Presented by BACON BOISE.
Wednesday Weekly…September 3, 2025.
Yes, the Boise State running backs committee did not exactly convene at South Florida. The Broncos netted only 122 yards and averaged 3.2 yards per carry. Only once last season did Ashton Jeanty fail to hit that number by himself (his 104 yards against Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl). But really, Sire Gaines looked like he was ready for the moment in Tampa—fumble or no fumble. Gaines produced 44 yards on nine carries, and many wonder why there weren’t more totes. On the Broncos’ second possession last Thursday, they called three straight pass attempts and punted when it looked like there was still an opportunity to establish the run. Gaines should get more of a shot on the Blue Friday night against Eastern Washington. And Malik Sherrod should feel better there after being completely out of sorts at USF.
JUST BE YOU, MAD DOG
That wasn’t the Maddux Madsen we’ve become accustomed to at USF. The lack of weapons in that particular game seemed to wear on Madsen as the game progressed. Just the presence of Ashton Jeanty last season made life easier for everybody else. When Boise State got away from the running game against the Bulls, Madsen needed someone else to make plays. Tight end Matt Lauter would have seemed to be a natural, but Lauter wasn’t quite on point. And the wide receivers had trouble getting separation against USF’s speed. Even Chris Marshall was shut down after scoring the Broncos’ lone touchdown of the game. Madsen threw the ball 46 times, and there was just nothing going on vertically. He avoided interceptions (as he usually does, come hell or high water) but did lose a rare fumble.
EASTERN AS A HOME OPENING FOE
What do we know about Eastern Washington? We know the Eagles aren’t what they were when they were FCS Playoffs regulars. EWU made it to the national championship game against North Dakota State in 2018 under current coach Aaron Best but hasn’t been to the postseason since 2021. Since then Eastern has posted three straight losing seasons. But the Eagles put up a game effort last Saturday in San Antonio against Incarnate Word, the No. 4 team in the FCS, before falling 31-21. (The game was tied at 21-21 late in the first half.) How about this for attendance, though? It was announced at 2,263. The atmosphere will be a little different in Albertsons Stadium.
‘1-0’ HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT
The Athletic’s recap of Week 1 of college football included this. “Worst playoff crashout: Boise State. While a team like Bama still has a viable path, the Broncos’ 34-7 loss at USF on Thursday basically eliminates the 2024 CFP attendees, as Boise has to go undefeated (including a game at Notre Dame) just to have a shot at a bid.” Well, I maintain that the Broncos could lose to the Fighting Irish and still have a shot at the CFP, but they’d need some help. The consensus favorite for the Group of 5 in the playoff right now is Tulane, which stifled Northwestern 23-3 on Saturday. The big picture is this, though: in all my decades of following Boise State football, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a narrative change so quickly overnight. The ball is in the Broncos’ court. It’s not about the end of the season now. It’s about this week.
MURPH’S TURF
Former Idaho Statesman columnist and KTIK host Brian Murphy still has an eye out for Boise State in North Carolina. Murphy summed up a couple Bronco-centric points for us coming out of the Bill Belichick disaster Monday night: “Boise State transfer Andrew Simpson led UNC with 11 tackles vs. TCU (seven solo, 1.5 for loss). Also, former Boise State HC Andy Avalos, TCU defensive coordinator, led unit that held UNC to 222 yards.” Murph didn’t mention ex-Bronco Eric McAlister, who had three catches for 20 yards, including a 12-yarder on TCU’s first snap. McAlister, who had 39 catches for 762 yards and five touchdowns last season, was a focal point of the Tar Heels defense.
MW NARRATIVE CHANGES, TOO
At Mountain West Media Days this summer, it was Boise State and everybody else. Now the Broncos are part of everybody else. It’s shocking to see them in the middle of various conference power rankings, but it’s up to them to work their way out of it. It’s early, but UNLV bounced back from its Idaho State scare with a solid road win at Sam Houston State, Fresno State rebounded from a lackluster loss at Kansas to pound Georgia Southern at home, and Air Force found its rhythm with an easy win over Bucknell. The game of the week this Saturday in the conference is UCLA at UNLV, a very winnable one for the Rebels.
THE ASHTON JEANTY WATCH
When you Google “Ashton Jeanty” looking for previews of his long-awaited NFL debut, you have to scroll past all the stories about how much Boise State misses him right now. But eventually you get to the subject of Sunday’s Las Vegas Raiders game at New England. Jeanty rushed just 12 times in the preseason for 37 yards and a touchdown and caught one pass for two yards. But all Ashton needed was his 13-yard carry that bowled over San Francisco starting cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to remind everyone why he is where he is. Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly have redesigned the Raiders offense around Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers—and have made it eminently executable for quarterback Geno Smith. But right now the potential is still on paper. Jeanty hopes to transfer that to the field in Foxboro.
KELLEN’S READY TO COOK
Not much is expected from the New Orleans Saints this season, but this neck of the woods is hoping for the best for new coach and favorite son Kellen Moore. The Boise State great has opted for Spencer Rattler over Tyler Shough to start the season at quarterback, the position that could be the Saints’ Waterloo this year. Overall, many see the New Orleans roster as a downgrade from last year, when the team went 5-12. But for Moore it’ll be about precision and execution—and how the culture he’s building facilitates that—as he enters his first NFL chess match as a head coach against the Arizona Cardinals. If Kellen’s around .500 come New Year’s Day, he’ll be saluted. If not, well, no one will be surprised.
VANDALS COULD TASTE IT
Idaho turned in a tremendous defensive effort before being edged 13-10 at Washington State last Saturday. The Vandals held the Cougars to a paltry 136 yards before the Wazzu drive that netted the winning field goal. Idaho’s demise was fueled by two costly fumbles. The Vandals play their home opener Saturday in the Kibbie Dome against one of the most interesting teams in the FCS: St. Thomas of Minnesota. The Tommies became the first program ever to jump directly from NCAA Division III to the FCS in 2022. They won a conference title in their first year at that level—St. Thomas was 6-6 last season. Meanwhile, College of Idaho came off the ropes to beat Eastern Oregon 21-17 at Simplot Stadium to open the season. The Yotes face Rocky Mountain College on the road this Saturday in Billings.
‘WINNING SEASON DRAMA’ FOR THE HAWKS
The Boise Hawks are spending their final week of the season on the road, and that’s where they face a make-or-break task to achieve a third straight winning season. The sixth-place Hawks need to at least split their six-game series in Ogden to get there, and they’ll have to earn it, as the Raptors sit above them in fourth place. It started Tuesday night with a 12-4 loss, so the reset button says the Hawks will need to win three of five. Boise was 52-44 last year in manager Gary Van Tol’s final season and had eeked out a winning campaign in 2023 at 49-47.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by POOL SCOUTS…perfect pools, scout’s honor!
September 3, 2005, 20 years ago today: Boise State opens its season with a game that had been hyped for eight months, both locally and nationally. The Broncos, ranked 18th in the preseason AP Poll, were visiting the 13th-rated Georgia Bulldogs before almost 93,000 fans in Athens and a national TV audience on ESPN. It ended up a day of infamy for Boise State and quarterback Jared Zabransky, who threw four interceptions and lost two fumbles in the first half of a 48-13 loss. Some national observers thought it would take years for the Broncos program to recover, but it was less than 16 months later that Zabransky and Boise State were winning the Fiesta Bowl.
(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.)
