Boise State WR back to put ‘exclamation point’ on career. COVID-19 slowed his return.
Boise State wide receiver CT Thomas said he wasn’t sure what the future held for him when last season ended — until he got a call from new head coach Andy Avalos.
“He just told me he wanted me back, and, ‘Let’s go finish this thing the right way,’ ” Thomas told reporters Tuesday. “I didn’t know if I was going to try to go somewhere else or hang up the cleats. But with him giving me another shot at it, telling me to come back and telling me the team can really use me, I said, why not?”
The NCAA offered players extra eligibility last year because of the impact COVID-19 had on the season. Thomas said he joined the Broncos’ eight super seniors in returning because the way last season ended left a sour taste in his mouth.
Boise State made a fourth straight appearance in the Mountain West championship game in 2020, but lost to San Jose State. The players voted not to play in a bowl game because of the toll the pandemic-shortened season had taken, and that ended the Broncos’ streak of 18 straight bowl appearances.
That wasn’t how Thomas wanted his career to end.
“I didn’t like the way we went out last year, so I came back to put an exclamation point on it,” he said.
The fifth-year senior has lofty goals for what is likely his final year of eligibility, including ending his career as the best receiver to ever play at Boise State. But his super senior season got off to a rocky start — because of the coronavirus, coincidentally.
A day after receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, he tested positive for a second time during the pandemic and had to miss the first 10 days of camp, Thomas said. He also tested positive in July 2020.
“This is not what I came back for,” Thomas said he remembers thinking at the time. “I didn’t come back to sit. I didn’t come back to slack. I came back because we have unfinished business.”
Thomas said he didn’t have any symptoms after testing positive, but he had to quarantine while doing his best to stay engaged with his teammates through Zoom calls and daily phone calls from Avalos and other coaches.
The 5-foot-8, 175-pound native of Lancaster, Texas, has been back on the field for a little more than a week now, and he plans to get his second vaccine dose on Aug. 30. He also said the number of his teammates getting vaccinated has been on the rise the past couple of weeks.
“I told them to use me as an example,” he said. “I can’t tell you what to do, but you don’t want to be in the third or fourth game, and say you’re a senior like me, and boom, you pop (positive) and you’ve got to miss another week.”
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said at media days in July that seven of the conference’s 12 teams had vaccination rates close to 90%. He also said players or coaches who aren’t vaccinated will have to go through many of the same testing protocols as last year, and teams that have games canceled because of outbreaks will have to forfeit.
A deep-ball threat for Boise State
Thomas has appeared in 47 games since 2017, and he heads into this season with 117 career receptions for 1,525 yards and 10 touchdowns.
His ability to make big plays has already shown on the field this month during camp. Thomas earned praise from starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier and wide receivers coach Matt Miller for his performance in the team’s second scrimmage.
Miller was a wide receiver at Boise State from 2010 to 2014 who joined the Bryan Harsin coaching staff in January 2020 and was retained by Avalos.
“He’s making a lot of plays all over the field and going out there and competing for those moment-of-truth balls, which is something we stress every day,” Miller told reporters Tuesday.
Thomas said he’s most dangerous on deep passing routes, and that certainly proved true in last season’s win at Air Force. On the first offensive play of the game, he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from USC transfer Jack Sears. Thomas finished the game with two catches — the 75-yard TD and a 26-yard touchdown.
“I’m a deep-ball player, but I can run any route in the route tree,” Thomas said. “I pride myself on being a technician. I always want to get to the right depth, make sure I’m coming out of my break faster than the DB and make sure I’m selling it with my eyes.”
Thomas finished second on the team in the seven-game 2020 season with 20 catches, covering 347 yards. His two TDs at Air Force were his only scores. He said he’s hoping that dropping a few pounds will help improve those numbers this year. He was up to 188 pounds last fall, but now he’s down to 175.
“I didn’t feel right. I felt sluggish in my breaks,” he said. “Now that I kind of balanced my weight, I can move faster, jump more and my legs aren’t hurting. Being a fifth-year senior, I have to take care of my body.”
Thomas is part of an experienced group of wide receivers, which is led by Khalil Shakir, who was one of four Broncos named preseason All-Mountain West in July. After missing most of last season, Octavius Evans is back for his super senior season, and redshirt junior Stef Cobbs seems poised for a breakout year, according to his coaches and teammates.
Whether he’s hauling in a deep pass or breaking a bubble screen for a big gain, Thomas said he isn’t going to waste a second this fall.
“I’m looking forward to making big plays and leaving Boise State better than when I found it,” Thomas said.
BOISE STATE AT UCF
When: 5 p.m. Mountain time, Sept. 2
Where: Bounce House, Orlando, Florida
TV: ESPN (channel 133 on Sparklight, 206 on DirecTV and 140 on Dish Network)
Series: This is the first game between the programs.
Vegas line: UCF by 5
Weather: 75 degrees at game time, 24% chance of rain, 9 mph winds
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
