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Boise State Looks Ready For Another Double-Digit Victory Season
Going through the Broncos schedule
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Will Boise State Win 10-Plus Games Again?
College football is right around the corner and the Boise State Broncos are gearing up for another campaign. Gone is four-year starting quarterback Brett Rypien, a superstar running back in Alexander Mattison, and defensive coordinator Andy Avalos and a host of stalwart senior contributors. However, Boise State is not without talent and head coach Bryan Harsin has an exciting young team ready for the upcoming campaign.
In 2019, Boise State will face their usual foes from the rest of the Mountain West Mountain division along with annual rival Brigham Young University and welcome back cross-division opponents Hawaii, San Jose State, and UNLV after a two-year break. Boise State will also face FCS opponent Portland State after opening the year with traditional college football power Florida State and fellow strong group of 5 opponent Marshall.
Here is your 2019 schedule primer:
Opponent: Florida State
Date: August 31, 2019
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Time: 5 PM MST
TV: ESPN
ESPN FPI Predictor: 28.3% chance to win
2018 Record: 5-7
All Time Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: Not Applicable
This is not your dad’s Seminoles and Bobby Bowden is long gone. Florida State is coming off an underwhelming 5-7 year that did not end in a bowl game. It would be a mistake however to discount this squad. Coach Willie Taggart is entering his second year, the season most coaches will see a noticeable positive bounce and will look to put his mark on the program after having a reset year.
The Seminoles do have some unproven question marks especially at quarterback and offensive line but have a slew of highly ranked and athletic players. Especially of concern is the Florida State defense which has talented athletes and their wide receivers who have a tremendous amount of speed.
https://twitter.com/FSUFootball/status/1159114718566592514
ESPN’s predictor has Boise State as a huge underdog and the current line has Boise State at +4. This is going to be a tough game for the Broncos. While it somewhat more likely than not that Boise State will have trouble in this game, it is not inconceivable that the Broncos leave Jacksonville (Florida State chose to move their home contest to another part of the state and away from their home campus) with a victory.
Bear in mind that Boise State will be starting a relatively unproven quarterback and new feature running back and it may be too much of a tall task to win this road game in week 1.
Confidence Meter: eh, it will be tough. If Boise State loses, which is likely, they will still have the rest of the year in front of us. If the Broncos can pull of this upset however, it will be a great shot in the arm and will place quite a bit of national spotlight on Boise. Coach Harsin and Boise State have defeated longer odds before.
Opponent: Marshall
Date: Friday February 6, 2019
Location: Boise, ID
Time: 7 PM MST
TV: ESPN 2
ESPN FPI Predictor: 80.8% chance to win
2018 Record: 9-4
All Time Record: Boise State 1-0
Last Meeting: Boise State 28, Marshall 24 (Boise, Idaho, 1994)
Marshall was one of the contenders to be the ‘next Boise State’ when they won 10, 13, and 10 games respectively from 2013 to 2015. Then the Thundering Herd went 3-9 in 2016 and flamed out as many ‘next Boise State claimants’ seem to do. Head Coach Doc Holliday has his team back on track and went 9-4 in 2018.
Like most schools, Marshall loses some players to graduation but do bring back feature back Tyler King and starting quarterback Isaiah Green; both are solid players. Marshall will play Boise State on a Friday night airing on ESPN2.
Marshall will have a glorified scrimmage against Virginia Military Institute in week 1 before facing the Broncos.
Confidence Meter: Likely win. ESPN likes Boise State to win this game quite easily and I would concur but there are a couple of concerns that don’t necessarily have to do with the Thundering Herd personnel. Boise State will be facing Marshall on a short week after a traveling for a tough contest vs. Florida State and there might be some fatigue along with the fact that the Bronco coaches will not have familiarity with Marshall.
If the Broncos were going to drop a game this year against a team we should beat, this might be it. However I think the Broncos will be able to take of business in this contest.
Opponent: Portland State
Date: Saturday September 14, 2019
Location: Boise, ID
Time: 8:15 PM MST
TV: ESPN 2
ESPN FPI Predictor: 98.7% chance to win
2018 Record: 4-7
All Time Record: 1-0 (Boise State)
Last Meeting: BSU 21, PSU 14 (2005, Boise ID)
Portland State is an FCS division football team that is being invited to Boise due to gaps in the schedule that occurred because of neutral site games or ‘2 for 1’s that Broncos have added to their future slate. The Vikings went 4-7 in the Big Sky last season and had losses to Oregon, Nevada, and our old friend Idaho.
Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum returns for his fifth year and sports a 16-29 record. Barnum interestingly went 9-3 in his first season and made it to the second round of the FCS playoffs but managed to ‘pull a UCF’ and go 0-11 in his third season.
Confidence Meter: We should expect the Broncos to roll out a vanilla playbook and try out a few different players to get a better feel for the depth chart. This may be a game where some younger quarterbacks get a chance to throw the ball. The outcome is a formality, Broncos will win big.
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