Boise State’s 2026 ceiling may be tied to one familiar name: Maddux Madsen.
As the Broncos enter camp, the biggest swing factor on offense is whether Madsen can turn a solid senior season into something bigger. Boise State looks equipped around him.
The backfield is deep, the offensive line should hold up well and there’s a fresh group of weapons ready to work. That sets the floor.
Madsen is what can raise it.
The case for optimism is easy to see. Last season, Madsen helped Boise State win seven games, completing 61% of his throws for 1,847 yards, 17 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. He averaged 9.3 yards per attempt, and in four of those seven wins he posted a PFF grade above 80, which is typically a strong single-game mark.
But the other side of the ledger is hard to ignore. In the three losses where he saw significant action - USF, Notre Dame and Washington - his production fell off sharply. He completed 53% of his passes in those games, finished with fewer than 230 passing yards in each one, averaged 4.7 yards per attempt and threw 1 touchdown against 6 interceptions while also losing 2 fumbles.
That split tells the story of Madsen’s place in Boise State’s offense. He has been good enough to win in the Mountain West, and the Broncos went undefeated in conference games when he started and finished. The problem is that he has not yet been the kind of quarterback who can push Boise State past top non-conference opponents.
That’s the next step now. Boise State’s goals have moved from winning a bowl game to winning a CFP game to winning a national championship, and if the Broncos are going to get anywhere close, Madsen has to play at a higher level.
The clearest area for growth is in the drop-back passing game. Madsen has been excellent off play action over the last two seasons, throwing 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions with 9.7 yards per attempt. Take away play action, though, and the numbers dip hard: 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and 6.7 yards per attempt.
That matters because Boise State needs more from him on standard passing downs. His 6.6 yards per attempt on non-play-action throws last season ranked 86th nationally.
Part of that comes down to the receiver group, but the numbers were still similar in 2025 even with Cameron Camper and a healthy Latrell Caples. If the Broncos can turn that area from below average into a top-30 unit, it changes how defenses have to play them.
The other obvious pressure point is the quick game. Madsen has gotten more attention for the deep ball, and while he throws it less often than many quarterbacks, he has been solid on throws 20 or more yards downfield.
The trouble came on throws between the line of scrimmage and 10 yards downfield. In that range, Madsen completed 67.5% of his passes, which ranked 134th nationally, and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt, 72nd nationally, with 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. His PFF grade on those short-area throws was 59.4, which ranked 112th in the FBS.
Drops played a role there. Boise State’s drop rate in the short area was 13.5%, 11th-worst nationally.
Even so, Madsen was still 105th in adjusted completion percentage on throws 0-9 yards downfield when drops and throwaways were accounted for. When the layups are there, Boise State needs him to cash them in more often.
That becomes even more important with Matt Wagner and Cameron Bates expected to have big roles in the passing game. The Broncos need those players to get the ball in space, with room to create. Boise State could use more of a downfield presence, but the bigger issue is simply connecting more often on the throws it already relies on.
Health is the final piece. Madsen missed time in 2023 and 2025 because of injury, and some of his limited production last season, especially against Air Force and Nevada, was clearly affected by that. If Boise State is going to make a real CFP push, it likely needs him to stay on the field for all 12 games.
So the season comes back to one question: can Maddux Madsen clean up the short game and become a more reliable non-play-action passer? If he can, Boise State has a real shot to get back to the CFP.
If he can’t, another 8-4 type season is very much on the table. In a tighter-than-ever PAC-12 landscape, that development may be the difference between a special year and one that just feels decent.
In Other News...
Boise State Faces One Brutal Test In Its CFP Push
Boise State enters the new season trying to reset after a 9-5 finish in 2025 and with the larger goal still clear: get back into the College Football Playoff. The Broncos know the answer has to come from everywhere, not just one side of the ball, with quarterback play, tackling and a rebuilt secondary all marked as key areas to clean up as they move deeper into the PAC-12.
The schedule is not going to make that task easier. Boise States transition into the new conference brings a tougher week-to-week grind, and that leaves the Broncos with little margin for the kind of uneven stretches that hurt them a year ago. If they are going to turn a promising offseason plan into a real CFP push, they will have to prove it against a level of competition that can expose any lingering flaws. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Riley Just Gave Boise State Fans A Reason To Smile
Dylan Riley gave Boise State fans a little extra reassurance this week by making clear where his head is at heading into the next stretch of his career. The junior running back, who led the Broncos in carries and rushing yards last season, said he feels a deep loyalty to the program and the people who believed in him, pointing back to the advice his late father gave him about staying true to those who support you.
For a team that has relied on Riley as one of its most productive pieces, that kind of commitment matters. He acknowledged there has been outside interest from other programs, but the message he sent was simple: money will not be the reason he walks away from Boise State, leaving the Broncos with at least one important answer even as the bigger picture around his future still hangs in the air. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Carries New Pac-12 Pressure Into Another CFP Push
Boise State heads into 2026 with a different kind of spotlight, and it is one the program knows well by now. The Broncos sit atop the reassembled Pac-12 in a preseason look at the Group of Six landscape, a nod to how much they have mattered in this space for years and how quickly the conference picture has shifted around them. In a ranking built from preseason ESPN FPI and Brian Fremeaus efficiency metrics, Boise State is the clear reference point for the league, with its path to another College Football Playoff push tied to the standard it has already set.
The bigger question is how that pressure lands once the season actually starts, especially with other Group of Six powers lining up behind them. UTSA is positioned to lead the American, James Madison is the favorite in the Sun Belt, UNLV headlines the Mountain West and Liberty is the name to watch in Conference USA, all part of a broader race shaped by coaching changes, returning players and a lot of preseason projection. For Boise State, the appeal is obvious: every week now comes with the expectation of looking like a playoff-caliber team, and the margin for anything less will be thin. [Read more 🡒]