Boise State players are paranoid after cancellation; defensive reinforcements coming?
Boise State linebacker Riley Whimpey was enjoying breakfast at the team hotel Saturday morning when football coach Bryan Harsin pulled the captains aside.
Harsin informed the group what the team feared all season had finally happened. Five games into a truncated 2020 campaign, the Broncos had a game canceled by COVID-19.
Nevada and Hawaii are now the only Mountain West teams that haven’t had a game canceled by the virus.
“I felt like we were all in shock,” Whimpey said. “I I truly believe we were putting ourselves in the best position to be able to go out there and be successful. … To find that out Saturday morning was extremely disappointing.”
Boise State’s afternoon game against undefeated San Jose State was canceled around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. It was scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m.
After pausing all football-related activities following the cancellation, the Broncos returned to practice Tuesday after undergoing a round of COVID-19 testing on Sunday morning.
That bodes well for Friday’s game at UNLV (7:30 p.m. MT, CBSSN) actually happening, but Boise State (4-1, 4-0 MW) will undergo another round of testing Wednesday and the Rebels (0-5, 0-5) are just two weeks removed from four positive cases leading to their game against Colorado State getting canceled.
Whimpey said, for the Broncos, every week begins with a sense of paranoia.
“We always do what we can to put ourselves in a position where we’re confident, but we’re always paranoid,” he said. “But being able to react to that and move forward is something that I feel our coaches have done a great job instilling in us.”
UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo understands that paranoia. His team practiced Monday and Tuesday, but he was on the edge of his seat Tuesday morning waiting on test results.
The Rebels know what it feels like to be shorthanded thanks to the virus. On the Monday after the Colorado State game, they opened the week with just 49 available players.
“Many teams in the country have gone through and said they have full rosters and all of a sudden, you get wiped out with 25 guys, and that happens in one test,” Arroyo told reporters Monday.
Friday’s game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is on as scheduled as of now, and Boise State’s players are doing their best to ignore that paranoia and focus on the Rebels.
“It’s COVID, so you can’t really be sure about anything,” senior cornerback Avery Williams told reporters Tuesday. “But we do a great job of preparing guys, and we’re going to continue to do that, no matter the circumstances.”
Defensive reinforcements coming?
Boise State has lost four members of its defensive front to season-ending injuries this fall: starters in versatile defensive lineman Demitri Washington (leg) and sixth-year STUD Sam Whitney, and key reserves in nose tackle Keeghan Freeborn (ankle) and defensive tackle Herbert Gums (ACL).
Whitney suffered an undisclosed injury during the Broncos’ win at Hawaii on Nov. 21, Harsin said Sunday.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding said Tuesday that the Broncos may be getting some reinforcements this week at UNLV, though.
Schmedding said he expects linebacker Ezekiel Noa to play after the redshirt junior exited the Hawaii game in the first half with an apparent knee injury and didn’t return.
Noa appeared in four games last fall and was the Broncos’ leading tackler before a torn ACL and broken wrist suffered against Air Force cost him the rest of the season.
This fall, he’s fourth on the team with 22 tackles. Redshirt senior Benton Wickersham replaced him at Hawaii.
“He’s a tough kid, man, and he is a football guy,” Schmedding said of Noa. “Things happen in games, but Zeke’s in there every day with a smile on his face, and he’s ready to roll.”
On Tuesday, Noa was named a member of the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award watch list. The award is given annually to players who overcome illness or injury to make an impact on their team.
The Division I, II and III winners will be announced during the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.
Schmedding also insinuated on Tuesday that the Broncos could have defensive tackle Jackson Cravens back on the field this week, saying he’s “very, very hopeful.”
“Anybody who is practicing, we expect to play,” Schmedding said.
Cravens — a transfer from Utah, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules — last played in Boise State’s home loss to BYU on Nov. 6. He was inactive for the Broncos’ wins over Colorado State and Hawaii for undisclosed reasons, and it’s unclear if he would have played Saturday against San Jose State because a dress list was not made available to the media.
Junior college transfers Shane Irwin and Divine Obichere and Idaho native Scott Matlock have taken the majority of the snaps on the defensive line the past two games.
Starting nose tackle Scale Igiehon was slowed by an ankle injury in the season opener against Utah State, and he was inactive for the Colorado State game.
UNLV QB Brumfield could see more time
Arroyo wouldn’t say during his weekly press conference Monday which of his quarterbacks was going to start against Boise State, but he said there’s a good chance freshman Doug Brumfield will see more snaps.
Brumfield saw his first action of the season in last week’s 45-14 loss to Wyoming. He replaced starter Max Gilliam for the Rebels’ final drive of the third quarter and went the rest of the way, completing 4-of-8 passes for 93 yards and adding 24 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
Gilliam has started all five of UNLV’s games this fall, and he’s thrown for 599 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Sophomore quarterbacks Justin Rogers and Kenyon Oblad have also taken snaps for the Rebels this season.
Rogers, a transfer from TCU, saw his most playing time of the season in UNLV’s 34-17 loss to San Jose State on Nov. 15. He completed 12-of-18 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, but the Rebels had their game against Colorado State canceled on Nov. 21, and he didn’t appear in last weekend’s loss to Wyoming.
On Monday, Arroyo said Rogers is still “dealing with some health issues,” and he isn’t likely to play on Friday.
His absence makes it even more likely that Brumfield will see the field.
“If he continues to grow, then I think it’s going to be another opportunity,” Arroyo said. “I think production and execution just have to continue to go up, and you’ve got to take care of the football.”
Taylor out for the season
Former Boise State cornerback Jamar Taylor will miss the rest of the NFL season after tearing an ACL on Sunday in the San Francisco 49ers’ win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Taylor went down late in the second quarter and had to be carted off the field. An MRI on Monday revealed the eight-year NFL veteran tore the ACL in his left knee, ending his season, according to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows.
Taylor was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has since played for Cleveland, Denver and Atlanta, and he signed with San Francisco this offseason.
He played five seasons at Boise State (2008-12) and finished his college career with 132 tackles and seven interceptions. He was named first-team All-Mountain West as a redshirt senior in 2012 after racking up a career-high 51 tackles, 2.5 sacks and four interceptions.
BOISE STATE AT UNLV
When: 7:30 p.m. MT Friday
Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
TV: CBS Sports Network (John Sadak, Randy Cross).
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 4-1, 4-0 Mountain West; UNLV 0-5, 0-5.
Series: Boise State leads 8-3 (last meeting: Boise State won 38-13 last season in Las Vegas)
Vegas line: Boise State by 28
Weather: Allegiant is a domed stadium.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
