It was a forgettable night on The Blue vs. BYU — but one Boise State must remember

Bryan Harsin was on Boise State’s sideline when Idaho ran up the score in a 64-19 drubbing in the 1996 season finale.

He was on that same sideline in 2015 when New Mexico, a 30-point underdog, upset the Broncos. Then upset them — in another way — by posing for a team photo on The Blue afterward.

On Friday, both of those memories were hard to ignore as No. 9 BYU crushed Harsin’s No. 21 Broncos 51-17. It was Boise State’s worst home loss since that game 24 years ago against the Vandals, when Harsin was a backup quarterback.

And for good measure, BYU, celebrating its first win against Boise State at Albertsons Stadium, posed for a team photo before heading into the locker room, victorious.

“I didn’t forget about those, nor did anyone involved in those moments,” Harsin said. “Tonight, I hope we never forget this.”

It was a good thing the stadium had less than 1,000 people in attendance, that 37,000 weren’t forced to see quarterback and ex-Boise State commit Zach Wilson lead the Cougars to 573 yards of offense. What transpired there was embarrassing.

Those aren’t my words — Harsin and senior linebacker Riley Whimpey both described it as exactly that.

Harsin wanted his team to stew in the unusual feeling. BYU helped add to it with Wilson chucking deep passes in the fourth quarter. But let’s not forget Boise State is the team that once had a coach say, “Gandhi didn’t take a knee,” so save the pearl-clutching, but feel free to use it as inspiration for revenge.

That’s exactly what Harsin said to his team in the locker room.

“Those things for sure stick with us … he told us, ‘Don’t forget about it, let it fuel us,’ ” junior wide receiver Khalil Shakir said.

In the long run, what happened Friday will add yet another chapter in a rivalry that never ceases to give us some drama. Wilson’s playground-style, 42-yard completion on a second down to Gunner Romney midway through the fourth quarter with a 45-17 lead no doubt will rankle some.

The team photo on the turf afterward? Well, players talked about it last fall before playing the Lobos, and almost none of them were even on the roster in 2015. So, yeah, it will be remembered.

That is something that will surely come up in 2021.

As wild and wacky as 2020 has been, and probably will continue to be, that is the focus. Boise State must learn from its faceplant Friday if it wants to contend for another Mountain West championship.

What it needs to do is something Harsin’s teams have usually been very good at — develop depth.

In no other year is that more important than this one, and that falls on coaches to prepare the backups and on the players themselves to rise to the challenge.

On Friday, Boise State had four players out because of COVID-19. Sophomore quarterback Hank Bachmeier was on the sideline, but wasn’t in uniform. Junior Jack Sears, who played very well the previous weekend, was out of the game after 10 plays after a shot to the head.

The Broncos had to turn to two true freshmen at the position — Cade Fennegan and walk-on Andy Peters. That’s clearly a major reason, if not the biggest, why the Broncos got blown out. But don’t forget, BYU beat Boise State in Provo last year with a third-string true freshman quarterback in Baylor Romney.

And those quarterbacks weren’t helped by the fact the Broncos had just one healthy scholarship running back. Junior Andrew Van Buren had 45 yards on 16 carries. Shakir was taking handoffs up the middle. Not ideal for a guy who is your best weapon and does his best damage in space.

With 10 minutes left, Boise State trailed 45-3. Let that soak in. Boise State. Trailed. 45-3. At home.

“The main thing with us is when those true freshmen come in, it shouldn’t show that much … tonight our preparation as an offense, as a whole, it wasn’t there,” Shakir said. “We need to make sure guys are locked in throughout the whole week, that there’s no messing around.”

It will not be fun for the Broncos to watch Friday’s game as they prepare for a short week and Thursday’s home game with Colorado State. But no doubt the Rams, and every other opponent, saw it, finding holes in the Mountain West kings’ armor.

How the Broncos fix those will tell the tale of the season, or the hurt will only get worse.

Dave Southorn is a former Boise State football beat writer for the Idaho Statesman. He’s providing occasional coverage of the Broncos this season.

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 2:44 AM.