BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State Broncos and San Jose State Spartans will meet in Las Vegas on Saturday to decide this year's Mountain West Conference football champion.
The game is set to kick off at 2:40 p.m. MT and will be televised nationally on Fox.
It will mark the fourth-consecutive appearance in the Mountain West Championship for Boise State and the first-ever appearance for San Jose State.
The No. 25 Spartans (6-0 MW) will also be looking for their first-ever victory over the Broncos. The teams had been set to play at Albertsons Stadium on Nov. 28 but that game was canceled due to COVID-19 cases and contact tracing within the Boise State football program.
The Broncos (5-1, 5-0 MW) are coming off a 17-9 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys during a blizzard in Laramie. Given the whiteout conditions, there wasn't much in the way of highlight-reel plays, but Boise State managed to keep the game out of reach for the home team Cowboys.
And despite the snowstorm, Khalil Shakir continued to shine, pulling in 8 catches for 105 yards, while Hank Bachmeier completed 68 percent of his passes, going for 181 yards with one touchdown versus one interception.
On defense the Broncos held Wyoming's offense in check, limiting the Cowboys to just 146 total yards, the fewest allowed in a true road game in the last decade. The Pokes managed to complete just four passes the entire game, the fewest against the Broncos by a non-triple option team in 20 years.
Weather won't be a factor when Boise State faces San Jose State at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas this weekend. It'll just be the two best teams in the conference going toe-to-toe for the conference title.
"We're looking forward to traveling, and being there in Vegas and playing at Sam Boyd Stadium against a very good team," Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said on Monday. "This is why you work so hard, to be in a game like this and to be able to play for a championship. You expect that the other team is going to be very good, which is exactly the case and we wouldn't want it any other way."
The Spartans, who were picked to finish 10th in preseason media polls, have been surprisingly good this season. They capped off the regular season with a 30-20 come-from-behind over Nevada on Friday night and are 6-0 for the first time in more than 80 years.
Running back Tyler Nevens, who is averaging 8.9 yards-per-carry this season, broke off two 69-yard runs against the Wolf Pack while quarterback Nick Starkel threw for 306 yards, two touchdowns against one interception.
The gutsy win over Nevada vaulted SJSU into both the AP and coaches polls on Sunday at No. 25.
Coach Brent Brennan said during his news conference on Monday that, though his team was disappointed about the canceled game last month, they are excited to finally meet the Broncos on the field.
"We are playing the best team in the Mountain West Conference and has been for a long time," Brennan said. "It's the first time that we've ever played in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game and we've been in the conference for eight years.
The Spartans went 1-11 just two years ago, a fact that makes playing in the title game all the more special for the team.
"The senior leadership on this team, a lot of the younger players that went through the struggle with us, of our first few years here, are now juniors and seniors," Brennan said. "Those guys have been through the hard times, they know what it's like to go 1-11."
GAME INFORMATION
Boise State at No. 25 San Jose State
- Saturday, Dec. 19
- Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Kickoff: 2:40 p.m. MT
ON TV
The game will be televised on Fox (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman), which can be found on the following channels:
- Off-air (antenna): KNIN Channel 9 (digital channel 9.1)
- Sparklight: Channel 9 / 1009 (HD)
- DirecTV: Channel 9
- Dish Network: Channel 9
- Cox: Channel Channel 6 / 1006 (HD)
ON THE RADIO
Fans can listen to the game on the Bronco Radio Network (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender) online or on the following stations in the Boise area:
- KBOI 670 AM in Boise
- KTIK 93.1 FM in Boise
- KDZY 98.3 FM in McCall
- KSNQ 98.3 FM in Twin Falls
Here is a list of Bronco Radio Network stations outside the Boise area.
STREAMING
The game will stream live on the Fox Sports website, as well on the Fox Sports mobile app, available in Apple and Android app stores. The service is only available to subscribers of participating cable or satellite television providers (including Sparklight, Dish Network, DirecTV, Hulu, Fubo and more).
BRONCO ROUNDUP GAMEDAY
KTVB's Bronco Roundup Game Day show will be live from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KTVB, KTVB.COM, and on the KTVB mobile app.
Jay Tust and Will Hall will look at all of the major storylines surrounding this highly-anticipated matchup.
POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
KTVB will live stream the post-game press conference on KTVB.COM, the KTVB YouTube channel and on the KTVB mobile app.
Interviews with coach Bryan Harsin and players will be posted online soon after the press conference ends, so you can watch the press conference whenever and wherever you want.
Stay tuned to KTVB.COM after the game for a game recap, highlights, and slideshow from the game.
ALL-CONFERENCE BRONCOS
The Mountain West Conference announced its all-conference team on Tuesday, and the Broncos are well-represented with 15 players combining for a league-high 17 honors.
