‘It’s been bad’: Boise State’s season likely hinges on fixing offensive line problems

“It all starts up front.”

“Great football teams are built from the inside out.”

It is hard to find a world — perhaps aside from politics — where cliches are common currency more so than football.

Coaches can somehow speak for a half-hour straight without saying anything.

But sometimes, the buzzwords stick around for a reason. And it’s hard not to think that what coaches have said ad nauseam is correct about Boise State football.

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Common Fan, you have been right to worry, because the Broncos’ offensive line has not been good during a 2-3 start to the 2021 campaign.

It can be hard to measure a line’s success, or lack thereof, but just about any stat you want to pull isn’t pretty.

▪ According to Pro Football Focus, quarterback Hank Bachmeier has been pressured on 45.4% of his dropback attempts, fifth-most in the country. Nevada coach Jay Norvell, whose team beat up the Broncos last week, mentioned off-handedly that “Bachmeier gets hit a lot.”

▪ Per PFF, the Broncos are averaging 1.1 yards rushing before contact, 121st nationally.

▪ Boise State is allowing 7.4 tackles for loss per game.

▪ It isn’t gospel, but PFF’s national player rankings put tackles John Ojukwu and Ben Dooley at Nos. 132 and 268, respectively, at their position; guards Jake Stetz, Will Farrar and Garrett Curran at 135, 394 and 411; and center Donte Harrington at 198.

“It’s been bad, there’s no way to go about it … there’s not a good way to spin it this deep in the season,” said Pete Cavender, a former Boise State offensive lineman in his 13th season as the Broncos’ radio analyst.

Boise State has started four different groups of offensive linemen in just five games. What was supposed to be an experienced group has failed to come together. Five on the roster had started at least eight games in their careers coming into this season.

“What’s kind of been most disheartening is on just about every play, you’ll see at least one of the five getting beat,” Cavender said.

The Broncos have 16 scholarship offensive linemen, five of whom are true or redshirt freshmen. That’s a solid number. There have been some injuries, as always happens in the group, but it sure seems that recruiting and development dipped at the end of the Bryan Harsin era.

Thus far, the top two linemen have been a local product (Ojukwu) and a former walk-on (Stetz). Two FBS transfers started in Saturday’s loss to Nevada.

“We don’t have tremendous depth on the offensive line,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said Monday, adding that it will be a priority in recruiting.

Boise State has what it has in that room. It was forced to use Farrar, a Texas Tech transfer, at center for the first time against Nevada. It didn’t go too swimmingly, with some bad snaps. But adjusting is part of the game, and that’s the biggest challenge for the line, for Avalos, for offensive coordinator Tim Plough and for offensive line coach Tim Keane.

Plough and Keane, who came from UC Davis, are adjusting themselves with the considerable leap up from the FCS ranks. But thus far, the adjustments on the field have not worked — the Broncos have scored just 17 points the second halves of their three losses.

Stability will help, especially at center. A consistent rotation will, too. Playing to strengths (an outstanding wide receiver corps) should be the focus going forward. And yes, making those important in-game tweaks will be the difference between close losses and wins.

What gives Cavender some hope, and it’s something he saw up close, is the man in charge.

On a scout team as players, Avalos never failed to call out Cavender if he was playing “soft.” He also was never afraid to praise the young offensive lineman. An adjustment that can be made to the staff and the players is far less tangible, but just as important.

“I think if Andy can help fix the attitude, get them back to that nasty, ‘dirt dog’ mindset, not to worry about what’s happened, that will go a long way to getting this thing back on track,” Cavender said.

If it all starts up front, then that’s where any hopes for a strong finish begin and end for Boise State.

BOISE STATE AT NO. 10 BYU

When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah

TV: ABC (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill). That’s channel 6 on Sparklight and DirecTV and channel 6 or 5250 on Dish Network.

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 2-3; BYU 5-0

Series: Boise State is 7-4 all-time against BYU, but the Broncos have lost two in a row in the series.

Vegas line: BYU by 5.5

Weather: High of 50 degrees, 62% chance of rain, 8 mph winds

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.