What we learned from Boise State’s second-half collapse against UCF in the season opener
The Boise State football team led UCF 21-0 early in Thursday’s season opener, but the Knights took the lead with 23 unanswered points and held on to win, 36-31.
It was former Boise State linebacker Andy Avalos’ debut as head coach, and the first chance to see new offensive coordinator Tim Plough’s scheme in a regular-season game.
Here are five things we learned from the Broncos’ loss in the Bounce House.
1. Tim Plough’s offense could be exciting.
The Broncos debuted the scheme that Plough used to make UC Davis one of the most high-powered offenses in the FCS. Early in Thursday’s game, it looked exactly as advertised — fast and exciting.
In the first quarter, Boise State really pushed the tempo. The Broncos didn’t huddle much, quarterback Hank Bachmeier adjusted plays at the line of scrimmage and the coaches cycled players in and out at a dizzying pace. Bachmeier completed passes to nine different receivers in the first half alone, and he finished the game with completions to 10 receivers. That’s a far cry from last fall when just 12 players finished the season with at least one catch.
Bachmeier finished the game 25-of-39 for 263 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the Broncos didn’t give up a sack, which is something Plough takes pride in.
2. The players aren’t the only ones going through growing pains.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, the tempo slowed down in the second half. They also went away from the passing game and tried to force the running game down the Knights’ throats.
Plough said the plan was to run the ball and control the clock to keep UCF’s offense on the sideline, which is an understandable tactic against a unit led by a Heisman contender in quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Plough also said the tempo was hampered in the second half because the Broncos weren’t able to pick up any yards on the ground on first down.
The problem is even though the running game wasn’t working, Plough didn’t adjust and go back to the air. He stubbornly kept calling run plays, even as the Broncos went three-and-out on all of their possessions in the third quarter. Plough hadn’t coached in a game since 2019 because COVID-19 forced the postponement of the 2020 season at the FCS level, and it showed.
Plough wasn’t the only Boise State coach who had a tough debut on Thursday. A questionable timeout call by Avalos in the final minute of the first half played a role in UCF cutting the Broncos’ lead to 24-14 at halftime.
UCF got the ball last in the first half, and it opened the drive with an incomplete pass, which stopped the clock. A completion to running back Isaiah Bowser went for negative yardage, setting up third-and-11, but the Knights were content to let time run off the clock before running the play.
With 45 seconds left, Avalos called a timeout. Five plays later — four of which were complete passes — Gabriel threw his second touchdown pass of the game to send the Knights into halftime with plenty of momentum.
Boise State was up 24-7 at the time and UCF was on its own 25-yard line when he called a timeout instead of making the Knights fight the clock or use their timeouts to drive down the field for what proved to be an important score.
Avalos said after the game that he called the timeout to prepare his defense for a play he knew was coming after he recognized a formation UCF was in. The problem is, all the pressure was on UCF at that point, and his timeout alleviated much of it.
3. The Broncos are still not the same team without Holani.
Just like last season, Boise State is just not the same team when starting running back George Holani isn’t on the field. Holani was a late scratch on Thursday because of an undisclosed injury. He also missed most of last season after suffering a knee injury in the second game of the year at Air Force, and the Broncos ranked last in the Mountain West with 107.1 rushing yards a game.
Oregon transfer Cyrus Habibi-Likio got the start Thursday and looked good early, but his production tapered off as the game went on. He finished with just 23 yards on 12 carries.
Andrew Van Buren looked explosive early, too. His first carry went for 22 yards, and he capped that drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, which gave the Broncos a 14-0 lead. But the power he ran with early disappeared later in the game, and he finished with 26 yards on 10 carries. As a team, the Broncos managed just 20 net rushing yards.
Avalos said after the game that Holani should be good to go for the Broncos’ home opener on Sept. 10 against UTEP (7:30 p.m., FS1), and that should be music to the ears of Boise State fans. Holani burst onto the scene in 2019 with 1,014 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns as a true freshman.
4. The defensive backs really are ‘headhunters.’
Boise State’s new coaching staff has been focused this fall on getting its cornerbacks and safeties to play with more physicality. Cornerback Markel Reed called the Broncos’ defensive backs “headhunters” a few weeks ago, and they looked like it Thursday night.
Reed and safety JL Skinner both laid some big hits on ball carriers, and neither was shy about flexing over a downed opponent and talking a little trash after the play. Nickel Kekaula Kaniho even got a big shot in, but he took it a little too far and was disqualified for targeting, which, according to NCAA rules, means he’ll have to miss the first half of the home opener.
If the defensive backs can keep instilling fear in opponents with big hits and cornerback Tyric LeBeauf continues to show the ball skills he displayed on his two interceptions, the Broncos’ secondary could be better than advertised — despite breaking in two new starters at cornerback.
5. The punter looks pretty good.
It would be hard to find a player more deserving of being called Boise State’s MVP on Thursday night than wide receiver Khalil Shakir. Despite being limited by an injury, he led the team in receptions (5), receiving yards (91) and receiving touchdowns (two). He also racked up 78 yards after the catch.
A close second for the Broncos’ MVP in the opener is punter Joel Velazquez. He’s one of seven super seniors who returned this year after the NCAA offered extra eligibility because of COVID-19, and he opened his fifth season in the program with one of the best games of his career. There were originally eight super seniors that committed to return, but linebacker Brock Miller left the team before fall camp began.
Velazquez punted the ball six times for 304 yards and averaged 50.7 yards per punt on Thursday. His longest of the night covered 62 yards. He averaged 41 yards per punt last season and 39.3 in 2019.
Velazquez got the Broncos out of the shadow of their own goal post a couple times with some big-time punts. Boise State is going to need more of that from him this season, especially as the offense goes through its growing pains.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 11:29 AM.
