Boise State faces ‘relentless’ turnover machine in huge Mountain West game at UNLV
Boise State hasn’t had the best time this season with forcing turnovers. The coaching staff and players are well aware of it.
On Monday afternoon, Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said his team needs to get more takeaways, and defensive coordinator Erik Chinander noted that creating turnovers can make or break a game.
The Broncos have managed just one interception through six games and recovered four fumbles — that one interception came from sophomore safety Ty Benefield in the final seconds of the first half against Washington State.
Now imagine having a 6-foot-3, 230-pound middle linebacker on your team with four interceptions on his own.
That’s what No. 17 Boise State (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) will face Friday when facing UNLV (6-1, 2-0) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Rebels likely pose the biggest threat on the schedule as the Broncos seek a regular season Mountain West title, which would mean hosting the conference championship game. And a large part of the challenge comes from UNLV’s ability to create turnovers. The Rebels are plus-12 in that department, the second-best margin in college football, and that charge has been led by senior linebacker Jackson Woodard.
“I just love how (Woodard) plays the game,” Danielson said Monday. “He finds a way to make physical tackles, sideline to sideline. He’s (second) in the country in interceptions as a linebacker. I mean, that just tells you how much he flies around.”
Woodard has four of UNLV’s 13 interceptions, and teammate Jalen Catalon also has four.
That makes ball security an even bigger deal as both teams seek the Mountain West driver’s seat. Danielson acknowledged that, on film, the Rebels do a “much better job” in the turnover game.
“They’re doing a great job catching the ball when it’s thrown in their direction,” Danielson said. “They have a relentless pursuit on defense; there are some tipped balls in there that they’re getting. They’re creating a lot of forced fumbles by how hard they tackle and how hard they play, and they’re getting those fumbles.”
On the flip side, Boise State has been very good at taking care of the ball, coughing it up just four times this season — one fumble and three interceptions.
Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter praised sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen on Monday for his ability to take good care of the ball — his most recent interception came three games ago against Washington State. His other interception came in week one against Georgia Southern, while redshirt freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson threw an interception against Utah State in early October.
And although they don’t officially count as turnovers, the Broncos have been great at forcing turnovers on downs. They’ve done that eight times through six games, stopping opponents on fourth-down attempts to get the ball back. Three of those eight came in a win over Washington State.
Chinander said Boise State emphasizes defending short-yardage situations during practice every week. UNLV is 7-for-10 going for it on fourth down, so that could come into play this week as well.
“On Monday practice, it’s not a high-intensity practice for us, but we put a big emphasis on short yardage and some goal line so that we can walk through those situations,” Chinander said. “We can get those fits exactly right, and then later in the week, it becomes much, much cleaner.”
UNLV vs. Boise State
When: 8:30 p.m. Mountain time Friday
Where: Allegiant Stadium (65,000, Turf)
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin, Tiffany Blackmon)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 113 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 5-1, 2-0; UNLV 6-1, 2-0
Series: Boise State leads the series 9-3
Vegas line: Boise State by 2.5 points
Weather: High of 85, low of 61, humidity 21%, a few clouds, 0% chance of rain
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 4:59 PM.
