BOISE, Idaho — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on Sept. 20, 2021.
The Boise State football team getting ready to begin the Mountain West Conference slate of games in the 2021 schedule after starting the season 1-2 against three non-conference opponents.
The Broncos' start to the season is below the standard that Bronco Nation and the coaching staff hold the program up to, but, thankfully, Boise State still enters conference play with great potential, which they could live up to with consistency and both players and staff honing the offense's new style and schemes.
When the Broncos take on Utah State on Saturday, Boise State will be looking to extend its streak of 19-straight wins against Mountain Division opponents. For the Aggies, they'll be looking for their second win over the Broncos since the turn of the century.
Since their first matchup against each other in 1975, Boise State is 20-5 against Utah State. The Aggies' sole win against the Broncos since 2000 was in Logan, UT back in 2015. The Broncos had to cough up the ball eight times on offense for the Aggies to get the win at Maverik Stadium.
This year, Utah State will enter Saturday's contest with a 3-0 record, with wins over Washington State, North Dakota and Air Force.
Kick-off is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, one of the earliest start times for Boise State in recent memory. The Broncos might be used to playing under the lights at night, but the early morning won't be a major cause of concern for the team.
"It's going to be making sure, to be honest, in the few days before that we get to appropriate rest and we can get into bed at night," head coach Andy Avalos explained during his weekly press conference on Monday. "Getting the preparation we need and take care of our bodies so that when we do, when our two feet hit the ground on that Saturday morning we're ready, we're ready to roll."
Avalos said a few of the things that stand out about the Aggies as a team is their speed and they know how to run the ball effectively by using different run schemes. He added that the offense will use all 53-yards of the width of the field to their advantage by drawing defenders out of the box with the use of split wide receivers, where each of them is close to opposing sidelines.
"We're gonna have to be diligent with our coverage techniques and making sure that we're handling those, whether they're longer, deeper balls or underneath routes, we've got to do an unbelievable job at the finish, whether that's in coverage, or the finish in pursuit in tackling because there's going to be a lot of open-field tackles," Avalos explained.
The Aggies' wide receiving corps is led by senior wide receiver Deven Thompkins, who leads the NCAA in receiving yards with 454 yards. He also has three touchdowns on the season. On the ground, Utah State's running game is led by junior running back Calvin Tyler, Jr., who has 288 rushing yards on the season with an average of 6.1 yards per carry.
"We've got to do a good job understanding or spacing on the field. Playing with great eye control and playing with great leverage within the run game," Avalos said.
The Aggies' offense is statistically one of the best in the country, averaging 41 points per game and 563.3 total yards on offense per game.
Utah State's offense can force teams into mismatches with wide receivers, Avalos explained. With split wide receiver formations, they can force the opposing defense to take a defender out of the box, and the offense can take advantage of that by adding another runner on the offense by using quarterback runs, creating a mismatch between defenders and the blockers and ball carrier.
The box on defense is the area around the line of scrimmage that goes from the hash marks on the field on the side to where the quarterback stands at the bottom of the box and where the defense's linebackers are positioned, which forms the top of the box.
Boise State co-defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said in Monday's press conference that the defense will have a challenge on their hands against the Aggies' offense.
"They've got the weapons, they understand the schemes they are trying to do, they're gonna try and go extremely fast and use tempo, and they've got weapons that they're going to create space for 'em throughout the game," he said.
Danielson explained that the Aggies' use of spreading out the offense and going up-tempo has helped them create a lot of big plays because their schemes make sure the defense doesn't have layered protection, so if one defender misses, the Aggies will capitalize and create an explosive play.
He added that the offense for the Aggies "does one hell of a job."
On the other side of the ball for the Aggies, Boise State offensive coordinator Tim Plough said on Monday that Utah State has a bunch of talented players on defense and they'll prove to be a challenge on Saturday.
"They're an aggressive group for sure, very talented in the front, lot of speed, probably at all three levels one of the faster defenses we've seen on film and, and they're playing with a lot of confidence," Plough said.
For everything Bronco Nation needs to know about Boise State's game against Utah State, click or tap here for KTVB's Game Day Guide.
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