Instant analysis: Boise State is 0-2 after gut-wrenching loss, with lots of questions
Boise State has started a football season 0-2 for the first time since 2005, losing 18-16 to UCF on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium after a 56-19 defeat at the hands of Washington last weekend.
Here’s a quick look inside the home opener.
Main takeaways: The Broncos nearly pulled a rabbit out of a hat Saturday — hell, make that about three rabbits. They gave up 530 yards of offense; allowed about 8 yards per play; started the game without running back George Holani; saw starting quarterback Taylen Green leave in the third quarter with leg cramping; and yielded five red-zone drives and eight drives into scoring territory.
UCF had possessions covering 60, 62, 75, 78, 86 and 58 yards. Ouch.
Despite that, the outcome came down to a walk-off field goal.
A win would have buoyed Boise State, but it also would have been a little misleading. The defense can’t keep getting gouged and expect to come away with victories. That D came up with two diving interceptions Saturday in the red zone, but they were gifts, bouncing off the hands of receivers, one of whom was wide-open and would have strolled into the end zone had he not hot-potatoed the football.
It’s just a unit right now that doesn’t really have something to hang its hat on, other than that it plays quite hard — which is what you’d expect.
On offense, Ashton Jeanty is, well, really good. He had 115 yards rushing and 97 yards receiving, including a 38-yard TD catch. He’s a budding superstar in the Mountain West. The offensive line looked pretty good much of the game, paving the way to 173 yards on the ground.
Main questions: Obviously, the injuries. Needless to say, the status of Green and Holani will have a lot to do with the kind of season the Broncos have, no matter how good Jeanty is and no matter how well backup QB Maddux Madsen acquitted himself.
Beyond that, can the defense get better so that it doesn’t give up huge plays on nearly every drive? UCF had nine rushing plays of 10 yards or more and eight passing plays of 15 yards or more. The Knights punted only twice. The Broncos got just one sack, and they were pretty much victimized at every level, from the line to the secondary.
Granted, Boise State has played two really good offenses so far, but this isn’t a team that looks for excuses. They know they have to be better.
That leads to the final question: Where do the Broncos go from here? Tough schedule aside, 0-2 starts don’t sit well. And it’s a football program that has thrived on not only taking on the big boys from big conferences, but often beating them. Head coach Andy Avalos now has a 17-11 career record. Expectations are always high in Boise. There are two more September road games. The pressure is on early this season, just as it was last year, when the team reacted splendidly by following a 2-2 start with four straight wins.
Main drives: Trailing 16-15, UCF went 58 yards in nine plays to set up Colton Boomer’s clutch game-winning field goal from 40 yards out. Prior to that, trailing 15-10, Boise State went 75 yards in 12 plays to score the go-ahead points, converting a huge fourth-and-2 at the UCF 32-yard line with 3:17 left when Madsen scrambled for a 4-yard gain.
Main stat: Boise State had 10 offensive possessions and just three of those ended in points.
Up next: Boise State will look to get its first win — and should get its first win — when it hosts FCS North Dakota at the unkind time of 10 a.m. Saturday at Albertsons Stadium. The game is on FS1 in its noon Eastern time window, so you can blame the TV gods for this unwelcome time frame.
This story was originally published September 9, 2023 at 8:59 PM.