A rushing streak, a rebuilt O-line and a star QB. Five questions on Boise State’s offense.
The Boise State football team is scheduled to open fall camp on Friday, and the Broncos have plenty of questions to answer on offense before their season opener.
They look set at the skill positions where quarterback Hank Bachmeier and running back George Holani are coming off impressive freshman campaigns. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir is one of the most versatile players in the Mountain West, and he has some experienced receivers around him.
Questions loom on the offensive line, though, where the Broncos have plenty of holes to fill.
As Boise State inches ever closer to the 2020 season, here are five questions facing the offense.
Coming tomorrow: Five questions facing the defense, which has plenty of experience on the back end but has to replace the entire defensive line.
1. Will the rushing streak continue behind a rebuilt offensive line?
George Holani’s 1,014 yards last season marked the 11th straight year a Boise State running back cracked 1,000 yards. But this fall, the Broncos have to replace four starters on the offensive line, which may put that streak in jeopardy.
John Ojukwu is the lone returning starter, and he’ll switch to left tackle to replace Ezra Cleveland, who was picked in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
Guard Jake Stetz and tackle Garrett Curran both started games last fall, Donte Harrington — who can play guard or center — is in his fifth year in the program, and graduate transfer Ozuma Osuji appeared in nine games at Rice with one start.
But with so many new faces up front, the offensive line has plenty of work to do to become a cohesive unit before the Broncos’ scheduled season opener on Sept. 5 at home against Georgia Southern.
In the few spring practices Boise State got in before COVID-19 shut everything down, Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez saw the majority of the snaps at center, with Stetz and redshirt sophomore Dallas Holliday at guard. Curran also spent time at guard.
Osuji, redshirt senior Nick Crabtree, junior college transfer Riden Leong, and redshirt freshmen Ben Dooley and Jacob Golden are all competing for time opposite Ojukwu at tackle.
There is some experience at the top of that list. Crabtree was Cleveland’s primary backup at left tackle last fall, and Osuji’s only start at Rice was on the left side, so the coaches have the option to flip Ojukwu back to right should the need arise.
Leong — a transfer from Orange Coast College — comes in with impressive size (6-foot-5, 320 pounds) and athleticism — both of which may earn him a spot at the top of the depth chart sooner rather than later.
2. Can Bachmeier stay on the field?
Hank Bachmeier joined the Broncos with an impressive pedigree. He was a nationally recruited four-star prospect and the second-highest rated player Boise State has ever landed, according to 247Sports.
Those kinds of accolades came with plenty of expectations, and Bachmeier delivered during his freshman campaign. He went 7-1 as the starter — suffering his lone loss to Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl — and completed 62.5 percent of his passes.
Despite his impressive win total, Bachmeier’s aggressive playing style twice relegated him to the sideline with injuries: once after a collision on a scramble against Hawaii, and again after an apparent shoulder injury in a come-from-behind win he directed at San Jose State.
His insertion into the starting lineup in the bowl game after not playing the previous five games pretty clearly illustrated that the coaches see him as the favorite to lead the offense, and if the Broncos are going to make it three Mountain West championships in four years, Bachmeier is going to have to figure out how to stay on the field.
If he can, he may have a shot at being named the conference’s offensive player of the year, especially since Air Force quarterback Donald Hammond III is in danger of missing the season for an undisclosed violation of program rules.
3. What role will Cord and Sears play?
Boise State’s coaches have never been shy about working multiple quarterbacks into a game plan, and that will likely continue this fall.
Chase Cord is in his fourth year in the program. He appeared in eight games last season and started the Broncos’ loss at BYU and their overtime win at home against Wyoming. But he has struggled to stay on the field, too.
He suffered an injury against the Cowboys that kept him out for the rest of the season, and he missed spring ball as he continued to recover. In 2018, Cord appeared in four games before suffering a season-ending torn ACL.
Cord’s injury history and the aforementioned penchant to play multiple quarterbacks both likely played a role in the Broncos adding USC transfer quarterback Jack Sears to their 2020 class in May.
Sears was a four-star recruit coming out of San Clemente High School — the same program that produced Harrington and Boise State linebacker Riley Whimpey. He spent three years at USC, appearing in just one game, and decided not to play football last fall — opting instead to finish his undergraduate degree.
Cord is more of a natural runner than Bachmeier and generally saw the field last season in short-yardage situations where he could threaten defenses with his arm and legs.
Sears brings a similar skill set, though. As a senior at San Clemente, he posted 2,602 yards and 37 touchdowns through the air and added 1,135 rushing yards and nine more scores on the ground.
Assuming the Broncos begin fall camp as scheduled, the battle to crown the No. 2 quarterback will be an interesting one to watch.
4. How many ways will Shakir score this year?
Junior Khalil Shakir has emerged over the past couple seasons as one of the most versatile offensive weapons in the Mountain West.
Last fall, he led the Broncos with 63 catches and was second with 872 receiving yards. He also scored 10 touchdowns: six receiving, three rushing and one passing.
This year, Shakir could take on an even larger role after last season’s top deep threat and kickoff return specialist John Hightower was drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Shakir has the athleticism to fill both roles, and if the running game does bog down behind a retooled offensive line, Boise State’s coaches are going to have to get creative to keep the offense moving. And a majority of those play calls are going to result in the ball ending up in Shakir’s hands one way or another.
The Murrieta, California, native should compete with Colorado State’s Warren Jackson, San Jose State’s Tre Walker and Nevada’s Elijah Cooks as the top wide receiver in the conference.
If he can build on last fall, Shakir may even be in the running to be the first wide receiver named offensive player of the year in Mountain West history.
5. Will a new player emerge in the passing game?
Boise State has to replace Hightower and speedy slot receiver Akilian Butler this fall, and there will be even more turnover next season.
Two of the Broncos’ top three returning wide receivers — CT Thomas and Octavius Evans— are seniors, and with another big season, Shakir could decide to make the jump to the NFL next spring.
The team’s top tight end, John Bates, is also entering his fifth season in the program, so it’s going to be imperative this season for the coaches to get some young players involved in the passing game.
The leading candidates at wide receiver are redshirt freshman Shea Whiting and redshirt sophomore Stefan Cobbs, both of whom earned praise from the coaching staff during bowl practice last December and heading into this spring.
Cobbs appeared in six games and scored a touchdown on his first collegiate catch — a screen pass against Portland State that he turned into a 44-yard score.
At tight end, Tyneil Hopper is an athletic redshirt sophomore, who was hampered this spring by injuries. He appeared in 13 games last fall but didn’t record a catch.
The Broncos also added tight end Austin Bolt — the top rated 2020 recruit in Idaho — this spring, and the coaches were impressed with his versatility.
In December, Bolt was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after racking up 1,380 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air and running for another 1,391 yards and 26 scores in his first season as a quarterback.
