BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly…December 11, 2024.
Every time Boise State takes an offensive snap, there are 10 players on the field not named Ashton Jeanty. Let’s give a few of them some props for this season, beginning with Matt Lauter. With two catches in the Fiesta Bowl, Lauter will jump Jeb Putzier for the most single-season receptions by a tight end in the Broncos’ 29-year FBS era. Lauter has 43 catches for 523 yards and six touchdowns this season and has been a clear catalyst. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has utilized him well. Consider that last year Lauter had nine catches total (although three of them did go for TDs). He was Boise State’s leading receiver in the Mountain West championship game last Friday, with five catches for 62 yards. Lauter’s 40-yard grab in the first quarter set up the Broncos’ first touchdown. And he is a junior.
A MAD DOG & A CAMPER
Then we’ll go to quarterback Maddux Madsen and wide receiver Cam Camper. Madsen, the surprise starter at the end of August, has proven himself to be confident and gritty as he has thrown for 2,714 yards and 22 touchdowns against only three interceptions. The most impressive of Madsen’s TDs may have been the seeing-eye 22-yarder to Latrell Caples against UNLV. He threaded the ol’ needle on that one—and it came on third-and-17. Some occasional tough sleddin’ has his completion rate at 62 percent, but man, Madsen has been a ton more good than bad. He has—as Brock Huard pointed out on FOX last Friday—instinct. That’s why Madsen’s been sacked only 10 times. That’s why he’s the Broncos’ second-leading rusher with 224 yards and five touchdowns.
And finally, there’s Camper. It has not been an all-timer of a season for the wide receivers room, but the transfer from Indiana has been solid. I can’t think of a game when he didn’t make a big catch for Boise State, beginning with some drive-extending grabs in the opener at Georgia Southern and continuing with a touchdown at Oregon. Camper has 55 receptions for 837 yards and five touchdowns this season for the Broncos. That’s 21 catches more than any other wideout this year.
ASHTON & THE BIG APPLE
With Jeanty getting his invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York this Saturday, now we wait to see if the Heisman voters across the country think the same way as Joe Fan. All season, ESPN Sportscenter has posted a weekly fan poll asking who your favorite is for the trophy. And all season, Jeanty had led—by a lot. The last poll was released Sunday morning, and Jeanty had 67.6 percent of the vote to 22.8 for Colorado’s Travis Hunter. The margin has been like that all fall. The ESPN poll has no bearing on the award, but are the 928 Heisman voters a slice of Americana? Have they seen the same things the common fan has? Jeanty has 2,497 rushing yards this season, 131 away from Barry Sanders’ legendary record. Hunter has been really good. Jeanty has been really, really good.
SO YOU’RE TELLIN’ ME THERE’S A CHANCE…
The Athletic’s last straw poll leading into the Heisman Trophy ceremony shows the race tightening up between Hunter and Jeanty, thanks to the latter’s 209 yards in the Mountain West title game. Among the 27 writers polled, The Athletic notes that Hunter “still doubled Jeanty’s first-place votes, 18-9. But those nine voters all changed their minds from Hunter to Jeanty in a week. It was 27-0 for Hunter before Jeanty had an opportunity to state his case on national TV, which he did with football eloquence. Hunter and his excellence on both sides of the ball, for a team in a Power 4 league with a Power 4 TV deal, put him in a gradually stronger position as the season progressed.” But overall, it’s now 72 points to 63. “It was 81-50 Hunter a week ago.”
ONE AGENDA ITEM BEFORE NYC
Thursday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN, we will see Jeanty collect some hardware. He’s sure to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back. Who else could it be? Certainly not Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo. Jeanty is 837 yards ahead of the current No. 2 rusher in the country, North Carolina's Omarion Hampton. Think about that—837 yards. In case you’re wondering, Jeanty has a 929-yard lead on Skattebo. No Boise State player has ever won a major annual award in college football—even beyond the Heisman Trophy.
