Boise State football’s Las Vegas Bowl meltdown was all about coaching. ‘That’s my fault.’
The Boise State football team almost made it to the end of the 2019 season without the persistent blemish in Bryan Harsin’s tenure.
Almost.
The Broncos got outcoached from the opening kickoff Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl — a 38-7 whipping by Washington that was the program’s worst loss in nearly seven full seasons and its worst bowl loss in school history.
It was the annual “what the …?” game that has been a staple of Harsin’s tenure: Air Force in 2014, Utah State in 2015, Baylor in 2016, Virginia in 2017 and Oklahoma State in 2018.
And now Washington in 2019 — an ugly end to an otherwise-impressive, 12-2 season that included a Mountain West championship and a win at Florida State.
“Ultimately it falls back on me,” Harsin said Saturday night after the second bowl blowout in his last three attempts. “And the performance tonight … that’s my fault, so I’ve got a lot of work to do this offseason to get these things figured out.”
[Related: Emotional loss for Boise State; Chris Petersen leaves with another big win; Instant Analysis: Washington exposes Boise State flaws; Boise State extends nation-best streak; Scoring summary]
The game featured the much-anticipated matchup between Washington coach Chris Petersen and his former assistant Harsin, the lone remaining figure from the Broncos’ heyday under Petersen.
It was no contest. Petersen’s Huskies played with precision and passion, while Harsin’s Broncos looked lost offensively and overmatched defensively.
The 31-point loss was the Broncos’ worst since a 38-6 loss at Washington in the 2013 season opener and just the third by that many points in 18 seasons.
The head scratching started immediately. Kickoff returner John Hightower tried to return a kickoff from 6 yards deep in his own end zone against a team that had been one of the nation’s best on special teams all season. That short return started one of the defining trends of the first half with the Broncos buried in poor field position.
Moments later, true freshman Hank Bachmeier trotted onto the field as the starting quarterback for the biggest game of the year despite not playing in seven weeks. Yes, he was 7-0 as a starter, but Harsin chose to start senior Jaylon Henderson two weeks earlier in the Mountain West championship game and never inserted Bachmeier — not even for a play, not even when the Broncos were up by three touchdowns.
The change immediately backfired as Bachmeier’s second pass of the game was a terrible decision and easily intercepted.
Bachmeier (15-for-26 for 119 yards) never looked comfortable running the offense and finished with a miserable efficiency rating of 80.75 — 70 points lower than his season rating.
By the time Henderson took over in the middle of the third quarter, the Broncos were down 24-0 and Bachmeier had been intercepted twice. It was too late to matter, but Henderson did lead a touchdown drive on his first opportunity.
That invited many questions about the latest weirdness in a quarterback year that saw three players start games and Henderson — the third-stringer — elevated to No. 1 on the depth chart for the Mountain West title game after three straight wins in relief of the injured Bachmeier and Chase Cord.
The school uncharacteristically went public with quarterback news Friday — Henderson had missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with an illness. Shortly after that announcement, Henderson tweeted that he was feeling fine. Harsin and Henderson said after the game that the illness wasn’t a factor in the decision to start Bachmeier.
Given how poorly the offense performed, Harsin showed up for his press conference expecting to be peppered with quarterback questions — even shooting them down before they were asked. He shook his head as running back George Holani was asked if the quarterback changes affected the offense, then made a defensive comment in his opening statement.
“I think you guys are barking up the wrong tree with those questions and trying to create something that’s not there,” Harsin said.
He blamed coaching for the season-worst, 266-yard outing — including a lack of adjustments and poor playcalling. Which of course prompted another question Harsin didn’t want to answer.
Who, with offensive coordinator Zak Hill gone to Arizona State, was calling the plays? Harsin wouldn’t answer twice leading up to the game. And he wouldn’t answer after the game — acting like it’s some sort of secret when nearly every school has a designated playcaller.
“That’s our business,” he said. “That’s how we operate.”
On defense, there was the mystery of senior nose tackle Sonatane Lui. He didn’t make the trip with the team for personal reasons involving his family. But he was on the sideline in street clothes, wearing his jersey. Why didn’t he play?
“He just didn’t play,” Harsin said. “Personal reasons.”
It left a season of so much success ending with so many questions.
Why did Bachmeier suddenly get the nod over Henderson? Why didn’t Bachmeier play against Hawaii or Colorado State to shed some rust? Who was calling the plays — and what might that say about the future of the offensive coordinator position, which has been a career-making role for most who have held it the past two decades? Why was Lui standing on the sideline for his final college game?
And why do the Broncos seem to find themselves on the wrong end of a blowout once a year — including in four of their past seven games against Power Five opponents?
As Harsin said, he’s got a lot to figure out this offseason.
Chadd Cripe is the Idaho Statesman’s assistant editor and sports columnist. Contact him at ccripe@idahostatesman.com and follow @chaddcripe on Twitter.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 4:13 AM.
