Boise State hasn’t played in front of a large crowd since 2019. The Bounce House awaits.
The Boise State football team’s new coaching staff is set to make its debut in the season opener Thursday at UCF — a team the Broncos have never faced.
Preparing for the first opponent of the season is always tough. There isn’t any new game film to study, and there’s even less than normal this year because most teams played a shortened season last fall because of COVID-19. It’s also impossible to predict how changes in personnel will affect a team.
The Broncos may not have game experience against the Knights to lean on, but Boise State’s coaches are familiar with UCF head coach Gus Malzahn.
Malzahn spent eight seasons at Auburn before he was fired last December. When he was the defensive coordinator at Oregon, Boise State head coach Andy Avalos had to scheme up a game plan for the 2019 season opener against the Tigers.
Auburn, which was ranked No. 16 in the country at the time, won that game, 27-21. The Tigers racked up 225 rushing yards and held on to win despite Avalos’ defense forcing two interceptions. The Broncos’ coach is well aware of what his new team is up against Thursday in Orlando, Florida.
“His offense is one of the most challenging that I’ve faced in my career,” Avalos told reporters on Saturday. “They’re multiple in all phases of the game, whether it’s tempos, using no huddle or a speed huddle and a variety of personnel (groups) and formations that come with those.”
Boise State offensive coordinator Tim Plough considers himself a football historian, and he takes time to study many of the top players and coaches in the country. Malzahn is one of them.
Malzahn was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2006 when Plough said he first started studying his offense.
“He does a tremendous job of creating a lot of eye confusion. I expect (UCF) to have a high-tempo offense that creates a lot of confusion for the defense,” Plough said. “They do a good job of running the football and mixing in play action.”
The tricky thing about preparing for Thursday’s game is what Malzahn has done at previous coaching stops isn’t what UCF is known for.
Malzahn’s offenses have relied heavily on the running game in the past. UCF has been busy putting a high-powered passing attack on the field. Last fall, the Knights ranked No. 4 in the country with 357.4 passing yards a game and No. 2 with 568.1 total yards of offense a game.
Malzahn said during his introductory news conference in February that he plans to call the offensive plays this year. So, it’s hard to predict if he’s going to stick with the run calls that made him successful at Auburn or lean on the arm of the Heisman candidate UCF has at quarterback in Dillon Gabriel.
Boise State co-defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said Saturday that his players are going to have to adjust on the fly.
“They’ve had a whole year to prepare, and (Malzahn) has had a whole year to figure out ways to do things better or do things different,” Danielson said Saturday. “We give our guys rules for every call on how to play it and how to make adjustments, because on defense that’s what we do. We adjust to what (the offense) wants to do, but we will be on the attack.”
The Broncos aren’t just going to face an unfamiliar opponent Thursday in the Bounce House. They’re also going to experience playing in front of a large crowd for the first time in almost two years.
Boise State only allowed fans to attend two of its home game last season, and most of the Broncos’ road games were played in nearly empty stadiums. The last time the Broncos played in front of anything close to a sellout crowd was Dec. 21, 2019, in the Las Vegas Bowl against Washington, which attracted 34,197 fans.
The Bounce House can seat about 45,300 fans. UCF attracts about 12,000 students to home games, and the stadium is expected to be close to capacity, according to Orlando Sentinel college football reporter Matt Murschel.
Avalos said simulating that environment has been a focus at practice.
“The best we can, we’ve been simulating the effect the noise is going to have and really stressing nonverbal communication,” Avalos said. “We are making sure that, within the presnap, we are playing fast and efficient with our eyes so we can get the communication that we need.”
Season tickets sales on the rise
Season tickets sales are trending upward for the Boise State football team.
Boise State announced Wednesday that 17,548 season tickets have been sold. That’s up from 16,580 in 2019, which is the last time season tickets were sold.
After only about 1,100 fans were admitted into two home games last season, Boise State season ticket holders were given the option to have the price of their tickets refunded, carry the tickets over to this year or donate that money to the athletic department.
The upward trend in sales is promising, given that 2019 marked the fifth time in seven years that season ticket sales had declined. Boise State sold 17,998 in 2018, and a program-record 24,109 in 2012, following former quarterback Kellen Moore’s four-year run with the program.
Boise State also announced Wednesday that it has sold 83% of the seats in Albertsons Stadium for the home opener on Sept. 10 against UTEP. The stadium can hold a little more than 36,300 fans, and Boise State says only 6,202 seats remain.
The Broncos set a home attendance record in 2019 after attracting 36,902 fans to a regular-season game against Hawaii. The previous record was 36,864 in 2012 against BYU.
Mountain West cancellation policy
The Mountain West updated its COVID-19 game cancellation policies this week.
The conference announced at media days in July that games canceled because of the virus will not be made up and will be considered forfeits.
On Friday, the Mountain West updated that rule to say if COVID-19 issues on one team force a game to be canceled, it will be a forfeit and recorded as a loss for the team unable to compete and a win for its scheduled opponent. That will only come into play in determining which teams will play in the conference championship game. It will not change a team’s official win-loss record, according to the NCAA.
If neither team is able to compete, it will be considered a no contest. It’s a small distinction, but it could come into play if deciding which teams will play in the conference championship game comes down to a tiebreaker.
The Mountain West also reiterated that there will be no roster minimums in place this year. Last season, teams were required to have at least 53 players available in order to play a game, and they had to dress a minimum number of players at certain positions: seven offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen and one quarterback.
Whimpey up for Campbell Trophy
Boise State linebacker Riley Whimpey was named to the watch list for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is awarded annually to the player with the best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance.
In June, Whimpey was one of five Broncos named to the Division I CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 Team. The fifth-year senior was also named an academic All-American. The business major has a 3.92 GPA.
Whimpey has also led the Broncos in tackles in each of the past two years, finishing with 61 last season and 83 in 2019. He is one of seven super seniors back for the Broncos this season. There were eight, but N.C. State transfer Brock Miller left the team this summer.
▪ What’s your prediction for the UCF game? Vote in our reader poll below, or follow this link if you don’t see it on your screen.
This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 3:54 PM.
