BOISE, Idaho — San Jose State’s Chevan Cordeiro is good at passing. That’s not a good omen for the Boise State defense. We said the same thing last week about Seth Henigan of Memphis. The thing is, the Broncos started well against the pass last week—well in general on defense. Then came the dreaded explosives, long plays that have been killing Boise State all season. Like a 53-yard gain on a deep throw and a 59-yard touchdown pass. And a 24-yard scramble by Henigan and a back-breaking 21-yard run on a third-and-seven late in the fourth quarter. Cordeiro hasn’t quite caught fire this season for the Spartans, throwing for 204 yards per game with six touchdowns against two interceptions. But what do you think he’s seeing on film this week? The Broncos have allowed 289 yards per game and 10 TDs through the air.
SPARTANS LOOK FOR ANOTHER MILESTONE
San Jose State is one of five Mountain West teams that has never won in Boise (the others are Colorado State, Wyoming, Hawaii and UNLV). In fact, the Spartans have only one victory ever over the Broncos—but it happened to be the last time they played, in the 2020 Mountain West championship game. There are eight players still on the Boise State roster who played in that bitter 34-20 defeat in Las Vegas: Riley Smith, Markel Reed, Billy Bowens, Tyler Crowe, Jonah Dalmas, DJ Schramm, Stefan Cobbs and Michael Callahan. How long are their memories? You know how badly SJSU wants to conquer the Blue. And the Spartans are coming off a bye.
BRONCOS HOPING THIS ENDS WELL
Shocker—quarterback talk has dominated Boise State football discussions since coach Andy Avalos’ weekly presser. There’s the old adage: if you have two QBs, you have none. Well, Avalos says he expects that both Taylen Green and Maddux Madsen will play this Saturday against San Jose State after Madsen led two fourth quarter touchdown drives in the 35-32 loss at Memphis. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan confirmed it. “We gotta utilize both of them,” said Hamdan. “They both deserve to play.” They could even play on the same drive, depending on the situation, rather than trading possessions. And social media is on fire. The simple solution is to start Green, just like always, and then bring in Madsen to change things up. Acknowledge that Green is a rare talent while saluting Madsen for the solid job he’s done.
As far as the Green-Madsen issue goes, to me it just felt like a situational thing when Madsen entered the game with just over 11 minutes to go and Boise State trailing 28-17. The Broncos needed points, and they needed to pass the ball to get them, and Madsen is the more dependable thrower. But as factions of fans divide into Team Taylen and Team Mad-Dog, a reminder that you’re still allowed to be just Team Bronco. There are seven games left.
ASHTON JEANTY’S 2023 JAUNT
Where would we be without an Ashton Jeanty update this week? The spotlight has drifted away from Jeanty, what with Boise State’s quarterback controversy percolating. Jeanty is now second nationally in all-purpose yards after Memphis threw everything at him last Saturday. But he still had a combined 135 yards and is averaging 165 per game. Jeanty is leading the country in scoring, though, with 12 touchdowns and 14.4 points per game. And he’s tops in the Mountain West in rushing by itself, averaging just under 99 yards per game. So how is San Jose State against the run as we look ahead to Saturday night’s game on the Blue? Well, the Spartans are allowing 216 yards per game on the ground. Hmmmm. They have already faced Air Force, though. That’s not going to help anybody’s stats.
BOISE STATE IS SMACK IN THE MIDDLE
Avert your ears if you don’t want to know where Boise State is this week on The Athletic’s list of all 133 FBS teams. Yes, the Broncos are in unfamiliar territory (at least in relation to the last 20-plus years) as Chris Vannini has them at No. 67. There’s a clear top three that has separated itself from the Mountain West pack: Fresno State at No. 35, Air Force at No. 37 and Wyoming at No. 42. Boise State plays all three in this year’s conference rotation. There’s already a head-to-head comparison, as the Falcons blasted San Diego State 49-10 Saturday. Note that the Fresno State-Wyoming game Saturday night has been selected to air in prime time on Fox. It’s not lost on local fans that this was the kind of announcement that used to come out of Boise State. But dem’s da cards that have been dealt in 2023.
