Help is on the way for Boise State’s battered backfield; no limits on transfer Habibi-Likio
Boise State running back George Holani confirmed Monday that he tore an MCL in one knee last season at Air Force and re-aggravated the injury when he returned to the field in the regular-season finale at Wyoming.
The good news is that he’s healthy now, Holani said Monday, and he’s thankful to be back on the field for spring practice, which began Friday.
“I’m back and just trying to stay healthy mentally, physically and spiritually,” Holani told reporters during a virtual press conference. “It’s a lot of motivation right now, just coming back and being able to go out there and do what I do.”
The former four-star recruit from Bellflower, California, burst onto the scene as a freshman with 1,014 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. He helped the Broncos extend their streak of 1,000-yard rushers to 11 straight seasons, but that streak ended last season.
With Holani — who is now a junior — and junior college transfer Taequan Tyler on the sideline with injuries, and Robert Mahone transferring after an arrest for domestic assault, Boise State struggled to move the ball on the ground last fall and ranked last in the Mountain West with 107.1 rushing yards a game.
Holani played in just one full game — the season opener against Utah State — and he finished with exactly 100 rushing yards. Tyler didn’t see the field at all after injuring an Achilles tendon during the preseason. Both are back on the field this spring.
As a freshman at Tyler Junior College in Texas in 2019, Tyler rushed for 313 yards and four touchdowns. He joined the Broncos last summer with three years of eligibility left.
“Taequan is a speed back, and he’s getting his body right,” Holani said. “He’s locking in and hitting gaps at full speed. And honestly, he’s looking pretty good.”
Holani tried to make a return last December at Wyoming, but he never looked fully healthy. He was limping during pregame warmups and after taking a hit to his already injured knee, he exited the game in the third quarter.
Holani said he felt good before the game, but that changed when he took that hit.
“I was like ‘OK, it kind of re-aggravated it a bit, so I’ll just step back and make sure I’m healthy for this year,’ ” Holani said.
The depth in the backfield should be much improved this fall. Joining Holani and Tyler is last season’s leading rusher, Andrew Van Buren — who posted 382 yards and led the conference with eight rushing touchdowns — and Oregon transfer Cyrus Habibi-Likio, who signed with the Broncos on national signing day.
He’ll join the team sometime this summer.
Throw in reserves Danny Smith, Tyler Crowe and Obi Gee, and running backs coach Winston Venable is feeling much better about his position group and its ability to withstand the punishment that comes with a season.
He’s not the only coach looking for big things out of the group this spring. Boise State coach Andy Avalos mentioned the running backs last week as one of the positions where he wanted to see more dependable depth emerge.
“George is an elite player, but you have to have more than one running back,” Avalos said.
Habibi-Likio followed Avalos from Oregon, where the Broncos’ coach spent the past two years as the Ducks’ defensive coordinator. He put his name in the transfer portal in late January, and Venable said he wasted little time extending an offer after hearing nothing but positive things from Avalos and his chief of staff, Da’Vell Winters.
“The football part is a no-brainer, but he’s the type of person who will fit really well in this program,” Venable told the Statesman in February. “I think he’s a player who can come in right away and help develop young guys in the room and also just bring our competition to another level.”
The Broncos recruited Habibi-Likio when he was in high school, and Venable said the 6-foot-1, 215-pound back visited Boise State before deciding on Oregon. When he transferred this winter, his decision came down to Boise State, Wisconsin and Cal.
“I think that shows we’re still an elite program and this is a program people want to be part of,” Venable said.
Venable said the plan all along was to add a running back to the 2021 recruiting class, but when Eli Sanders de-committed in December, Boise State’s coaches were left scrambling for a replacement, and they decided adding a transfer was their best move.
Habibi-Likio earned a reputation as a short-yardage back at Oregon, where he scored 21 rushing touchdowns the past three seasons, but Venable said the Broncos’ staff won’t put any limitations on his role in the offense. He may get the ball on first down, and he may get it on fourth-and-short.
“He’s a little bit of a combination of George and Andrew,” Venable said. “He has a bigger build, but he moves really well. He’s not just a big, bruising running back. He’s very agile, and he’s a versatile player who can catch the ball out of the backfield.”
Habibi-Likio is already familiar with Boise State’s star running back. Holani said Monday that they met during his sophomore year in high school when Habibi-Likio showed him around on an unofficial visit to Oregon.
“I think it’s honestly a great thing for the stable, just bringing in new legs,” Holani said. “Cyrus is a pretty cool dude, and I’m excited that he’s coming into the stable.”
Boise State’s spring game is scheduled for April 10, and the 2021 season is scheduled to begin Sept. 4 in Orlando, Florida, against UCF.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 1:24 PM.
