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Boise State vs. UCF: Live blog, stats and fan guide

After getting "punched in the mouth" in Seattle, Boise State looks to capture a statement win Saturday against the high-powered UCF Knights on The Blue.

Zack Armstrong

AP

Published: 3:29 PM MDT September 6, 2023
Updated: 9:33 PM MDT September 9, 2023

GAME DAY GUIDE

On the heels of a brutal 56-19 loss at the hands of Washington to start the season, the Boise State football team has little time to reflect on what went wrong in Seattle. The Broncos are just days away from squaring off with another high-powered opponent – in need of a bounce-back win.

The Huskies hung the largest point total on Boise State since a 2007 overtime battle with Nevada. A pair of interceptions and poor special teams haunted the Broncos, who threw the ball 47 times while playing mostly from behind. Still, head coach Andy Avalos and Co. are confident in a rebound.

"That's the biggest part about any first game is the growth that comes from it, regardless of who you're playing. We got to see exactly where we're at and what're the things that we can continue to do better, and it was no different last year," Avalos said. "We got some unbelievable guys, a group that we know cares. We got a coaching staff that cares about these guys and we're looking forward – that's football."

It feels as though the Broncos are in a similar boat as one year ago, when Oregon State exposed some flaws in Boise State's secondary and ability to hit big plays on offense in the season opener. The Broncos learned from it, bounced back and become one of the best defenses, and teams, in the Mountain West on their way to 10 wins.

Instead of bouncing back against New Mexico and UT Martin, however, Boise State is tasked with bouncing back against a Big 12 Conference program led by Gus Malzahn in the University of Central Florida. The good news is, the Knights have to come to Albertsons Stadium for Saturday's 5 p.m. showdown. 

For the second-straight week, the Broncos have to tame an offense leading the nation in a major statistical category. The Knights' 389 rushing yards in week one ranks No. 1 in college football. UCF also posted 334 passing yards and 723 yards of total offense in a 56-6 win over Kent State last week. 

According to Boise State defensive coordinator, who put the blame of last week's performance on himself, said the Broncos remain in high spirits and they are eager to improve against another prolific offense. 

"Obviously, you get punched in the mouth the way we did on Saturday, it does motivate you. But more than anything, we know we're way better than that. There's a lot of different things from the past that we've learned, obviously, you don't like to go through a 56-point game to have to learn the lessons, but we are," Danielson said. "We have a group that's very hungry. We have a group that does not feel defeated – we have not lost our confidence …  Starting with me, (game plan) just gotta be clear for our guys, cause they care. They want to get it fixed, they want to be an elite defense – that's the standard here. Obviously, that was not even close to how we played on Saturday, and we're excited to get it fixed, just like we worked to get it fixed last season."

The season-opening loss called for a similar story on offense for the Broncos. There were flashes of good plays, especially from sophomore running back Ashton Jeanty, but Boise State was too inconsistent overall.

With feature back George Holani unavailable for a portion of the game, and because – again, they were playing from behind in the second half – the Broncos leaned on their passing game. Taylen Green completed 19-of-39 passes for 244 yards. He had one touchdown on a 50-yard screen to Jeanty, and a pair of interceptions. 

While the stats for Green were not terrible, there was not a huge leap forward displayed under first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan. This week, Hamdan said there's still a lot of positives from the offense, but they have work to do to be consistent for 60 minutes this Saturday.

"I think overall, (Green) has done a really, really good job of his growth since he got here. Mechanically, I feel like he's taken a big jump. Now, as we all know, the final step of this quarterback piece comes down to the decision-making," Hamdan said. "There were good decisions to be made, and he made a lot of them, but we've gotta just keep developing there. We know what it is at the quarterback position, you can be really good for a lot of reps, but the consistency of making those decisions over and over again is gonna be what you're judged off of. I think we're certainly ready to learn from that, grow and excited to get back out there on Saturday."

Scroll down for more information on Saturday's matchup, how to watch and listen to the game, odds and predictions, a breakdown of KTVB's coverage, a fan guide for those headed to Albertsons Stadium and more:

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