‘How could I not be confident?’ Boise State’s starting QB is ready to stand tall
It’s common practice for Boise State football to undergo a “roll call” following the final scrimmage of fall camp. Each player meets with the coaches and learns where they stand on the depth chart as the season-opening game nears.
Roll call this year happened on a scorching Sunday in mid-August, one day after that scrimmage — the same day a brutally hot team hike proceeded up Table Rock.
Boise State coach Spencer Danielson kept his cards close to the vest when it came to the Broncos’ starting quarterback competition. But when redshirt sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen walked into Danielson’s office that Sunday morning, he wasn’t nervous.
Madsen, who was limited in spring practice while recovering from knee surgery, told reporters Tuesday morning that he planned to be the starter.
“At that point, I felt like I had done everything I possibly could, so I was expecting it,” Madsen said. “And it was a good conversation, simple and fast.”
Madsen beat out redshirt freshman Malachi Nelson to win the job for the opening game at Georgia Southern (Saturday, 2 p.m. Mountain time). Nelson, a former five-star recruit and ESPN’s top-rated player in the country his senior season of high school, transferred to Boise State in the spring from USC, where he saw action in just one game.
Many fans and college football pundits expected Nelson — who had offers from the likes of Alabama, Michigan and Georgia when he picked USC, and then was targeted by many of the big-name schools in the transfer portal — to claim the starting job.
Instead, Madsen — a three-star recruit out of high school, according to ESPN — won his second QB battle in as many years. Last season, Madsen replaced Taylen Green as the starter heading into a home game vs. New Mexico — the same game that saw him suffer the knee injury. Green is expected to start for Arkansas in the SEC this season.
“It’s a big deal, right? But also, I have my own confidence internally,” Madsen said. “I know the player I am and stuff like that. And when there’s so many guys around me, how could I not be confident?”
Danielson and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter have pointed toward Madsen’s understanding of the offense as one of the main reasons he’s claimed the job. Koetter described Madsen on Monday as an “extremely smart” player who “knows the system inside and out.”
Madsen said a lot of the terminology from last year, when Bush Hamdan was the coordinator, has been maintained, which has helped him learn Koetter’s offense more quickly. He said he’s also become a better leader as he’s gotten older and more comfortable.
One of the knocks people attempt to level Madsen with is his size. Boise State lists him as 5-foot-10 and 201 pounds. The average height for a Division I college quarterback, according to data from MaxPreps, is 6-foot-2.
But criticism doesn’t bother Madsen. He said he rarely checks social media or listens to what others are saying about him.
“Football’s football and height is not a big deal to me,” Madsen said. “A lot of people talk about (height) like it’s their favorite thing to talk about, but some of the greatest quarterbacks of all time are under 6-foot.”
He pointed to former New Orleans Saints quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees, who is listed as 6 feet tall.
“I was a big Drew Brees guy growing up. He was so fun to watch, and he was a stud,” Madsen said. “The best way to put it is they’re all playing quarterback in their own way. So that’s where I put myself. I’m just playing quarterback in my own way, and my height isn’t going to affect the way I play.”
So now that he has won the QB battle, Madsen has turned his sights to this season’s goals for him and the team. He said he looks back at what Boise State quarterbacks did in the past, people like Kellen Moore — who at 6-foot and about 195 pounds also took shots for his size. Moore was not an imposing figure, but all he did was compile a record of 50-3 as a starter and become a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Madsen said he also has been playing golf and hanging out with Taylor Tharp and Jared Zabranksy in recent weeks. Zabransky famously led the 2006 Broncos to an undefeated record and stunning victory over Oklahoma in the Jan. 1, 2007, Fiesta Bowl. Tharp was the starter in 2007.
“We talk about the last couple of years of Boise State football, and it hasn’t been the expectations everyone has,” Madsen said. “I mean, 12-0 is what happens. And those guys did a great job of that. This is my position I have to be in to get back to where we once were.”
Boise State at Georgia Southern
- When: 2 p.m. MT Saturday
- Where: Paulson Stadium (25,000, Turf), Statesboro, Georgia
- TV: ESPNU (Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia)
- Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
- Records: Boise State was 8-6 last year; Georgia Southern was 6-7.
- Series: This is the first meeting between the two schools.
- Vegas line: Boise State by 13
- Weather: 93 degrees, humidity 62%, mostly sunny, 30% chance of rain
This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 3:33 PM.
