Boise State kicker craves the spotlight; offseason sparring; photobomb on the Blue
Boise State kicker Eric Sachse grew up handing out body checks in a hockey rink, and he took that same mentality to the football field.
He was head hunting on his first career kickoff as a freshman at Trinity College — a Division III school in Hartford, Connecticut.
“I run down on the kick and just hit some random dude. He didn’t even have the ball,” Sachse said Tuesday. “I go into meetings the next day and the coaches are looking at me like, ‘What are you doing?’ ”
Sachse still loves hockey — a game he played pretty much daily for the first 16 years of his life. Last winter, he even went home to Holden, Massachusetts, and refereed his first college hockey game.
“Anytime I’m back home, I try to put on skates,” said Sachse, who played center and defense during his hockey career.
The 5-foot-10, 198-pound graduate transfer still craves contact, but he came to Boise State in search of exactly the kind of pressure-packed moment he found himself in with Saturday’s game against Wyoming on the line in overtime.
Sachse said the academics and focus on job placement first attracted him to Trinity, but the Bantams’ dominant football program played a role, too. Trinity lost just three games in the four years he was there and won three straight New England Small College Athletic Conference championships.
“I learned how to win there, and I walked out of there with three rings,” Sachse said. “I’m trying to get one more this year and get that whole hand decorated.”
The flip side of being a member of such a dominant team is that Sachse was never called on for a game-winning field goal until Saturday.
“One of the reasons I took this job is to have all the eyes on me in that moment,” Sachse said. “That was probably the biggest thing that lacked in my experience at Trinity.”
With his final season of college football winding down, Sachse got his chance. With Boise State and Wyoming tied 17-17 in overtime, he connected on a 28-yard field goal like he was kicking in practice. It turned out to be the game winner after Wyoming’s overtime possession went nowhere and Cooper Rothe missed his attempt.
“One of the things as a kicker you try to strive for is just having the trust of your teammates and coaches,” Sachse said. “When you run out on the field, you want them to know you have their back because they’re going out there putting their bodies on the line, so I’ve got to do my job.”
Sachse transferred to Boise State in search of “big-time college football,” and the stage has not been too big for him. This season, he’s 12-of-14 on field goals with a long of 41 yards and 38-of-39 on extra points.
“That guy has been absolutely, in my opinion, superb on his opportunities,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said after the Wyoming game. “When we give him the right range, he should make every single one of them. I believe he can, and I believe he believes he can.”
Sachse is one of 17 seniors who will be honored before Saturday’s game against New Mexico, and he said he’s thankful he chose to move across the country for one final season on the field.
“Once I got out here and saw this, I knew: ‘All right, this is where I have to be. This is big-time college football with passionate fans,’ ” he said. “Just to experience this for one more season when I thought it was going to be all over made it kind of a no-brainer to be out here.”
Hatada gets back in the ring
While most defensive linemen spend the offseason in the weight room, Boise State senior Chase Hatada does his best to get in the ring.
Since his senior year at Rocklin High in California, Hatada has been incorporating boxing training into his offseason workout regimen. He was introduced to it by his high school coach Bob Sebring, who played at Illinois and was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1986.
The training focuses on cardio and hand speed, and it includes plenty of sparring sessions. Hatada said he slacked off on it his first three years at Boise State, but he took it more seriously this offseason and it’s paying off. The 6-3, 262-pounder has matched his tackle total from a year ago (23) and has career highs in tackles for loss (four) and sacks (two).
“It’s been night and day,” Hatada said. “It’s been a huge boost in terms of winning at the point of contact and just being fresher longer in games.”
Hatada followed in his father’s footsteps in enrolling at Boise State. His father, Ian, was a 110-meter hurdles Big Sky Conference champion in 1996. Hatada will hear his name announced on senior night before Saturday’s game against New Mexico, and he’s proud to have carried on his family’s tradition of competing for the Broncos.
“It’s really cool and I think it’s pretty special for my dad, too,” Hatada said. “It’s a pretty cool bond, and I’ve always been super close to my dad. I grew up watching my dad and I think it’s made him really proud to see me play here.”
Hatada is open to any professional football opportunity that comes up after college, but boxing isn’t out of the question.
“I really hope the football thing works out,” he said. “The fighting thing would be cool, but I don’t think my mom would be too happy about it.”
Lobos photo op on the blue
Boise State seniors David Moa and Akilian Butler are the only two members of the roster who played in the Broncos’ 2015 game against New Mexico, which ended as an epic upset for the Lobos.
New Mexico went into Albertsons Stadium as a 30.5-point underdog and held on to win 31-24 after former Boise State wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck caught a pass with 1 second remaining and lateraled to wide receiver Austin Cottrell, who was tackled on New Mexico’s 4-yard line as time expired.
“I’ll definitely forever remember that moment,” Butler told the media Wednesday.
Celebrating one of the biggest wins in program history, many of New Mexico’s players stayed on the blue turf after the game for a photo. That still gets under Moa’s skin.
“I can still picture what they did and it’s getting me a little upset right now,” Moa told the media Tuesday.
No. 19 Boise State (8-1, 5-0 MWC) hosts New Mexico (2-7, 0-5) at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, and the Broncos are favored by 28 points.
NEW MEXICO AT NO. 19 BOISE STATE
When: 8:15 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium (36,367 turf), Boise
TV: ESPN2 (Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State is 8-1 overall, 5-0 Mountain West; New Mexico 2-7, 0-5
Series: Boise State leads 9-1 (last meeting: Boise State won 45-14 in 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Vegas line: Boise State by 28
Weather: 54 degrees, mostly sunny, 8 mph wind
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 6:28 PM.