The list of ALL-MW Broncos is highlighted by Avery Williams who was named Special Teams Player of the Year for the second-consecutive year. He also earned first-team all-league honors at defensive back, punt returner and kick returner.
Junior wide receiver Khalil Shakir also picked up first-team all-conference honors.
Boise State had a pair of second-team all-league honorees on offense in linemen John Ojukwu and Jake Stetz and four on defense – defensive end Shane Irwin, linebacker Riley Whimpey, nickel Kekaula Kaniho and cornerback Jalen Walker.
With 10 first- and second-team players, the Broncos tied with Nevada for the most in the conference.
Seven Broncos picked up honorable mentions in the conference awards: tight end John Bates, offensive lineman Garrett Curran, kicker Jonah Dalmas, defensive tackle Scott Matlock, linebacker Ezekiel Noa, wide receiver CT Thomas and running back Andrew Van Buren.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
With Boise State running back George Holani having missed a large chunk of the season due to injury, the Broncos' running game has been somewhat lackluster. Holani returned against Wyoming but left the game midway and did not return. Meanwhile, Spartans running back Tyler Nevins is firing on all cylinders this season. As KTVB sports analyst Tom Scott writes in his Tuesday Scott Slant column, the run game will likely be a major factor in deciding the winner on Saturday:
With the health of Boise State running back George Holani in question, we have an instant key to Saturday’s Mountain West championship game against San Jose State in Las Vegas. The Broncos must run and stop the run, and it won’t be as easy to stop it as it was at Wyoming without snow this week. Coach Bryan Harsin said Monday he expects Holani to be ready to go against the Spartans, but count me skeptical. Holani did not look good when he left the field in Laramie. That would leave it in the hands of Andrew Van Buren again. Van Buren rushed for a game-high 79 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Cowboys, but it took him 26 carries to do it. He’s averaging just 3.6 yards per attempt for the season. The positive: Van Buren continues to lead the Mountain West in rushing touchdowns with eight.
San Jose State’s Tyler Nevens, on the other hand, has delivered one explosive play after another. Van Buren’s longest run of the season is 17 yards—Nevens averages more than half of that every time he carries the ball: 8.9 yards per tote. In the past two games, he has rushed for 336 yards on just 28 carries. In the second half blitz against Nevada last week, Nevens busted off two 69-yard runs, one of them a touchdown leading to the 30-20 victory. Numbers are close between the Broncos and Spartans passing games. Stopping the run has to be the differentiator for Boise State. Statistically, San Jose State is better at it, yielding 127.5 yards per game to the Broncos’ 183.5.
BOWL GAME STAKES
The Arizona Bowl announced on Monday that the winner of Saturday's Mountain West Championship game will play in the Dec. 31 bowl at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
This comes after the inaugural LA Bowl, which had been set to host the conference champion, announced that the game will be canceled this year due to the pandemic.
If the winner of the title game is now headed to Arizona, where will the loser play? The leading candidate right now appears to be the First Responder Bowl in Dallas on Dec. 26.
Bronco Nation will remember that's the same bowl game that, in 2018, got delayed in the first quarter - and then canceled altogether - due to lightning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
BRONCOS-SPARTANS SERIES
When Boise State and San Jose State meet in the title game this Saturday, the Spartans will be looking for their first-ever win against the Broncos.
Boise State is 14-0 in the all-time series.
Over the years, only a few of the games between these two teams have been close. Since the Broncos moved up to the FBS in 1996, they have beaten the Spartans by an average score of 45 to 18.5, with the most lopsided win coming in a 77-14 blowout on the Blue in 2003. The closest game between the teams was a 23-20 Broncos win in 2006.
Last year's game between the squads ended with a 52-42 Broncos win at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose.
Boise State's all-time record against San Jose State:
- Nov. 2, 2019 - W - 52-42 (San Jose)
- Nov. 4, 2016 - W - 45-31 (Boise)
- Nov. 27, 2015 - W - 40-23 (San Jose)
- Oct. 16, 2010 - W - 48-0 (San Jose)
- Oct. 31, 2009 - W - 45-7 (Boise)
- Oct. 24, 2008 - W - 33-16 (San Jose)
- Nov. 3, 2007 - W - 42-7 (Boise)
- Nov. 11, 2006 - W - 23-20 (San Jose)
- Oct. 15, 2005 - W - 38-21 (Boise)
- Nov. 13, 2004 - W - 56-49 (San Jose)
- Oct. 25, 2003 - W - 77-14 (Boise)
- Oct. 26, 2002 - W - 45-8 (San Jose)
- Nov. 17, 2001 - W - 56-6 (Boise)
- Oct. 14, 1978 - W - 30-15 (Boise)
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