It’s been a long road, but transfers Irwin, Obichere are living their dreams at Boise State
Boise State defensive lineman Shane Irwin couldn’t help but get emotional when he saw his No. 55 jersey hanging in his locker before the Broncos’ season opener against Utah State.
But that didn’t even come close to how he felt a couple hours later when he recorded his first sack as a Bronco.
“There has been so much hard work that has gone into getting here today,” Irwin said. “That first game, I didn’t even play that much, but with that sack, there was so much emotion and going crazy with this team that I love.”
Irwin and fellow defensive lineman Divine Obichere joined the Broncos this season as a package deal. They both came from Long Beach (California) City College, expecting to ease their way into a new program. But thanks to injuries and COVID-19, they’ve been thrust into the Broncos’ starting lineup.
They’ll be in the trenches again Saturday when Boise State hosts undefeated San Jose State (2 p.m., Fox) in a game that has Mountain West championship implications.
“I want to be somebody that all my teammates look at and trust and know they have a baller,” Irwin said. “I have so much to prove.”
Irwin, a 6-foot-3, 254-pound defensive end, has stepped in for redshirt sophomore Demitri Washington, who was lost for the season to a knee injury he suffered during the Broncos’ win at Air Force.
Irwin, a redshirt junior, has two sacks in each of the Broncos’ past two games, and he’s the first Boise State player to do that since at least 2002. He leads the team this season with five sacks, and he’s tied for No. 9 nationally, averaging one sack per game.
“He’s a Bronco through and through,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin told the media Monday. “He’s exactly the type of guy we want in this program: blue collar, a hard worker, tough as nails and just goes. Whatever he’s asked to do, he does it, and he’s productive.”
Irwin played more than 80 snaps Saturday at Hawaii and finished the game with five tackles to go along with his two sacks.
Boise State defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding said it’s never ideal to have a defensive lineman on the field for that many plays in a game, but Irwin isn’t one to complain.
“Pass rush is like a friggin’ art, but one thing you can’t put a price on is second effort,” Schmedding told reporters Tuesday. “He’s just that guy that maybe doesn’t hit on his first move, but he comes back and counter moves.”
Obichere has seen his snaps increase in recent weeks with starting nose tackle Scale Igiehon slowed by an ankle injury, reserve interior linemen Keeghan Freeborn (ankle) and Herbert Gums (ACL) out for the season and Utah transfer Jackson Cravens missing the past two games for undisclosed reasons.
“I definitely didn’t envision it happening like this, but on the D-line, we play with a next-man-up mentality,” Obichere said.
He recorded his only sack of the season against Utah State, but Obichere had to work his way into shape before he got on the field.
The 6-foot-3 junior from Los Angeles said he weighed more than 330 pounds when he arrived on campus. He’s whittled that down to about 305.
“He’s gotten himself in really good shape. That wasn’t the case when he first got here,” Harsin said. “Being in the lineup, you can see that he’s got the ability to make plays, and the more he does it, the more confidence he builds and the better player we get to see every single week.”
Schmedding said expectations are always higher for players coming from the junior college ranks than a true freshman, and Obichere is beginning to live up to them.
“I’ll be honest, he was pretty dead tired by the end of warmups when he first got here, but he has taken strides and now he’s playing full games,” Schmedding said. “And the thing is there could be that much more improvement moving forward. He hasn’t even kind of seen his ceiling.”
It’s been a long road to get where they are now, but Irwin and Obichere said they’re living their dreams of playing Division I football on a national stage.
“It’s everything I imagined. Everyone is behind me, believing in me,” Obichere said. “Just going out and trying to make plays and being a Boise legend, that’s the goal.”
The Nigerian Tower
Irwin committed to Boise State last December, and he played an essential role in recruiting Obichere.
Irwin made his official visit in the weeks leading up to early signing day, and at the last second, he helped convince Obichere to tag along.
“I was selling him on it like, ‘Bro, where else would you want to be?’ ” Irwin said.
Both of them signed with the Broncos on Dec. 18, 2019, and the relationship that was born in the JUCO ranks has continued to flourish since Obichere arrived on campus over the summer.
“I got here in the spring and I was texting him every week like, ‘Can’t wait for you to get out here,’ ” Irwin said. “He’s just a big dude and he can move. He has so much potential, and I just can’t wait to see how he develops.”
