‘Goal is still in front of us.’ Boise State chases Mountain West title vs. Fresno State
Boise State wide receiver Billy Bowens has been on both sides of Mountain West championship games.
He was a redshirt freshman when the Broncos hosted the conference title game in 2019 and cruised past Hawaii 31-10. Bowens said he can still remember the smiles on his teammates’ faces after the win.
“You know how much everyone has sacrificed to get to that point,” Bowens told reporters on Wednesday. “To get that satisfaction of winning is incredible.”
Bowens has also been on the losing end of two championship games.
In 2018, Boise State fell to Fresno State 19-16 in overtime barely a month after beating the Bulldogs in the regular season. In 2020, the Broncos navigated a COVID-shortened season, only to fall to San Jose State 34-20 in the championship game.
Bowens and the Broncos have a shot at capturing Mountain West glory again on Saturday (2 p.m., Fox) when they host Fresno State. Boise State will play in the title game for the sixth time in 10 years, and with a win it would move into No. 1 in Mountain West history with its fifth conference title.
Utah, TCU and BYU all won at least a share of four Mountain West championships before leaving the conference. The Broncos have won four titles since 2011.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity we have in front of us,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “Being resilient, wanting to grow and looking for ways to grow as individuals and a team, we’ve obviously earned the right to play for the championship.”
A win on Saturday would complete a pretty impressive turnaround for the Broncos (9-3, 8-0 Mountain West).
Boise State opened the season 2-2, including a loss to 15-point underdog UTEP. Avalos fired offensive coordinator Tim Plough less than 24 hours later, and starting quarterback Hank Bachmeier was in the transfer portal a few days after that.
Bowens said there was never panic in the locker room. The leaders of the team just got together and reassured one another that they were in it together.
“We just kept telling each other from the beginning, ‘The goal is still in front of us,’” Bowens said. “Everyone is all in anyway, so it wasn’t chaos in the locker room. We just said, ‘Let’s go back to the drawing board and fix what we need to fix.’”
Fix it they did. The Broncos have gone 7-1 since Dirk Koetter took over as interim offensive coordinator and redshirt freshman Taylen Green took over at quarterback against San Diego State on Sept. 30.
Boise State’s offense went from dysfunctional to dangerous in a matter of weeks. The Broncos averaged 120.2 rushing yards a game through the first four contests of the season. Now they rank No. 2 in the Mountain West with 190.4.
The Broncos’ passing game has also come to life in the past month. Green threw a career-high four touchdown passes against Utah State last week. He’s averaging 233 yards through the air in his past six starts, and he’s thrown 12 touchdowns and four interceptions since replacing Bachmeier.
Green hasn’t thrown a pick since the Broncos’ win at Air Force on Oct. 22. He was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year on Monday.
“Taylen has far exceeded my expectations,” Koetter said. “He’s shown really good touch throwing the ball in the middle of the field, he’s grown in his knowledge of protections and he has quite a bit on him in the running game.”
Saturday’s championship game is a rematch of a matchup the Broncos won 40-20 in October. But the Fresno State team that comes to Albertsons Stadium on Saturday is not the same beat-up squad from that game.
Neither quarterback Jake Haener nor safety Evan Williams played in the regular-season meeting because of injuries. Both are healthy now, and the Bulldogs (8-4, 7-1 MW) have won seven straight games since losing at Albertsons Stadium.
That includes a 30-0 win over Wyoming last Friday, in which the Cowboys were limited to 87 rushing yards. Wyoming running back Titus Swen racked up 212 yards on the ground in the Cowboys’ 20-17 loss to Boise State on Nov. 19.
“I just think it goes back to constant preparation and belief in each other,” Haener told reporters on Monday. “When me and Evan came back, that gave us a little extra boost, and we knew it was go time.”
Haener is completing 73.5 percent of his passes this year, and he’s thrown for 6,528 yards and 50 touchdowns the past two seasons. He and Williams were both named All-Mountain West on Tuesday — Haener on the first team and Williams on the second.
Fresno State lost four of its first five games, including a 19-14 upset at the hands of UConn. Now the Bulldogs are in the Mountain West title game for the fifth time since 2013.
It’s the third time the Broncos and Bulldogs have played for a championship. Boise State won 17-14 in 2017, and Fresno State returned the favor with the 2018 OT win. Both games were at Albertsons Stadium.
“We have a lot of respect for them, who they are and what they do, and it’s going to be a great matchup,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said on Monday. “We’re familiar with what that environment is like, and it’s definitely an advantage because of their fans. It’s loud and they do a good job.”
Tedford also said Monday that he has a lot of respect for Boise State’s defense. The Broncos are giving up 284.6 yards a game, which ranks No. 2 in the Mountain West this season.
Boise State has also forced at least one turnover in seven straight games, including safety JL Skinner’s two late interceptions that sealed the Broncos’ win at Wyoming.
Tedford raved about Skinner on Monday.
“He’s going to make an impact because that’s what great players do,” Tedford said. “You’re not going to stop him from making plays. It just kind of depends on the situation he gets puts in.”
Skinner and the rest of the Broncos’ defense will have to try to slow down Fresno State wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper (74 catches, 984 yards, 5 TDs) and running back Jordan Mims (1,078 yards, 14 TDs) on Saturday.
FRESNO STATE AT BOISE STATE
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: Fox (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Petros Papadakis)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 9-3, 8-0 MW; Fresno State 8-4, 7-1 MW
Series: Boise State is 17-7 all-time against Fresno State, including a 40-20 victory at home earlier this season.
Vegas line: Boise State by 3
Weather: 37 degrees at kickoff, 0% chance of rain, 15 mph wind
