Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise at Boise State. How will that affect the home opener?
Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said Thursday that the vaccination rate for the football program is close to 85%.
Of the 144 individuals in the football program — including players, coaches and full-time staff — 111 are fully vaccinated and 122 have received at least one dose.
The athletic department hadn’t officially commented on the vaccination rate since the Mountain West announced its vaccination push at media days in July, but several players said last week that it was on the rise.
“I do not feel like making it to competition is going to be an issue this year,” Dickey said. “Our goal is to impart on our fan base, students and student-athletes that we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves and each other.”
The Broncos are in Orlando, Florida, for Thursday’s season opener at UCF (5 p.m. MT, ESPN), and a list of players who made the trip is expected to be released 45 minutes before kickoff.
Next Friday, Boise State opens its home schedule against UTEP, and while masks will be required in Albertsons Stadium, Dickey said the plan is still to admit an up-to-capacity crowd. The stadium can seat more than 36,000 fans, and Dickey said Thursday that fewer than 5,000 tickets are still available.
Since he was hired in January, Dickey’s mantra has been “six home games, six sellouts.” He’s confident that’s still a possibility, despite an email from Boise State President Marlene Tromp, warning that if COVID-19 infection rates continue to climb on campus, it could mean “delaying or canceling large gatherings, performances and athletic events, and temporarily returning to remote work.”
“Wearing masks at a game is not ideal,” Dickey said. “No one likes that, but that’s what we need to do to protect ourselves and each other and to continue to have full capacity.”
Dickey is hopeful the Broncos’ home opener will push Boise State’s home attendance record — which is 36,902 and was set in the 2019 regular season against Hawaii — but he’ll focus more on that in the coming week. For now, he’s in Orlando preparing to attend his first football game as an athletic director, which is a dream he started chasing 20 years ago.
He said he’s so excited that he barely slept Wednesday night, and he went for a run Thursday morning to clear his head.
“To actually get there, it’s extremely humbling and surreal,” Dickey said. “It’s going to be emotional, and there’s probably going to be some tears. I’m very grateful to President Tromp and this institution for trusting me to lead this program.”
What about the Big 12?
Dickey wouldn’t go into detail about conversations he’s had regarding conference expansion, but he said he’s been following everything that’s been happening since Texas and Oklahoma announced they were leaving the Big 12.
Talk about the Big 12 adding teams heated up again Thursday after a report from The Athletic suggested that the conference was close to inviting BYU, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati to join.
Dickey came to Boise State after four years as an associate athletic director at Baylor, and he’s in regular contact with Baylor Athletic Director Mack Rhoades. He wouldn’t say if anyone from the Big 12 has reached out to him, but Dickey said he has no doubt that Boise State belongs in the conversation.
“We should be mentioned on a national level, and we’re going to continue to control what we can. That’s Bronco Nation showing up next week and selling out,” Dickey said. “What we’ve done on the field speaks for itself. I know what this institution represents. I feel like we’re very much headed in the right direction and the future is bright.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 1:04 PM.
