Boise State football will open season on ESPN at UCF; offensive lineman leaves team
The Boise State football team will open the season in the national spotlight.
ESPN announced Thursday that the Broncos’ season opener at UCF has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 2, and will kick off at 5 p.m. Mountain time (7 p.m. Eastern).
The ESPN family of networks also will carry Boise State’s game at BYU on Oct. 9, but neither the specific channel nor the kickoff time was announced Thursday.
The Mountain West also released its national Fox television package Thursday, but the Broncos don’t have games scheduled to air on the network’s broadcast channel yet. Boise State has three games scheduled to air on Fox Sports 1: the home opener against UTEP, which was moved to Friday, Sept. 10, and will kick off at 7:30 p.m.; the Saturday, Sept. 18, game vs. Big 12 opponent Oklahoma State, kicking off at 7 p.m.; and a game against Wyoming, which was moved to Friday, Nov. 12, and will kick off at 7 p.m.
Boise State has four games scheduled to be played on days other than Saturday, including the regular-season finale at San Diego State on Nov. 26 — the day after Thanksgiving.
The Broncos’ remaining home games against Nevada (Oct. 2), Air Force (Oct. 16) and New Mexico (Nov. 20) will air on Fox’s group of channels, but TV designations and kickoff times will be announced later.
The Mountain West championship game, which is scheduled for Dec. 4, will air on Fox again this year. That kickoff time will be announced near the end of the regular season.
Fox began broadcasting Boise State home games last year after it replaced ESPN in the Mountain West’s latest TV deal, which was announced in January 2020.
The three home games the Broncos played last fall aired on FS1. Their regular-season game against San Jose State was scheduled to be played on Fox’s flagship channel, but it was canceled because of COVID-19.
The Spartans’ 34-20 win over Boise State in the Mountain West championship game did air on Fox, though. San Jose State won the conference title for the first time in program history.
The Mountain West announced Wednesday that two of the Broncos’ conference road games will air on CBS: at Utah State (Sept. 25) and at San Diego State (Nov. 26).
The Mountain West’s newest bowl tie-in, the Los Angeles Bowl, will be played Dec. 18 and air on ABC. It replaces the Las Vegas Bowl as the likely destination for the conference champion.
Boise State’s 2021 schedule was released in March. The Broncos went 5-2 last season.
Note: ESPN announced Thursday that the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will return to Albertsons Stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 p.m. MT.
Hernandez leaves program
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Brandon Hernandez has left the Boise State football team, a spokesperson for the program confirmed Thursday.
Hernandez could not be reached Thursday afternoon to confirm if he plans to transfer.
He wasn’t likely to get on the field much this season, with John Ojukwu returning at left tackle and Ben Dooley and graduate transfer Uzo Osuji looking like the top options at right tackle coming out of spring practice. Hernandez was on the Broncos’ roster for the spring game.
The 6-foot-6, 275-pound offensive tackle signed with Boise State in December 2019, choosing the Broncos over Oregon, Cal, Arizona State, Colorado, Washington State and Fresno State, to name a few. He was a three-star recruit coming out of Yucaipa High in California, according to 247Sports.
Hernandez was one of four offensive linemen the Broncos signed in their 2020 recruiting class, including two other tackles in Osuji and junior college transfer Riden Leong.
Boise State also signed three offensive linemen in its 2021 class, including tackle Cord Kringlen.
Boise State’s 2021 schedule
Thursday, Sept. 2: at UCF (5 p.m., ESPN)
Friday, Sept. 10: vs. UTEP (7:30 p.m., FS1)
Saturday, Sept. 18: vs. Oklahoma State (7 p.m., FS1)
Saturday, Sept. 25: at Utah State (10 a.m., CBS)
Saturday, Oct. 2: vs. Nevada (TBD, Fox/FS1/FS2)
Saturday, Oct. 9: at BYU (TBD, ESPN Networks)
Saturday, Oct. 16: vs. Air Force (TBD; Fox/FS1/FS2)
Saturday, Oct. 30: at Colorado State (5 p.m.; CBSSN)
Saturday, Nov. 6: at Fresno State (5 p.m.; CBSSN)
Friday, Nov. 12: vs. Wyoming (7 p.m.; FS1)
Saturday, Nov. 20: vs. New Mexico (TBD; Fox/FS1/FS2)
Friday, Nov. 26: at San Diego State (10 a.m.; CBS)
Note: All times Mountain
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 1:01 PM.
