No. 23 Boise State heads into its bye week at the exact spot a team wants in late September: riding a five-game win streak, sitting at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play, and tied with Oregon State atop the league standings.
The Broncos’ lone loss came in Week 1 at Oregon, and since then they’ve settled in and started looking like the team many expected them to be. The best news for Boise State is that the offense has found a real identity, and it starts on the ground.
Dylan Riley has turned into the engine of the attack. The third-year junior leads the FBS with 127 carries for 835 yards and six touchdowns, and he’s added 11 catches for 120 yards and another score.
Sire Gaines has been nearly as dangerous despite missing two games with a wrist injury. He returned last week against Fresno State and immediately popped for season highs with 20 carries and 120 yards.
For Boise State, the pairing gives the Broncos a true one-two punch that helps them dictate tempo and grind defenses down.
That ground game is getting major help from an offensive line that entered the season with plenty of questions. Boise State had new starters at left tackle, left guard and center, with Tyler Ethridge, Carson Rasmussen and Stewart Taufa stepping in alongside veterans Roger Carreon at right guard and Daylon Metoyer at right tackle.
Ethridge and Taufa made immediate impressions, Rasmussen held up well before suffering an undisclosed injury, and Jason Steele has started the past two games without any drop-off. Carreon has emerged as arguably the best offensive lineman in the Pac-12, and Metoyer keeps trending up at right tackle.
The result has been a line that’s controlling the point of attack and giving Maddux Madsen the protection he needs.
Madsen has taken full advantage. The fifth-year senior is posting the best numbers of his career, completing 110 of 166 passes for 1,296 yards with 13 touchdowns and no turnovers.
He’s also added 110 rushing yards and a score. With opposing defenses locked in on stopping Boise State’s run game, Madsen has punished them through the air far more consistently than he has in past seasons.
There are still issues to clean up, and the biggest one is on defense. Boise State’s tackling was sharp against Oregon, but it has slipped badly over the last five games.
That showed up again against Fresno State, when Ezekiel Avit turned missed tackles into a 59-yard touchdown catch-and-run. It was the 15th play of at least 40 yards that Boise State has allowed this season.
Last year’s Broncos were already one of the worst tackling teams in the country, and that problem clearly still needs attention during the bye.
Special teams, at least, are no longer a concern. Kicker Canaan Moore has been perfect on PATs, going 23 for 23, and has hit 9 of 10 field goals with a long of 49 yards.
He drilled all three of his field goal tries against Fresno State. Punter Oscar Doyle has also given Boise State steady production, leading the Pac-12 with a 43.8-yard average and putting six of his 14 punts inside the 20.
In Other News...
Boise States Biggest Defensive Concern Could Finally Get Exposed After The Bye
Boise States defense has spent the season looking better in the broad numbers than it sometimes feels in real time. The Broncos have held up well in overall Pac-12 statistical rankings, and their ball-control offense has done plenty of heavy lifting by keeping the defense on the sideline and the game on Boise States terms. That formula has helped cover for a unit that has otherwise shown a clear weakness when opponents do break free.
The concern now is whether the bye only delays the reckoning. Colorado State, Oregon State and Texas State are all waiting on the other side, and those are the kinds of matchups that can stress a defense in ways a slower pace usually masks. Oregon State stands out as the most daunting of the bunch, with an offense that can force the Broncos out of their comfort zone and make those hidden cracks much harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Has A New Milk Can Controversy Fans Will Hate
Boise States rivalry keeps finding new ways to get under fans skin, and this one is a doozy. After Fresno States 2023 win, the Bulldogs had a new Milk Can made, replacing the original trophy that had tracked the history of football victories between the two schools for years. The old version, complete with all of the previous plaques, stayed in Fresno, while the updated one is the trophy Boise State now gets back.
What makes the switch sting for Broncos fans is simple: the new Milk Can does not tell the full story anymore. Boise State and Fresno State have both confirmed the change, and Boise State is aware that some of the older plaques are missing from the version in circulation now. For a rivalry that already carries plenty of pride, even the trophy itself has become part of the argument. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Has A Real Pac-12 Edge Fans Need To See
Boise State has spent the early part of the season looking like more than just another name in the rebuilt Pac-12 picture. At 5-1, the Broncos sit well in the mix alongside Oregon State, with both programs showing up near the top of the league in the numbers that tend to matter most. Boise State holds the edge in ESPNs FPI and SP+ rankings, while Oregon State has made its case with the conferences best scoring offense and total defense.
The race should only sharpen over the next stretch, starting with Oregon State hosting Washington State and Fresno State heading to San Diego State. For Boise State, the path gets even more interesting soon enough, and the matchup that may tell the most about where this league is headed is still waiting down the road. [Read more 🡒]