By Jake Hamar (The Morning Grind)
This year has been an interesting one for Boise State Football.
While some would say it was a disappointment, I disagree. True, while 9-4 is not what some of the folks in Bronco Nation are accustomed to, it’s still not too shabby. I mean, if you are a team like Nevada, Fresno State, New Mexico, Colorado State or UNLV, 9-4 would be considered an amazing season. Over the past 17-18 years, we have been treated to some pretty darn good football on the blue turf.
Yesterday’s game against Northern Illinois was a revelation.
It was a statement saying, “We are better than our 9-4 record suggests.” Boise State lit up the Huskies for 654 yards of total offense, and Brett Rypien made it look pretty easy, passing for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jeremy McNichols ran in for 3 scores as well, including an easy first quarter run to the end zone. Everyone was pretty much firing on all cylinders, winning the Poinsettia Bowl and silencing a lot of critics saying this team wasn’t as talented as past Boise State rosters.
Wednesday’s game showed what this 2015 Boise State team could do.
“Give credit to Boise State,” Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey told ESPN. “That’s a good football team and today they made all the plays. They were certainly the more physical team. When you can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball it makes for a good day for them. It wasn’t a good performance for us.”
And it isn’t like Northern Illinois is a bad team. This is a club is a decent football club. They went to the Orange Bowl in 2012, and won the MAC Championship in 2014. In week 3, they gave Ohio State all they could handle before losing 20-13. Beating a competitive team like Northern Illinois shows what kind of team Boise State is.
Next year, the Mountain West is bound to be more competitive. New Mexico, Air Force and San Diego State will be hungry. Colorado State will be looking to improve upon their 7-5 record. Nevada will try and keep coach Brian Polian employed, despite losing offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich to Hawaii. Expect much more of the knock down drag out games you saw in 2016.
After Wednesday’s game, there’s no reason why Boise State can’t be in that mix.
They are what every one of those teams want to be.
