Presented by HARMON TRAVEL.
Wednesday Weekly…July 9, 2025.
A person with the X handle “Bobby Football” posted this—haven’t confirmed it, but it’s interesting: “Most forced incompletions last season among returning G5 players: 1. A’Marion McCoy, Boise State (19) T-2. Jeremiah Earby, Boise State (11).” Quite a stat for a duo that was lampooned for collecting only one interception apiece last year. It shows that McCoy and Earby were more effective than many thought in 2024. I think everyone saw (and remembered) when McCoy, in particular, got burned, but not as many noticed when he was playing well. Earby is in a six-way tie for second that includes three players the Broncos will see this season: USF’s De’Shaen Rucker, who faces Boise State in the opener in Tampa August 28, Utah State’s Ike Larsen and Fresno State’s Al’zillion Hamilton.
NO ONE DOUBTS THIS POSITION GROUP
I was cleaning out the Scott Slant notebook after the holiday weekend—probably the most important development offensively the past few years at Boise State has been the increased focus on the tight end. It’s been a running gag for years: Bronco Nation bellowing from the stands, “Why don’t we throw to the tight end!” Then-offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter did exactly that last season, as the group led by Matt Lauter combined for 59 catches for 762 yards and seven touchdowns. Compare that to 2023, when the tight ends room produced only 20 catches for 270 yards and four TDs when Bush Hamdan was O-coordinator. Koetter ran the offense for most of 2022, and the tight ends did have 43 catches but for only 364 yards and one score. This year? Lauter, Matt Wagner, Austin Terry—should be a big year.
2023 SEEMS SO LONG AGO
Twenty months ago, Spencer Danielson was a fresh-faced gamble when Jeramiah Dickey named him interim coach at Boise State to replace Andy Avalos. Dickey never intended for him to be promoted to the top job full-time, but myriad things changed his mind, and a month later the job was Danielson’s. And look at him now. Entering his second full season, Danielson is one of 26 coaches named to the watch list for the Bobby Dodd Coch of the Year Award, the same honor Chris Petersen won with the Broncos in 2010. Danielson is 15-3 in his young career with two Mountain West titles and a CFP appearance under his belt. He wasn’t on any watch lists last year, but after the fact he was added as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson, Paul “Bear” Bryant, George Munger and AFCA National Coach of the Year awards.
WILL THE ‘MILK CAN’ RESONATE?
The Athletic has ranked college football’s top 100 rivalries, and Boise State was not involved anywhere. Is that surprising? No. 99 is Middle Tennessee-Western Kentucky. No. 95 is Richmond-William and Mary. Couldn’t even top those. But the Boise State-Idaho football rivalry has been dormant for 15 years now. In the Mountain West, the Broncos versus Nevada and Fresno State were going to be the next best thing. But those were diluted by the staggered divisional schedule, which saw Boise State skip the Wolf Pack and Bulldogs for two years at a time (although the Broncos did see Fresno State in the Mountain West title game). The only hope moving forward: an annually-played Milk Can game between the Treasure Valley and San Joaquin Valley gets some juice back.
A GRAND CANYON BETWEEN THE MW AND PAC-12
Boise State’s men’s and women’s basketball schedules just got a little tougher. Instead of waiting until next July, Grand Canyon University is joining the Mountain West immediately and will compete beginning this fall. The Antelopes’ men’s and women’s teams combined to go 58-11 last season, with each making the NCAA Tournament. But Boise State is looking at this differently. In a statement provided to Bronco Nation News, the university said, “The Mountain West Conference’s addition of Grand Canyon University as a member of the (this) academic year significantly and negatively impacts the schedules, opportunities and budgets of Boise State and the other departing universities. We will address this matter and the harm to the departing universities in the litigation.” Hmmm. Will this really happen?
GREEN-JEANTY PACKAGE WAS A REACH
Jacob Davis, SI.com’s beat writer for Arkansas, posed an interesting “what could have been” scenario last weekend. His headline was: “Heisman runner-up had chance to suit up with former teammate last season.” Davis got his info from a random NFL Draft analyst named Thor Nystrom who was analyzing Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green. Nystrom threw this in: “Green is the former Boise State quarterback who came up with Ashton Jeanty. In the very brief period last offseason when Jeanty was considering his options, Arkansas made a hard push for Jeanty as part of a package deal to bring both to Fayetteville.” Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey fired back on X: “Interesting…what’s does a ‘hard push’ look like from Arkansas considering Ash never entered the portal?” Arkansas could have tampered, do ya think?
A DIFFERENT BAIR IN EUGENE
There will be a representative of the Bair family from Kimberly-slash-Burley competing at Oregon next year. Gatlin Bair, one of Boise State’s most famous football decommits, is (at this point) still a future Duck while he serves a two-year LDS mission. But his older brother, Peyton, has transferred from Mississippi State to Oregon to finish his rather elite college track and field career. Peyton Bair, the Kimberly High grad, swept the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon national championships this past season. Gatlin, of course, was a five-star wide receiver at Burley High and is Idaho’s high school record-holder in the 100-meter dash.
HAWKS ARE HOT – OTHER GUYS ARE NOT
It’s become clear in the Pioneer League this year that your record fluctuates wildly depending on who you play. The Boise Hawks dropped five of six games to the first-place Oakland Ballers, and then won five of six against the ninth-place Billings Mustangs. This week the Hawks face the last-place Colorado Spring Sky Sox on the road. And Boise opened Tuesday with a 14-4 victory behind a 16-hit attack that included a 3-for-5, three RBI day from Taylor Darden, a four RBI game from Paul Myro IV and a three-run homer from Jake Hjelle. The Hawks are currently in fifth place with a 26-17 record. Next week? It’s Colorado Springs again—this time at Memorial Stadium. That’s 12 straight against the Sky Sox.
JORGENSON RIDES AGAIN
Boise High grad Matteo Jorgenson, who came up through the BYRDS racing program in Boise, is back up to fourth in the overall standings after four stages of the Tour de France. After a 138th-place finish in Stage 3, Jorgenson roared back with an eighth-place result in Tuesday’s hilly Stage 4, covering 174.2 kilometers. He’s the top American in the field so far. Thing is, his job is to protect Team Visma/Lease A Bike team leader Jonas Vinnegaard, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023. And he’s doing a good job of that, as Vinnegaard is one spot ahead of him in third plae. Jorgenson is riding in his fourth Tour de France—he placed eighth overall last year at the legendary event.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
July 9, 2002: Baseball’s All-Star Game controversially ends in a 7-7 tie when both teams run out of available pitchers. The game was played in Milwaukee, coincidentally the home of commissioner Bud Selig. The crowd booed loudly when Selig decided in the middle of the 11th inning that if the National League didn’t score in the bottom of the frame the game would be declared a tie. With the All-Star Game in danger of becoming totally irrelevant, it was decided that beginning in 2003, the winner of the Midsummer Classic would be awarded home field advantage in the World Series. In 2017, the rule was changed, giving the home field edge to the team with the best regular season record.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
