Boise State football faced Wyoming with coaches on the inactive list. ‘That’s not normal.’
Football coach Bryan Harsin called Boise State’s 17-9 victory at Wyoming a “very large challenge.”
It might be a while before the full depth of that challenge is revealed to the public.
During his postgame Zoom interview with local media members, Harsin indicated the Broncos made it through Saturday’s game at War Memorial Stadium without the services of “some coaches.”
College football coaches, like players, have been sidelined this season because of COVID-19 protocols.
“We had some staff out, and there were position groups where other coaches stepped up and position groups that coached themselves and managed themselves throughout the game,” Harsin said. “But that’s part of it. That’s happened across the country. It is what it is.”
Harsin declined to say which coaches were out. It is unclear whether the staff members will be available for next week’s Mountain West championship game against San Jose State.
“I’ll tell you what, that’s not normal. We’ve never really been through that because you always have staff, right?” Harsin said. “Players in a normal season get injured and things happen. It’s tough, I can tell you that.
“… We had some of our players that were stepping up, too, and doing some of the things that our coaches normally do. That’s the beauty of the guys that are on this team is if there’s a role that they can fill, then a lot of guys are stepping up and willing to do that, and tonight was one of those examples.”
Holani leaves with injury
Sophomore running back George Holani was playing in his first game for the Broncos since leaving with an injury against Air Force on Oct. 31.
However, Holani left the field with 11:27 to go in the third quarter after appearing to re-injure his left knee, which was already in a brace. Holani had three carries for 3 yards, plus the game’s first touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Hank Bachmieier on the Broncos’ opening drive. Holani totaled four receptions for 19 yards.
Holani spent time in the medical tent and was later offered a crutch by a trainer, but he refused it, according to the CBS Sports Network broadcast. His status for next week’s Mountain West championship game is unknown.
Junior Andrew Van Buren once again carried the load for the Broncos in Holani’s absence. Van Buren had 25 carries for 79 yards and one touchdown. He also caught one pass for 7 yards.
BSU had two QBs vs. Wyoming
Boise State only had two quarterbacks in uniform for Saturday’s game.
Starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier was backed up by redshirt junior Chase Cord, who has not appeared in a game this season as he continues to rehab from injuries suffered last fall and offseason ankle surgery.
“He’s able to play, but it was an emergency situation,” Harsin said of Cord. “… It’s not ideal to go into a game like that, but Chase is a team player and he had himself ready to go for whatever it was that we needed him to do. And fortunately tonight, we didn’t need that. Hank was able to finish the game, which under the conditions, that’s probably not a situation I hope we’ll ever be in again.”
Quarterbacks Jack Sears, Cade Fennegan and Andy Peters, tight end John Bates and safety Tyreque Jones were among the 37 players Boise State listed as inactive before the game.
Boise State offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said Sears was expected to play last week at UNLV, but that game was canceled.
The Broncos were missing 10 players against Wyoming because of COVID-19. Four were out because of positive tests, and six more didn’t make the trip because they were close contacts of positive cases.
The Broncos did get a couple of players back in Holani and defensive tackle Jackson Cravens, who was active for the first time since the Broncos’ loss to BYU on Nov. 6. On the final play of the third quarter, Cravens notched his first career sack.
Two streaks end
Boise State entered Saturday’s game with a pair of lengthy offensive streaks. But both came to an end in the cold, snowy conditions at War Memorial Stadium.
The Broncos got the ball back with 53 seconds left in the second quarter but failed to score during a chaotic series of events. It ended a streak of 10 straight conference road games in which the Broncos scored in the final minute of the first half.
Boise State also went into the game a perfect 16-for-16 in the red zone this season. The Broncos extended that streak to 18-for-18 early against Wyoming, but the streak stopped on a field-goal try in the second quarter that ended with a botched hold.
Quick hits
Redshirt senior right guard Jake Stetz served as the Broncos’ honorary fourth game captain. ... Boise State was led onto the field by cornerback Markel Reed, who carried the Dan Paul Hammer. ... Van Buren carried the American flag and safety Evan Tyler carried the Bleed Blue flag. ... Wyoming won the coin toss but deferred. ... After kicker Jonah Dalmas’ 34-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the second quarter, the CBS Sports Network broadcast showed Bachmeier on the sideline as trainers attended to his bloody mouth. It was unclear what his exact injury was. ... In the second quarter, Tyric LeBeauf blocked a Wyoming punt, which freshman Jaylen Clark returned for a touchdown. But the TD was negated by a block-in-the-back penalty on Boise State. It was the third blocked punt and fifth blocked kick by the Broncos this season, which is the most since the 2011 squad had four blocked punts and seven blocked kicks. ... Tyler put the finishing touches on the Broncos’ win with an interception of Wyoming backup QB Gavin Beerup on the final play of the game. ... Redshirt freshman STUD Isaiah Bagnah made his first career start against Wyoming and recorded his first two career sacks. ... Senior wide receiver CT Thomas extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 36, which is tied for the second-longest active streak in the country. … Boise State has won 19 straight Mountain West regular-season games and 14 straight against Mountain West opponents.
