Boise State’s offense has been piling up points, but the Broncos’ defense has spent the last two weeks giving too much of it right back.
No. 24 Boise State has put together back-to-back season highs in scoring, yet the bigger story has been what’s happening after halftime. Over its last two games, Boise State has given up 70 second-half points, a stretch that nearly cost it against Texas State and exposed the same issues again in a win over Colorado State.
Now comes another major test. The Broncos host Oregon State on Saturday, and the Beavers bring the No. 1 passing offense in FBS into the matchup.
Head coach Spencer Danielson said Monday he knows exactly what has been dragging the defense down, even if fixing it has been another matter.
“It’s obviously explosive plays, and it’s consistency to do (your) job for four quarters,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. “If you look at every single play, there’s some really good snaps.
… If you can take five or six plays away from Saturday night, you feel a lot better. But you can’t, and those plays are out there.
And we are now playing a top-10 offense, we’re playing the No. 1-ranked passing offense, and we haven’t done good against it.”
The numbers back up the concern. Through nine games, Boise State sits near the bottom of the FBS in several key defensive categories, including No. 127 in yards per play allowed at 6.5, No. 129 in passing yards allowed at 265.8 per game and No. 136 in yards per completion allowed at 14.2.
The Broncos have also been beaten badly by chunk plays. They rank among the nation’s worst in allowing gains of 30 or more yards with 26, 40-plus yards with 19 and 50-plus yards with 12.
Against Colorado State last week, Boise State posted a season-worst missed tackle rate of 28 percent and gave up 12 explosive plays. A week earlier against Texas State, Brad Jackson burned the Broncos with touchdown throws of 44, 67 and 72 yards, plus a 35-yard rushing score.
“I know we have the right players, I know we have the right coaches, but we’ve got to be better,” Danielson said. “I don’t run from that … and we’ve got to get to work to figure out how we can play stingier defense than we have, especially with the team we’re playing (on Saturday).”
Danielson also stood behind defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and the rest of the defensive staff on Monday. Chinander moved upstairs last week after calling the defense from the sideline through the first eight games.
“A year ago, we won games because our defense played really, really well,” Danielson said. “This year, we’ve got to play better defense. I’ll be the first to raise my hand in regards to that.”
Chinander, for his part, believes the group is closer than the results suggest and said the biggest issue is turning moderate gains into massive ones.
“The thing I’ve got to figure out-and this is 100 percent on me-is why do the explosives, instead of going for 15 or 20 yards, go for 70?,” Chinander said on Monday. “I do think we’re a lot closer than the average eye thinks.”
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Boise State Is About To Test An Oregon State Defense In Flux
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For Boise State, that creates a familiar kind of opportunity, one built around a ground game that has already shown it can stress a defense. The Broncos will bring a strong group of running backs into the matchup, including Dylan Riley, and Oregon States response will say plenty about how quickly it can adjust after a shaky showing and how much stability it can find on the back end without Vadrawale. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon State Faces A Wide Open Chance In Boise State Shootout
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Oregon State comes in with consecutive losses, but this is also the sort of spot where a team can reset quickly if it finds a rhythm early. The Beavers will lean on Braden Atkinson and Jesse Legree to challenge Boise State through the air, while also trying to shore up a defense that will be tested by the Broncos' rushing attack, making this one of those games where the first few exchanges may say plenty about how wide open it really is. [Read more 🡒]