downward slide even further and play poorly and lose badly. Would either really surprise us at this point?
Despite all the controversy and turmoil the past week, Oladipo for one expects his group to move forward and come out motivated and inspired.
“The part that made it easier is that we still have each other,” Oladipo said. “The brotherhood still stands strong. That’s all we can do, move forward and work together as a team.”
Friday night’s matchup on The Blue is the first of three season-defining games for the Broncos. Boise State hosts West Division favorite Fresno State next Saturday at home, and plays at Air Force on Oct. 22 following a bye week.
Wins in those three games would put the Broncos in the drivers seat to win the Mountain Division and get back to the Mountain West title game for the the fifth time in the past six years.
Sounds much more positive and exciting than dwelling on a 2-2 start, doesn’t it?
“I think we have a really mentally tough and mentally focused group,” safety Alex Teubner said this week. “Obviously whatever you want to call it, adversity, crap hitting the fan, however you want to say it, with everything that has happened I think we’re focused on San Diego State and trying to figure out what we can do as a team to win.
“We’re 1-0 in conference play. Everything is out in front of us, so we’re focused on moving forward on what we can do to get our goal done.”
It would be easy for players to be distracted with the recent changes or have upheaval in the locker room with how the first month of the season has gone.
But getting back into conference play – with that goal of a Mountain West Championship still right there for them – might be exactly what this team needs.
Being back in front of a packed house in Albertsons Stadium figures to help as well.
“Our guys are excited for this game. Our guys are fired up,” defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said. “We’ve got a great group of guys in this locker room. They are very frustrated with how last week went. Very frustrated. But they are excited to get back out here on Friday on The Blue in front of our fans and play San Diego State.”
The Aztecs (2-2) have beat Idaho State and Toledo and lost to Arizona and Utah. As usual they lean on a strong defense and a solid rushing attach on offense.
San Diego State has won two-straight in the series, including a come-from-behind win last season. The Aztecs also won on the Blue in their most recent trip in 2018 and have won two of the three times they’ve played in Boise.
Last year’s game in particular doesn’t sit well with the Broncos, who led 16-3 in the second quarter before being outscored 24-0 to finish the game in a 27-16 loss.
“We were playing well early and didn’t finish well,” Danielson said. “They know that. We’ve watched film of it from January until now about ways we can be better defensively and make sure we work our tails off for that to not happen again.”
It’s been an eventful, historic month for the Broncos – and not necessarily in a good way.
But the Broncos are back into conference play and leading the Mountain Division. A rough start can be erased with a strong next two months – and Boise State knows it.
“We’re hyped. We’re ready,” tight end Tyneil Hopper said. “We put all that behind us. It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted but we’re ready to move on. … It’s been threat to put in the work with these guys and be able to dial things in and be ready for San Diego State and conference play and those things. We’re hyped and ready to go.”
Kick off is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will air nationally on FOX Sports 1. The Bronco Nation News Lithia Ford of Boise Pregame Show will start at 4:30 p.m. live from The James Kitchen and Bar across the street from Albertsons Stadium. The live postgame show from The James with former coach Kent Riddle will start about 30 minutes after the game ends.