After years of waiting, boyhood Boise State fan is ‘excited’ to compete in 2025
Sitting in front of the television screen, a 4-year-old Ben Ford watched in awe as the Boise State Broncos pulled off the type of football move that a young boy from Idaho had probably never seen before.
With Boise State needing to convert a 4th-and-long to stay alive in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and Ford being nearly 1,200 miles away in his living room in Eagle, it felt like a front row seat as he watched the Broncos pull off that iconic hook and ladder play to tie the game with Oklahoma in the waning seconds.
Nearly two decades later, that moment is still Ford’s favorite Boise State memory growing up. But he’s been able to make a few memories himself the last 12 months, and he’s a little bit closer to the action this time around.
For example? A 12-yard catch in front of over 63,000 people while wearing a Bronco uniform in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl.
Unlike the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, in which the Broncos came back late to defeat Oklahoma, the 2024 Fiesta Bowl didn’t end quite as happily for Boise State, as it lost 31-14 to Penn State. But that doesn’t take away a life memory for Ford, who hauled in a third-quarter pass before running for several more yards down the sideline.
“Being able to say I had a catch in that Fiesta Bowl, in one of the big-time games for BSU, that’s really sweet,” Ford told the Idaho Statesman on Sunday. “It’ll be amazing to look back and be able to have that memory for the rest of my life.”
Ford will be looking to make a few more memories in 2025, too. The redshirt senior wide receiver was named to Boise State’s opening week depth chart on Saturday, listed alongside sophomore receiver Cam Bates as still in a competition for a starting spot.
Entering his fifth year at Boise State, it’s the first time Ford has found himself at the top of the depth chart.
A graduate of Eagle High School, Ford arrived at Boise State as the 2020 Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year. He played quarterback in high school but switched to slot receiver upon arriving at Boise State, with former Bronco head coach Andy Avalos attracted to Ford’s athleticism and ability to separate.
A redshirt year in 2021 was followed by a promising start to his college year 2022, but a torn ACL kept Ford out of action for the rest of 2022 and the entirety of the 2023 season.
He finally managed to play a string of meaningful snaps for Boise State in 2024, playing in 11 games and making four receptions for 34 yards.
“I would say (it took a) little longer than I expected, or obviously what I wanted,” Ford said. “Everybody wants to come in and play, but obviously, everybody has their own path and handles adversity in different ways... It was a little bit of a tough journey there for a while. But I’m just excited for the opportunity I have coming up this year.”
In today’s age of college football and the transfer portal, , it would have been easy for Ford to call it quits at Boise State and find somewhere else he’d be guaranteed to play.
Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said on Saturday that he was proud of Ford for sticking around and fighting for his place. Similarly, offensive coordinator Nate Potter said Ford is a “great example of what a Bronco is” and that he’d earned the right to get on the field.
“He’s going to do whatever it takes for this team,” Danielson said. “He’s going to put his head down and work, and that’s why he’s a huge part of this team. Not even just in regards to being a receiver for us, a huge part of our entire locker room, huge part of our entire culture, because he’s all in with what we’re doing here.”
Of course, the thought of leaving Boise State never crossed Ford’s mind, either.
“I think this place develops you on and off the field,” Ford said. “They pour into you here and really make you a better person, and I think that was huge for me. And also just being around my family, too.”
And what Ford expect to do on the field in 2025? Like the rest of the team, he’s gunning for a Mountain West championship and a return to the College Football Playoff.
On a personal level, he’ll do whatever the coaching staff asks of him. Danielson has already been impressed with Ford’s ability not to miss a single day of camp and how he kept an edge about him, despite new guys joining the wide receiver room.
“I’m willing to do everything that I can to get us to (our team goals),” Ford said. “Whether that’s special teams, offense, I’ll go play defense, I don’t care. I’m just excited to get started with the game week this week, get on that plane, get down to Florida, and get rolling.”
Boise State at South Florida
- When: 3:30 p.m. Mountain time, Thursday
- Where: Raymond James Stadium (75,000, grass), Tampa, Florida
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
- Records: Boise State 12-2 last year; South Florida 7-6.
- Series: First meeting between the two teams.
- Vegas line: Boise State by 6.5
- Weather: 91 degrees, partly cloudy, 24% chance of rain
