An elite sack attack and a top running back? San Diego State looks familiar to Broncos
After a stress-inducing, hard-earned 29-24 victory over UNLV last Friday night, Boise State has little time to rest on its laurels.
Next up is another Friday night game, at Albertsons Stadium against San Diego State, as the Broncos (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) try to strengthen their grip on the conference. San Diego State (3-4, 2-0) has a losing record overall but is in the thick of the league race and has a knack for keeping games tight.
“This is a really good football team we’re playing,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said Monday. “They’ve got a new staff, and (head coach) Sean Lewis has done a great job, and we know they’re going to continue to get better.”
This is also an opponent that looks somewhat similar. Like the Broncos, the Aztecs rely on a strong rushing attack and a defense that applies great pressure on the opposing quarterback.
Lewis enjoys playing a fast-paced approach on offense. His teams at Kent State when he was head coach there for five years were nicknamed “Flash Fast”; in his final season, in 2022, it was the fourth-fastest offense in the nation, averaging just 30.1 seconds of real time between snaps.
During his brief stint as Colorado’s offensive coordinator last year, the offense averaged 32.1 points per game before Colorado head coach Deion Sanders demoted Lewis without much of a reason.
The Aztecs this season bounced back from three straight losses with three-point wins over Hawaii and Wyoming, and had a big lead against Washington State last week before losing by three, 29-26.
“They had Washington State on the absolute ropes,” Danielson said.
San Diego State led 26-14 in the fourth quarter against a team Boise State beat 45-24 earlier this season.
“They were up big ... and so that’s a testament to who they are as a team,” Danielson continued. “And we know we’re going to get their best.”
San Diego State has seen a slight uptick offensively under Lewis, averaging 340 yards per game, an improvement over last year’s 326. They’re averaging 26.7 points per game over the past three weeks and 22.3 on the year.
Those numbers, of course, pale in comparison to what Boise State is doing. The Broncos are averaging 504.6 yards per game, fourth-best in the nation, and are scoring at a 44.3 ppg clip, third-best in college football.
The oddsmakers have the Broncos as 23.5-point favorites as they return home for the first time since a 62-30 win over Utah State on Oct. 5.
Another explosive running back on the field
If the Aztecs will enjoy any offensive success against Boise State, it’ll be through fifth-year senior running back Marquez Cooper.
Cooper played under Lewis at Kent State for three seasons before spending a year at Ball State and reuniting with Lewis at San Diego State. He entered the season as the active leading rusher at the FBS level with 3,856 career yards.
Through seven games this season, he has 748 rushing yards (25th in the nation) on 169 attempts, good for about 4.4 yards per carry. Just as the Broncos will rely on superstar junior running back Ashton Jeanty — he’s averaging about 20 carries and nearly 200 yards rushing per game to lead the nation (1,376 yards) — the Aztecs will lean on Cooper.
“(Cooper’s) got an extremely low center of gravity and is a very explosive runner,” Danielson said. “He’s been at a couple of different stops, and he’s good. We’ve got to be ready to tackle one of the better running backs we’ll see all year.”
Another sack-happy team
Boise State has been remarkably effective at pressuring the quarterback this season, as its nation-leading 35 sacks prove. That’s just one sack behind its total for all of last season, and the Broncos had six sacks against UNLV last week.
Boise State is just ahead of Ole Miss, which has 34 sacks but has played one more game. Right behind the Rebels is San Diego State, with 28 sacks, so that pits strength vs. strength this week. The Broncos have protected Maddux Madsen splendidly, yielding just six sacks in seven games, for a loss of 25 yards.
The Aztecs probably will be the most aggressive front Boise State faces the rest of the regular season, and they mostly have sophomore edge rusher Trey White to thank for their stats. White, playing for his hometown college, has a nation-leading 10.5 sacks, 10 of which are solo.
“They move him all over the place, and they try to get him isolated,” Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. “They do a very nice job of that in their third-down package. I think this guy is obviously explosive and strong and fast, but I’d say the No. 1 word for him is ‘tremendous.’”
Boise State vs. San Diego State
When: 6 p.m. Mountain time Friday
Where: Albertsons Stadium (36,363, Turf)
TV: Fox Sports 1
Radio: KBOI 670 AM and KBOI 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 162 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 6-1, 3-0; San Diego State 3-4, 2-0
Series: Boise State leads the series 5-4
Vegas line: Boise State by 23.5 points
Weather: High of 51, low of 39, humidity 73%, increasing clouds with showers arriving later, 45% chance of rain
