Boise State loses starter in secondary; two players retire; update on backfield injuries
Boise State cornerback Markel Reed will miss the rest of the season after he sustained an injury last week, Broncos football coach Andy Avalos announced Monday.
Reed started the Broncos’ first five games but didn’t play in Boise State’s win over BYU on Saturday. Fellow starting cornerback Tyric LeBeauf also missed the game for undisclosed reasons.
Avalos didn’t elaborate on either player’s situation, and didn’t comment on LeBeauf’s availability for Boise State’s home game against Air Force on Saturday (7 p.m., FS1).
Reed — a 6-foot, 190-pound junior — has posted 21 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss this season. LeBeauf leads the team with three interceptions.
Former wide receiver Damon Cole and Bowling Green transfer Caleb Biggers started at cornerback against BYU, but freshman Kaonohi Kaniho replaced Cole after he left the game in the first half and didn’t return. There was no word on Cole’s injury on Monday.
Biggers is listed as the starter in Reed’s spot on Boise State’s depth chart heading into the Air Force game.
Center Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez no longer appears on Boise State’s depth chart. The redshirt junior won the starting job in fall camp but hasn’t played this season for undisclosed reasons.
Sixth-year senior Donte Harrington started at center in the first four games of the season. Texas Tech transfer Will Farrar started at center the past two weeks, and he’s listed as the starter there again this week.
Local products medically retire
Avalos also confirmed Monday that two players from Idaho high schools have medically retired in recent weeks.
Defensive end Aisa Kelemete — a former standout at Highland High in Pocatello — announced on social media in September that he was stepping away from football after the fifth surgery of his college career. Avalos said Kelemete had a continuous issue with one of his shoulders.
Former Rocky Mountain High standout Tyler Visser has also medically retired because of a shoulder injury, Avalos said. Visser joined the Broncos last year after two seasons at Sierra College. He appeared in four games last season, mostly on special teams, but hadn’t played this fall.
Coaches ‘hopeful’ top RBs will play
Avalos didn’t have much to say Monday about injuries to the Broncos’ top two running backs.
Starting running back George Holani missed his second game of the season Saturday. A leg injury kept him out of the Broncos’ season opener at UCF, and he aggravated the same injury during Boise State’s loss to Nevada.
Boise State offensive coordinator Tim Plough said Monday that he expects Holani to be back on the field at some point this season, but he didn’t give a timeline.
Oregon transfer Cyrus Habibi-Likio led Boise State with 75 yards and a touchdown on the ground and five receptions out of the backfield at BYU, but he left the game early in the second half for undisclosed reasons and didn’t return.
Avalos didn’t give an update on his injury Monday, but he said the coaching staff will see how Habibi-Likio progresses in practice and should have a better idea of his availability later in the week.
If Holani and Habibi-Likio are both out this weekend, Boise State will turn to 240-pound senior Andrew Van Buren to carry the load. He’ll be backed up by former walk-on Tyler Crowe and junior college transfer Taequan Tyler.
Plough said he’s hopeful both running backs will be on the field this weekend, but he echoed Avalos’ sentiments in saying he would know more later in the week.
He also said the team isn’t going to use injuries as an excuse and will go with whichever players are ready. But there’s no denying what the Broncos lose if neither Holani nor Habibi-Likio is on the field against Air Force.
“We’ve talked about George’s ability to make guys miss at the line of scrimmage. He’ll turn a 1-yard run into a 5-yard run,” Plough said. “I thought Cyrus on Saturday was running really aggressive. He was downhill, moving the pile, getting behind his pads. He has the ability to still make guys miss, but I think he gets as downhill as anybody right now. Plus they both catch the ball really well out of the backfield.”
Younger Kaniho named freshman of week
Kaniho was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Monday.
He is the younger brother of fifth-year senior Kekaula Kaniho, and the redshirt freshman posted five tackles, a pass breakup and the first interception of his career during the Broncos’ 26-17 win at BYU on Saturday. Two of his tackles were on third-down stops.
The 6-foot, 178-pound native of Kahuku, Hawaii, snagged a pass from Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall late in the fourth quarter, ending any hope of a comeback by the then-No. 10 team in the country.
AIR FORCE AT BOISE STATE
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: FS1 (Corey Provus, Mark Helfrich). 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 3-3; Air Force 5-1
Series: Boise State is 6-3 all-time against Air Force, and the Broncos have won four in a row.
Vegas line: Boise State by 5
Weather: High of 64 degrees, 6% chance of rain, 11 mph winds
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 2:58 PM.
