Boise State QB competition looms after miscues lead to ‘brutal’ loss at Oregon State
Expectations can be dangerous.
The Boise State football team posted its worst record in more than a decade last season, but a roster full of veterans and a competitive fall camp had the Broncos poised to make a statement in the season opener Saturday at Oregon State.
Instead, almost everything went wrong in a 34-17 loss, and the Broncos were left with more questions than answers heading into a short week ahead of a matchup at Mountain West foe New Mexico on Friday.
“Sometimes short weeks are what you need because you don’t have time to sit and sulk over whatever it was,” Boise State second-year coach Andy Avalos said. “Now it’s about figuring out what we can get better at this week.”
Boise State starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier turned the ball over three times in the first quarter, and the team finished Saturday’s loss with five turnovers. The running game mustered just 23 yards in the first half and finished with 126 — 74 of those coming on one play — and the Broncos’ vaunted secondary gave up 292 yards and a slew of big plays.
Kicker Jonah Dalmas, who set a program record with 26 made field goals last season, wasn’t immune to the Broncos’ struggles, either. His first attempt of the season — a 32-yard kick as time expired on the first half — flew wide right. He missed another in the fourth quarter.
“It’s brutal,” Boise State tight end Riley Smith said after the game. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, but a lot of it was on us. We were holding ourselves back, but I 100 percent believe in our coaches and players, and it’s going to be a different game than it was tonight.”
QB Hank Bachmeier benched
Despite all that went wrong for Boise State (0-1) on Saturday, the most concerning part of the loss was what happened under center.
Trailing by two touchdowns in the second quarter, Boise State made a change at quarterback. Four-year starter Bachmeier went to the sideline to relay signals to his teammates, while redshirt freshman Taylen Green was on the field leading the offense.
“Taylen got his opportunity to go in there and we were able to adjust some things and get some drives going,” Avalos said. “One of the biggest thing is his ability to extend plays with his legs, but we were excited he took what the defense gave him and stayed on most of his progressions.”
This was supposed to be Bachmeier’s year.
The senior put up career highs in completions (252), passing yards (3,079) and touchdown passes (20) last season. He’s also playing for the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back years for the first time in his college career, but he looked like a jittery freshman at times on Saturday.
Boise State managed just 32 yards of offense with Bachmeier running the show in the first quarter. He threw interceptions on back-to-back drives, and he lost a fumble on the Broncos’ second drive of the second quarter.
The coaches saw enough and turned to Green, a 6-foot-6 signal caller the Broncos’ staff has repeatedly called one of the best athletes on the team.
“Given the situation with how many turnovers we had and our lack of offensive production, we had to make an adjustment,” Avalos said. “(Hank) never got himself into a rhythm. ... He threw into double coverage, and he was holding the ball too long in the pocket.”
Green showed off that impressive athleticism the coaches have raved about. He easily danced away from pass rushers and turned on the jets on a couple of runs, including a 74-yard touchdown in the third quarter when he scrambled from the pocket. He also put his shoulder down and powered across the goal line on a 4-yard touchdown run that cut Oregon State’s lead to 27-17 with 13:05 to play.
Green, who had one interception, finished with a game-high 102 yards on the ground and completed 19-of-28 passes for 155 yards. He’s the first Boise State quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Grant Hendrick posted 131 against New Mexico in 2014.
Green’s performance wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to leave Boise State’s coaches with a decision to make about which quarterback will start at New Mexico, with Avalos confirming after the game that it will be a competition this week in practice.
“Hank has to respond,” Avalos said. “Hank has to be better, and that’s what we’re here to help him do. Taylen has to be better, too.”
Broncos get defensive
Green got some help from his defense, which got three turnovers on Saturday. Cornerback Caleb Biggers snagged the first interception of his career and recovered a fumble, and safety JL Skinner came up with an interception to go along with a team-high 12 tackles. Boise State also had two turnovers overturned on review.
“I think guys played really hard, and that’s the result,” Avalos said.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, the offense gave the ball away more times than the defense took it away. Boise State lost four interceptions and two fumbles — one of which freshman running back Ashton Jeanty lost at Oregon State’s 2-yard line.
“When we go into a game like this, we can’t turn the ball over like we did,” Avalos said. “This is football, and the whole deal is ball security.”
Oregon State was able to withstand its turnovers after building an early lead. QB Chance Nolan (14-of-23, 251 yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes to give the Beavers a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Running back Deshaun Fenwick’s 12-yard touchdown run gave the Beavers a 24-0 lead with a little more than 3:00 left in the first half.
After Boise State cut the Beavers’ lead to 10, versatile athlete Jack Colletto — who lined up at linebacker, quarterback and running back Saturday — took a handoff from the fullback position and scored on a 41-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
This story was originally published September 4, 2022 at 2:27 AM.
