The Milk Can trophy is up for grabs Saturday night, and Boise State walks into Fresno with a simple assignment: stop the streak.
No. 23 Boise State heads to Fresno State for a Pac-12 rivalry game that kicks off at 8:30 p.m.
Mountain time. Both teams are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in league play, and both arrive having won four straight.
The Broncos are listed as seven-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, but that number doesn’t change the reality in front of them - Fresno State has taken the last three meetings, including a 30-7 blowout at Albertsons Stadium last year.
Boise State coach Spencer Danielson knows exactly what kind of game this is.
“They play stingy defense,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said of the Bulldogs. “They disguise well, they play really, really hard.
They take the ball away on defense, they protect it at a high level on offense. … They’re playing really, really good football.”
The Broncos have handled noise before. They survived sellout crowds at Oregon and Western Michigan, but Danielson made it clear that Fresno brings a different kind of pressure, especially at Valley Children’s Stadium. Fresno State is 6-6 all-time at home against Boise State and has won three of the last four matchups there.
“They have one of the top home-game atmospheres in our conference,” Danielson said of Fresno State’s Red Wave crowd. “Have played there multiple times, and it’s a tough place to play.”
That makes composure part of the job. Boise State has to stay locked in and not let the setting pull it off script.
But the biggest football issue is bigger than the crowd. Boise State has been vulnerable to explosive plays all season, and that has to change fast.
Through five games, the Broncos have given up 14 plays of 40 yards or more. Even Utah State’s passing game found room last week, hitting four plays of 20-plus yards, including a 31-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that briefly tightened things up.
Fresno State has the kind of offense that can punish those lapses. Rayshon Luke and Bryson Donelson can both break off long runs, and the passing game has picked up steam with first-year starting quarterback Jayden Mandal connecting with Josiah Freeman and others for chunk gains. If Boise State lets those explosives leak through again, it could spend the night chasing the game.
The other side of the ball gives the Broncos a real opening. Fresno State’s defense has forced at least two turnovers in four of its five games, while Boise State has protected the ball well all season. The Broncos are tied for 20th nationally with only three turnovers, and quarterback Maddux Madsen has not thrown a giveaway while accounting for 12 total touchdowns.
If that ball security holds up, Boise State gives itself a strong chance to end the skid and take the Milk Can back home.
In Other News...
Boise State Has A Rivalry Problem It Must Fix At Fresno State
Boise State heads to Valley Childrens Stadium with more than a trophy on the line in the Milk Can rivalry game, carrying the burden of a three-game losing streak against Fresno State and the need to show it can handle this matchup again. Both teams have won four straight, which gives Saturdays game a little extra edge beyond the usual rivalry heat, and the Broncos will be trying to keep their own momentum from turning into another frustrating night in a series that has tilted the other way lately.
The injury report adds another layer to the buildup, with Boise States star backs still central to the game plan and Fresno State getting a boost from Rayshon Luke being cleared to play after leaving last weeks win with a concussion. Boise State also enters with a receiver situation to monitor, and in a game where field position and explosive plays can swing the whole rivalry, every available weapon matters as the Broncos look for a clean answer to a matchup that has given them trouble. [Read more 🡒]
Boise States New-Look Roster Faces An Early Test Before Opening Night
Boise State will get an early measuring stick for its revamped mens basketball roster when it faces in-state rival Idaho in an exhibition at Idaho Central Arena, the kind of tune-up that can reveal a lot before the games start counting. The Broncos still have two more exhibitions lined up against Washington and Bismarck State College before the official season opener on November 4, giving Leon Rice a few chances to sort through rotations, roles and chemistry with a group that looks different from a year ago.
Rice has already pointed toward a tougher style of play this season, and that makes these exhibitions more than just run-outs against outside competition. It also means Boise State will have to keep waiting to see how two of its most important transfer additions fit into the picture, a wrinkle that leaves the Broncos frontcourt and backcourt depth still very much a work in progress as opening night approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Still Has One Huge Test Before Its CFP Path Clears
Week 6 brings another round of sorting in the College Football Playoff chase, and Boise State remains part of the conversation rather than a finished product. The Broncos have put themselves in position to matter, but the schedule still has a way of testing whether that place in the projection picture is real or just temporary noise, especially with the national focus split across heavyweight games in the SEC, Big Ten and beyond.
For Boise State, the bigger issue is not just staying visible in the CFP debate but surviving the kind of matchup that can change the tone of a season in one night. Fresno State is lurking on the schedule, and the stakes around that game are obvious in a crowded race where one slip can undo weeks of momentum. Until that one is cleared, the Broncos are still chasing clarity as much as they are chasing the bracket. [Read more 🡒]