2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING
Boise State will indeed play UNLV one more time before departing for the Pac-12. After last Friday’s bitter loss on the Blue, the Rebels have to come back to Boise next fall, as the Mountain West has released its conference matchups for the 2025 season. The Broncos will also host Colorado State, Fresno State and New Mexico. Their road games will be at Air Force, Nevada, San Diego State and Utah State. Interestingly enough, Boise State plays all four of the other future Pac-12 schools. The league rivalries with Wyoming, Hawaii and San Jose State are over. Meanwhile, the Mountain West announced Tuesday that UC Davis is joining the conference in 2026—but not in football.
HARSIN BACK ON THE SIDELINE
If Davis Harsin becomes the starting quarterback at Idaho State next year, his dad won’t be able to see him play very often. Former Boise State and Auburn coach Bryan Harsin, who has spent the past two autumns back home in the Treasure Valley, is reuniting with Justin Wilcox at Cal. Wilcox, the Bears head coach, has brought Harsin in as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Wilcox and Harsin were two 29-year-old up-and-comers when Chris Petersen hired them as his first coordinators when he became the Broncos head coach 19 years ago. They were together for Boise State’s first two Fiesta Bowl victories.
VANDALS ASSIGNMENT: TO AVENGE
Idaho is 10-3 this season, recording double-digits wins for only the third time in school history and the first time in 31 years. The Vandals lost by 10 points in Week 1 at Oregon, by two points in Week 5 at UC Davis—and by 31 points in Week 7 at Montana State. That last one obviously sticks in their craw, and Idaho has a chance to make things right Friday night in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs. Yes, it’s a night game in Bozeman in December. Note, however, that Vandals starting quarterback Jack Layne was injured and did not play in that October game. In the three games since returning to the lineup, Layne has completed 72 percent of his throws for 830 yards and nine touchdowns against one interception.
WHAT A TIME TO FACE SAINT MARY’S
It's another neutral site game Saturday night for Boise State hoops, and the Broncos hope this one starts a whole lot better than last week’s 74-69 loss at Washington State in Idaho Central Arena (with a 20-point halftime deficit). They’ll have to have virtually everything cleaned up, as they now face habitual NCAA Tournament participant Saint Mary’s in Idaho Falls. This is going to be a tough task. The Gaels lost a lot off last season’s 26-8 team, but they return two difference-makers in Augustus Marciulionis, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, and Mitchell Saxen, the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
This will be the most interesting starting lineup of the season for Boise State, as coach Leon Rice was not the happiest of persons after the loss to Wazzu. Javan Buchnanan and Julian Bowie started versus the Cougars but combined to go 1-for-12 from the field. Andrew Meadow came off the bench to lead the Broncos with 21 points and spurred the wild second-half rally that almost caught the Cougs. Saturday is important for the Mountain West preseason favorites, now 6-3. They’re looking up right now at teams like San Diego State, ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll.
THE CAPTAIN REACHES THE MOUNTAINTOP
The Idaho Steelheads open a season long six-game homestand tonight against the Tulsa Oilers in Idaho Central Arena. That means home fans will be able to celebrate Steelheads captain A.J. White in person. White is set to become the Steelies’ all-time leader in games played when he takes the ice tonight for No. 437. That will break the record of one of the most popular Steelheads ever, Marty Flichel. White, the sixth-year captain, began his Idaho career during the 2018-19 season and ranks third in franchise history with 329 points and 116 goals (including the team’s ECHL and WCHL eras).
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…December 11, 1981:
Refusing to listen to those who say he should retire, 39-year-old Muhammad Ali fights Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas. It was billed as “Drama In Bahama,” but other than going the distance, there wasn’t much drama in this bout. The fight was held in Nassau because no state in the U.S. would grant Ali a license after he was dominated by Larry Holmes the previous year in a technical knockout. The youthful Berbick, 18 pounds lighter than Ali, won a unanimous 10-round decision. Coming to grips with reality, that would be it for Ali, who retired with a record of 56-5.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