LVE FINDS THE END ZONE, MATTISON IN A GROOVE
Time out from the Boise State quarterback controversy. Let’s go to Broncos alumni in the NFL, because there were two cool things that happened over the weekend. The one you’ve probably seen is Leighton Vander Esch’s scoop-and-score in the Dallas Cowboys’ 38-3 rout of New England. It’s Vander Esch’s first touchdown since he was a senior at Salmon River High School 10 years ago. And it’s hard not to be happy for Alexander Mattison after what he’s been through. Mattison, the subject of racist vitriol after a Week 1 fumble, rushed for 95 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt in the Minnesota Vikings’ 21-13 win over Carolina. One carry was classic Mattison, a 17-yard tackle-breaking burst that got the Vikings out of a hole at their own four-yard line. Can I say…good for him?
CBS, WITHOUT ‘SPORTS NETWORK’ AFTER IT
It’s kind of 1988 all over again with Boise State sports. Men’s basketball is the shiny object, and that was magnified Tuesday when the Mountain West released its TV schedule. The Broncos have 12 of their 18 conference games on national TV, plus the neutral site game against Saint Mary’s in Idaho Falls in December. The plum is Saturday, January 20, when the game against NCAA Tournament runnerup San Diego State will air on, as they say, Big Boy CBS. That’ll be Brunch With The Broncos, as the tipoff time is set for 11 a.m. Not that there isn’t a lot of fun still to be had with football this fall, but who isn’t looking forward to winter?
ECK BLASTS UP THE LADDER
Jason Eck has now won as many games as Tom Cable did in his entire four-year stint as Idaho head coach 20 years ago, moving to 11-6 after the Vandals ran past Eastern Washington 44-36 on the Inferno turf last Saturday. Cable was 11-35 from 2000-03. It’s only going to get better for Eck, as Idaho is heavily-favored to drill Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo this week. The Vandals proved last week that when quarterback Gevani McCoy is quiet, the running game can be loud. They rushed for 363 yards against the Eagles, with national FCS Offensive Player of the Week Anthony Woods going for 183 yards and five touchdowns and Rocky Mountain grad Nick Romano adding 129. The victory vaulted Idaho to No. 3 in the FCS Coaches Poll behind South Dakota State and Montana State.
YOTES AFTER DARK
This week it’s something entirely different for College of Idaho football: a night game. The Coyotes face Frontier Conference newcomer Arizona Christian on the road Saturday night with an 8 p.m. kickoff (our time). The high in Glendale Saturday is forecast to be 98. So that’s why they play night games. By C of I’s count, this is only the fifth night game since the Yotes revived football in 2014—and the first since 2018. The Yotes are trying to keep pace in the Frontier race after a stampede of a rally carried them past Rocky Mountain College 45-21 last Saturday in Caldwell. The ACU Firestorm are 2-3 after being blanked 34-0 at Eastern Oregon last week.
HOCKEY TIME IS NEAR
The Idaho Steelheads open training camp on Monday at Idaho Central Arena, coming off the best regular season in franchise history. A product of that is the 2023-24 roster, which as of now features an amazing 13 returning players from last season’s club, far more returners than at any time in the organization’s 25 years. And Steelheads play-by-play man Cam McGuire says there could be more. McGuire cites Boise as a magnet. “Guys love playing here—it’s arguably the best place in the ECHL to play,” said McGuire. “It comes from the organization, the fan support, and so many things to do in the Boise area.”
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…October 4, 2003, 20 years ago today:
A record-shattering day for Boise State in Ruston, LA. Ryan Dinwiddie became the first Bronco ever to throw for over 500 yards in a game, amassing 532 in BSU’s 43-37 win over Louisiana Tech. The senior quarterback was 40-of-60 on the day, on his way to 2003 WAC Offensive Player of the Year honors. Meanwhile, wide receiver Tim Gilligan broke a 30-year-old Bronco standard with 16 receptions. As a team, the Broncos set marks with 569 passing yards overall and 732 in total offense.
(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.)
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