Boise State will walk into the 2026 season with a major test right out of the gate: a road trip to Oregon in just over two months.
The new Pac-12 member is coming off a 9-5 season and its third straight Mountain West title, but the opener won’t offer much breathing room. Oregon went 13-2 last year, reached the College Football Playoff semifinals and beat Boise State 37-34 in a Week 2 matchup at Autzen Stadium in 2024 on a last-second field goal. Both programs finished that season in the CFP.
FanDuel’s latest line has Oregon as a 24.5-point favorite.
With that matchup looming, Boise State’s projected Week 1 depth chart gives a clear look at what the Broncos are bringing back and where the turnover hit hardest.
On offense, six starters are back: quarterback Maddux Madsen, running back Dylan Riley, wide receiver Ben Ford, left guard Jason Steele, right guard Roger Carreon and right tackle Daylon Metoyer. The departures are just as notable, with wide receivers Chris Marshall and Latrell Caples, tight end Matt Lauter, left tackle Kage Casey and center Mason Randolph all gone from last season’s starting group.
The Broncos also have a pair of position battles worth watching. At one spot, Harry Stewart III and Juelz Goff are listed as the options, both sophomores. Another spot features Akeem Wright, a senior, or Qumonte Williams Jr., a sophomore.
Defensively, Boise State returns five starters: defensive end Max Stege, nose tackle David Latu, edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan, linebacker Boen Phelps and defensive back Jaden Mickey.
That unit also took some hits. The departed starters include defensive tackle Braxton Fely, linebacker Marco Notarainni, cornerbacks A’Marion McCoy and Jeremiah Earby, and safeties Ty Benefield and Zion Washington.
There’s another competition on that side of the ball as well, with junior Sherrod Smith or junior Franklyn Johnson Jr. projected for a spot in the lineup.
In Other News...
Boise State Faces One Massive Question In Its New PAC-12 Home
Boise States move into the rebuilt PAC-12 is official, and after 15 seasons in the Mountain West, the Broncos are stepping into a league that suddenly looks like a real force in the Group of Six race. The new PAC-12 now has eight football members, with five of them coming from the Mountain West, and the early read from SP+ is that the conference has more overall strength and better returning production than either the American Athletic Conference or the league Boise State just left behind.
The bigger question for the Broncos is how quickly that new home translates into a path back to the top of the national conversation. Boise State, Colorado State and Oregon State all look like teams that could take a step forward in preseason projections, and the conferences floor appears higher than most of its peers, with no team buried near the bottom nationally. Even so, the real test for Boise State is whether joining a more competitive, better-regarded league helps it separate from the pack or simply puts it in a deeper race for the same spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Faces One Season Question That Could Change Everything
Boise States 2024 season was shaped as much by the training room as the depth chart, with injuries hitting all over the roster and forcing the Broncos to keep adjusting on the fly. Eleven of 22 primary starters missed at least one game, and the ripple effect showed up in the way the offense and defense had to keep reshuffling pieces just to get through the year.
The biggest concern now is whether the Broncos can build enough defensive depth to avoid living that same script again. Players such as Jaden Mickey, Zion Washington, Ty Benefield and Jeremiah Earby were all part of the rotation questions that made health such a recurring issue, and Boise State knows that a more stable, deeper defense could change the ceiling of the entire season. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Officially Enters The Pac-12 In A Program Defining Moment
Boise States long-anticipated leap into the Pac-12 became official Wednesday, a program-defining step that gives the Broncos a new stage and a different level of weekly competition. The university marked the moment with a launch party at Albertsons Stadium, where donors, alumni, former student-athletes, university leaders and fans gathered to take in a move that has been years in the making.
Athletic director Jeramiah Dickey framed the switch as a direct match with Boise States identity and long-term vision, one tied to recruiting, exposure and the kind of reach the school has been chasing. It also opens the door to new rivalries and a clearer path to Pac-12 championship races, even if the full shape of that future will take some time to unfold. [Read more 🡒]