Boise State to face potential No. 1 pick; Nevada loses receiver; Harsin shuffles staff
Boise State football coach Andy Avalos has experience coaching against a quarterback many experts predict will be one of the top picks in the NFL Draft.
Avalos was the Broncos’ defensive coordinator for the final two seasons of former Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen’s college career. Allen was picked No. 7 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
Avalos is going to coach against another likely top-10 pick on Saturday when Boise State hosts Mountain West rival Nevada (1:30 p.m., FS1). Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong was named the conference’s preseason offensive player of the year in July, and he’s getting plenty of hype as the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The primary difference between the two, Avalos said, is Strong operates primarily out of a spread offense, while Allen took some snaps from under center at Wyoming. But Avalos said he thinks Strong is more accurate as a passer.
“Of course he has arm strength. He’s one of the top quarterbacks in college football. But his accuracy is on point. He’s on schedule. He’s on time,” Avalos told reporters Monday. “His ability to work through progressions from a spread standpoint is different. It is elite.”
Strong heads into Saturday’s game at Albertsons Stadium having completed 68% of his passes this season. He has thrown for 955 yards, and his seven passing touchdowns put him in a four-way tie for No. 2 in the conference with Utah State’s Logan Bonner, Hawaii’s Chevan Cordeiro and Boise State’s Hank Bachmeier. Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener leads the Mountain West with 15 touchdown passes.
Strong was named the 2020 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year after he led the conference with 2,858 yards and 27 touchdowns through the air. He isn’t as likely as Allen to take off and run, but Strong has the Wolf Pack passing attack humming again.
Nevada ranks No. 2 in the Mountain West with 353 passing yards a game this season.
“He can make every throw, and he’s patient in the pocket,” Boise State co-defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said. “You get him off his spot with pressures and he can still make that deep comeback (throw) on the far hash. He’s an NFL arm talent and I’m obviously not the only one saying that.”
Boise State (2-2) hasn’t lost to Nevada (2-1) since Nov. 26, 2010, when the Wolf Pack won 34-31 in overtime. The programs haven’t played since the Broncos went on the road and won 31-27 in 2018.
The Wolf Pack opened this season with a 22-17 win over Pac-12 program Cal. They fell 38-17 to Kansas State on Sept. 18, and they’re coming off a bye — which gave Nevada an extra week to prepare for the Broncos.
“Any time you have a bye week, it gives you an opportunity to not only focus on the next opponent, but more importantly self scout,” Avalos said.
Nevada loses receiver
Strong has some talented playmakers to get the ball to in the passing game. Most notably, he’s throwing to one of the Mountain West’s most explosive wide receivers in Romeo Doubs, who joined Strong as a preseason All-Mountain West pick.
Doubs ranks No. 5 in the conference this fall with 5.7 catches a game and No. 6 with 86.3 receiving yards per contest. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior leads Nevada with 17 catches and 258 receiving yards, but he has just one receiving touchdown.
Strong can also go to tight end Cole Turner — a 6-6, 240-pound senior, who moves like a wide receiver, Avalos said. Turner has 14 catches for 135 yards, but he also only has one touchdown reception this season.
Nevada’s passing attack took a serious hit on Monday when the program announced wide receiver Elijah Cooks will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc fracture in his foot. Cooks, a fifth-year senior, leads the Wolf Pack with four receiving touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 157 yards.
Cooks led the team in receptions (76), receiving yards (926) and receiving touchdowns (8) in 2019, but he missed all but one game last season because of a shoulder injury.
Run defense still an issue
Boise State’s defense was successful enough in the red zone Saturday at Utah State to open Mountain West play with a win. But problems stopping the run persist.
The Broncos have given up more than 200 yards on the ground in three of four games this season, and Boise State ranks last in the Mountain West, surrendering 210 rushing yards a game.
UCF racked up 255 rushing yards in the season opener. UTEP finished with 246 in the Broncos’ home opener, and Utah State posted 235 yards on the ground in Boise State’s conference opener.
“We gave up too many yards (against Utah State), and it’s on explosive plays,” Danielson said. “We can’t give up those explosive plays.”
Boise State isn’t facing a team with a high-powered rushing attack this weekend, though. Nevada ranks last in the Mountain West with 77 rushing yards a game. The Broncos rank No. 10 in the 12-team league with 87.5.
Toa Taua leads the Wolf Pack with 155 yards on 25 carries. Devonte Lee has 93 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 27 carries.
Freshmen make debuts
Four true freshmen made their collegiate debuts during Boise State’s 27-3 win at Utah State on Saturday, including 270-pound defensive tackle Ahmed Hassanein, who wasted no time recording his first tackle and hit on a quarterback.
“He’s physically capable of handling himself, and he’s pretty dang strong for a freshman,” Avalos said. “He’s a young man, who — like most of the freshmen — got off to a slow start because of some of the (COVID-19) protocols, but we’ve been able to get him going the last three weeks.”
Hassanein is originally from Egypt, where — despite his size — he was once ranked No. 1 in the country for his age group in CrossFit. He played his first season of organized football in 2019, but his athleticism has already impressed Boise State’s coaches.
“He’s an extremely explosive, strong young man, and as he continues to learn the game, I believe his production and his play is going to go through the roof,” Danielson said. “He’s such a diligent worker. He’s that guy where you’re like ‘Ahmed, you have to slow it down a little because you’re going to hurt somebody.’ ”
Safety Zion Washington, kicker Will Ferrin and quarterback Taylen Green also made it into the Utah State game. Green was on the field for two plays: once as a decoy when he lined up at wide receiver, and once on a snap inside the Aggies’ 5-yard line that was stopped for a 1-yard gain.
Harsin fires coach
It only took former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin four games to start shuffling his staff at Auburn and create a quarterback controversy.
On Sunday, Harsin fired first-year wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams and replaced him with former Boise State offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, who was an analyst for the Tigers.
Harsin also benched starting quarterback Bo Nix on Saturday as No. 22 Auburn had to come from behind to beat Georgia State, 34-24. T.J. Finley — a transfer from LSU — threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to Shedrick Jackson with 45 seconds left in regulation, and cornerback Smoke Monday added an interception return for a touchdown with 31 seconds left.
Auburn (3-1) ranks No. 8 in the SEC with 227.2 passing yards a game.
Harsin went 69-19 in seven seasons as the head coach at Boise State — his alma mater. He left in December to replace current UCF coach Gus Malzahn at Auburn.
NEVADA AT BOISE STATE
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust, Petro Papadakis). That’s channel 146 on Sparklight, 219 on DirecTV and 150 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 2-2; Nevada 2-1
Series: Boise State is 30-13 all-time against Nevada, and the Broncos have won six in a row against the Wolf Pack.
Vegas line: Boise State by 6.5
Weather: High of 73 degrees, 1% chance of rain, 6 mph winds
This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
