The Boise State offense may soon be getting one of its most dynamic playmakers back.
Running back George Holani, who has missed the past six games with a lower body injury, returned to practice on Sunday and is trending towards a return Saturday against Wyoming.
Boise State coach Andy Avalos stopped short of confirming Holani would play Saturday during his weekly press conference on Monday, but seemed to indicate the All-Mountain West tailback was close.
Avalos said the Broncos got healthier during the bye week, saying it was nice to see “some key veterans like George back out on the field practicing and we’re looking forward to seeing him back out there.”
Asked if that meant he would play on Saturday, Avalos smiled, and said, “it was very awesome to see George out there at practice yesterday.”
Sophomore Ashton Jeanty has taken a heavy workload since Holani went down in the season opener against Washington, but he’s made the most of it. Jeanty leads the nation with 11 rushing touchdowns and is No. 2 with 868 rushing yards. He leads the nation in yards from scrimmage with 1,264 – an average of 7.0 per play and 173 yards more than anybody else.
Getting back Holani, who has twice rushed for 1,000 yards during his Boise State career, would allow the Broncos to not overwork Jeanty and keep him a bit fresher for the stretch run.
It would also allow the Broncos to finally use the two-back packages they envisioned and planned for with both Holani and Jeanty on the field at the same time.
“It allows us to be able to get back to some of the things we worked on in fall camp, which is obviously very exciting,” Avalos said.
Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan designed several plays and packages to build around both Jeanty and Holani being on the field together. The Broncos opened the season against Washington with both on the field for the first two plays, and the Broncos had formations with multiple running backs on multiple plays in each of the first two drives.
Holani was injured late in the first drive and the two-back sets have mostly vanished since.
“We spent much of the offseason, most of the spring working on a lot of different things with those two running backs, so we’re excited to hopefully get that opportunity,” Hamdan said.
Using both Holani and Jeanty together was “certainly something that was in the plans” heading into the season Hamdan said, but Holani was injured before they were able to see how special it could be. They hope to see it as early as Saturday.
“To what extent of how much both those guys would be in together, we’re still not even sure ourselves and what the status of George actually us,” Hamdan said. “But any time you are talking about one of your best playmakers working back in the mix, it’s obviously exciting.”
Holani was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2019 when he rushed for 1,014 yards. He battled injuries in 2020 and 2021 but rushed for 1,157 yards in 13 games last season and was named to the All-Mountain West Preseason Team heading into 2023.
Avalos also confirmed the Broncos will have their original projected starting lineup back on the offense line for the first time since fall camp, which should help the running game even more.
That means right guard Roger Carreon, who has started every game as a redshirt freshman and played well, could be out in favor of Ben Dooley.
Avalos joked that having Holani back would only lead to playing time questions similar to what he’s getting regarding the quarterbacks.
“I know that’s going to be the next conversation once we get rolling,” Avalos said.
But it’s one he and the Broncos gladly will have if it means having his redshirt senior back and available.
“We have two very talented tailbacks who are going to be back in the mix,” Avalos said.
Boise State and Wyoming are scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will air nationally on FS2.
