Boise State will be without two important pieces when it meets Texas State on Saturday night: running back Sire Gaines and left guard Carson Rasmussen.
Gaines, who was in a walking boot on his left leg after last week’s 31-10 win over Washington State, had been listed as questionable in Wednesday’s initial player availability report. By Saturday, Boise State had officially ruled him out for the Pac-12 matchup at Albertsons Stadium, where kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Mountain time.
The third-year sophomore carried the ball 10 times for 64 yards and a touchdown against the Cougars. For the season, he has 75 carries for 418 yards and five total touchdowns.
His absence should mean a heavier workload for Dylan Riley, who enters the game as the Pac-12’s leading rusher. Riley has 140 carries for 963 yards and nine total touchdowns.
Rasmussen’s loss is another blow up front. He started Boise State’s first four games at left guard before suffering an undisclosed injury in the Broncos’ 32-7 road win over Western Michigan.
Head coach Spencer Danielson said Rasmussen could still return later in the season.
“We’ll see,” Danielson told local media on Thursday. “It’s not going to be anytime soon, but we’ll see. He’s a relentless competitor and hopefully we get him back at some point later in the year.”
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Rasmussen arrived as a three-star prospect and 247Sports’ No. 3 overall player in Idaho out of Owyhee High School in 2023. He chose Boise State over offers from Air Force, Army and San Diego State. After redshirting in 2023, he played in 27 total games over the next two seasons as a reserve before winning the starting job in fall camp.
With Rasmussen sidelined, fourth-year lineman Jason Steele will make his fourth straight start at left guard. Steele, who is 6-foot-4 and 313 pounds, came into the fall with 12 career starts at center and left guard and opened the 2026 season as Boise State’s swing interior lineman.
“I am so proud of Jason Steele,” Danielson said last week. “Poured into his team, supported his team, continued to work his tail off, and now he’s a starter.
“When you continue to pound the rock and do what you’re supposed to, it works out. Sometimes not in the timing we want, that’s life.
But if you don’t give up, you reap the harvest. And Jason is reaping the harvest.”
Wide receiver Ben Ford and tight end Austin Terry are available for Saturday’s game, and no other Broncos appeared on the game day player availability report.
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