The duo clicked right away when they met at Long Beach. Obichere was in Nigeria visiting family when Irwin first landed on the Vikings’ campus, but he heard plenty of stories about Obichere and a fellow defensive tackle who were affectionately known as the “Nigerian Towers.”
“I finally met him and he wasn’t what I expected at all,” Irwin said. “He was super soft-spoken, and a really cool guy.”
Obichere and Irwin were pretty inseparable during the one year they played together at Long Beach. Both had to commute to school — Irwin from 45 minutes away and Obichere from about 30 — and they regularly hit In-N-Out or Jay Bird’s Chicken for a post-practice meal.
Irwin said they plan to make a stop at Jay Bird’s over winter break for their go-to order, the Mac Daddy, which is a Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich piled high with macaroni and cheese and smothered in something call “comeback sauce.”
On the field in 2019, the duo combined for 93 tackles, 12.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. Irwin finished second on the team with 8.5 sacks and fourth with 47 tackles.
“Me and him took a lot of visits together and were always on the same path and kind of kept each other focused and driven,” Irwin said. “When it worked out that we both got to come here, it was like a dream.”
Becoming Broncos
Coming to Boise State has been an adjustment for both players.
Irwin said it’s been a while since he’s had the kind of resources at his disposal that the Broncos offer. He played for a successful high school program at Palos Verdes in California, where he was twice named the Bay League Most Valuable Player and helped the Sea Kings win four straight conference titles.
As a senior, he racked up 44 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks, and he finished his high school career with 221 tackles and 34.5 sacks.
Irwin passed on a scholarship offer from Washington State and signed with San Diego State coming out of high school.
After spending a year and a half there, playing more on the interior of the line, he transferred to Long Beach to play for a coach he’d known for years, Brett Peabody, whose son he competed against in Pop Warner and for much of his high school career.
Irwin didn’t have the same recruiting options coming out of junior college. Liberty, San Jose State and UNLV offered scholarships, but he’d earned some interest from Boise State as a senior in high school and said joining the Broncos this time around was a no-brainer.
“This was a school that was always in the back of my head and I had my eye on,” Irwin said.
Of course, when he got to Boise State this past spring, he only got three practices under his belt before everything was shut down by COVID-19 and players were sent home.
“It was a weird situation, but everyone has been super open and it’s been amazing,” Irwin said. “I’ve learned a lot from the guys who took me under their wing.”
‘Why keep them waiting?’
The Mountain West requires players, coaches and trainers to be tested for COVID-19 three times a week, and Obichere said the suspense that comes with waiting on results has been “kind of scary.”
“You take the test and feel fine and you’re in a meeting and all of a sudden the trainers are like, ‘This guy is out,’ ” Obichere said. “Every week is nerve-racking.”
Obichere enrolled at Long Beach City College straight out of high school and spent two years there, racking up 92 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
He called Boise State his “biggest offer” coming out of the JUCO ranks.
“I had some more (offers) coming, but they wanted me so why keep them waiting?” he said. “Coach (Spencer Danielson) was real with me. He said it’s going to be hard, but if you want to be great, I can help you get there.”
Obichere has never been part of a program with the facilities that Boise State offers, and he said it’s the first time he’s ever played for a team that employs nutritionists and chiropractors. He also enjoys going back and watching himself play on TV.
“After the game, you go on social media and see that all your family and friends recorded you on TV and it’s what you dream for,” Obichere said.
Irwin and Obichere say they can’t wait to get the full game day experience next season in front of a packed house at Albertsons Stadium.
While neither has committed to taking the extra year of eligibility the NCAA offered fall athletes, they’re excited to continue to develop and cement their legacies on The Blue.
“I’m looking forward to making more relationships on this team and having more time to develop because I have a lot to work on for sure,” Irwin said.
SAN JOSE STATE AT BOISE STATE
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: Fox (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman).
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 4-1, 4-0 Mountain West; San Jose State 4-0, 4-0.
Series: Boise State leads 13-0 (last meeting: Boise State won 52-42 in 2019 in San Jose, California)
Vegas line: Boise State by 11
Weather: High of 41 degrees, partly cloudy, 5 mph wind
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
