Boise State football moves up two spots in polls, Utah State will be highest-ranked visitor

Coming off a smooth 45-14 win at New Mexico, the Boise State football team is moving up in the polls, and the Broncos will welcome the highest-ranked team to ever visit Albertsons Stadium on Saturday.

Boise State (9-2 overall, 6-1 Mountain West) is ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25 and No. 22 in the USA Today coaches’ poll. In their regular season finale Saturday, the Broncos will host Utah State (10-1, 7-0).

The Aggies are No. 14 in the AP Top 25 and No. 15 in the coaches’ poll aftere surviving a 29-24 win at Colorado State on Saturday. Utah State appeared to have lost on a last-second Hail Mary, but it was deemed the receiver had stepped out of bounds on his own prior to the catch, thus nullifying the play.

Utah State had two interception returns for touchdowns as its offense (which came in averaging 51.3 points per game) struggled against one of the worst defenses in the nation.

The Broncos and Aggies play at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, televised on ESPN.

LET THE RUMOR MILL ROLL

Colorado fired coach Mike MacIntyre on Sunday after the Buffaloes dropped six straight after a 5-0 start. As is often the case with any opening in the West, Boise State coach Bryan Harsin’s name immediately was mentioned as a “possible candidate.”

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Yahoo’s Pete Thamel both had Harsin as a name to watch, while Thamel also had Utah State’s Matt Wells high on the list. Would Colorado go back to the Boise State well after the Dan Hawkins debacle? It remains to be determined. A source confirmed to the Idaho Statesman last year that Harsin interviewed with Oregon in 2016 when the Ducks eventually hired Willie Taggart, and CBS Sports reported that he put his name into the running at Tennessee last year.

This story was originally published November 18, 2018 at 12:56 PM.