Boise State’s trip to Eugene turned into a mess before the Broncos even got to the field for Week 1.
What was supposed to be a Friday afternoon arrival for the game against No. 2 Oregon got thrown off by heavy rain at Eugene Airport.
According to 247Sports’ B.J. Rains, the Boise State team plane made several attempts to land before being diverted to Portland International Airport.
The original plan was to refuel in Portland and then fly back to Eugene, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Boise State ended up getting off the plane and taking buses down to Eugene instead.
That’s where the delays kept piling up. The buses were not waiting in Portland, because they were already in Eugene. Once the Broncos finally reach Portland, they could still be looking at roughly a three-hour ride to their hotel, with Friday night traffic on Interstate 5 likely adding to the problem.
Because of all that, Boise State may not get to its team hotel until after 10 p.m.
There’s also the time change to deal with. Boise is in Mountain time, which is one hour ahead of Eugene, so the Broncos are already adjusting before they even kick off.
For a Boise State team listed as a 24.5-point underdog, the travel chaos is hardly the ideal setup.
The good news for both teams is that rain is not expected to be an issue by the 12:30 p.m. PT kickoff on CBS, though the turf could still be damp.
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