Boise State didn’t make it easy on itself Saturday night, but it did make sure the final score still came out the right way.
The Broncos, now 2-1, held off FCS South Dakota 38-24 in a home non-conference game, and head coach Spencer Danielson didn’t sugarcoat what he saw afterward. His message was plain: the win counts, but the performance left plenty on the table.
“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do,” Danielson said after the game. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to clean up, but I still do believe that we’re building.
And we have to. There’s going to be a lot of things that have to get fixed, but I do believe we are building.
“We did not play our best tonight. … We’ve got to get better.”
That was the tone throughout Danielson’s postgame comments. He said he told the team in the locker room that winning in college football is never something to dismiss, but he was just as direct about the messier parts of the night.
“I told our team in the locker room: We will never not celebrate a win because it is hard to win in college football. On the same hand, we have a lot to fix.
“I am proud of our team finding a way to win, and we’re going to be able to learn a lot of lessons from this win. But we obviously have a lot of things we have to learn from and grow from.
There’s a lot of points in that game where we tried to lose the game in certain situations. Uncharacteristic mistakes that come down to execution, and that’s on me, that’s on our staff, because our players are going to do what we ask of them.”
Danielson pointed to the defense in particular, saying there were stretches that looked strong and others that were flat-out ugly.
“It’s something that we have to execute better. It’s not good enough.
… There’s some really good parts in that game of us playing really good defense, and there’s some absolutely atrocious stuff on film. We’ve got to get it fixed.
We’re giving up way too many explosive plays, especially through the air right now. It has to change.
“Tonight-just speaking to tonight-we had a lack of leverage tonight at certain times. The first touchdown of the game was a lack of leverage. … We didn’t get enough pressure on the quarterback early on … and then we’ve got to be able to win our one-on-ones.”
The Broncos also left the game with some health questions. Danielson said Boise State has generally been in good shape on that front, but Saturday changed that a bit.
“We’ve been blessed with having a healthy squad. Throughout this game though, we had a bunch of guys get banged up. … There’s still a couple guys that I don’t know their status sitting here right now.
“I think (Gaines) is going to be fine, but there are probably three or four guys from the game that our trainers and doctors are going to continue to evaluate.”
Even with the uneven showing, Danielson framed the result as a team win and a useful one.
“We had a hard-fought team win. A lot of things to learn, but in the end, we won.”
True freshman wide receiver Rasean Jones said the game gave the Broncos a clearer view of what needs work while also showing they can battle through pressure.
“It was a great learning experience. I think it kind of showed us our flaws, possible things maybe we need to work on. I think we showed ourselves that we can stick it out to the end and fight through any kind of adversity or things like that.”
Jones also said Boise State made the kind of in-game changes that helped turn the night back in its favor.
“I think we just made a couple adjustments on the fly there. Just kind of looked at what they were doing and adjusted our game plan based off of that. And then we put together a couple good drives there that ended up in touchdowns.”
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Boise States quarterback board took a hit when Zeke Thomas, a three-star prospect from Willamette High School in Oregon, officially backed off his commitment. Thomas made the move public on social media and was careful to thank the Broncos coaching staff, a sign that the split appears to be more about the recruiting process than any hard feelings.
For Boise State, the timing matters because early quarterback pledges are often the kind of commitment staffs like to hold onto as they build a class around them. Thomas is already looking at other possibilities, including Oregon State, where he has recently taken unofficial visits, and the Broncos now have to regroup while watching where one of their top early targets lands next. [Read more 🡒]
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For Boise State, the backdrop adds to the pressure. The Broncos have not lost to an FCS opponent since 1997, a streak that does not get much public discussion until a game like this puts it in the spotlight. A win would keep that line intact and avoid an awkward early-season conversation, but South Dakotas balance gives this one a little more bite than a typical nonconference tuneup. [Read more 🡒]