Presented by BACON BOISE.
Wednesday Weekly…September 10, 2025.
Who is Boise State’s MVPP—Most Valuable Portal Player—going to be this year? With 10 regular-season games to go, the leader in the clubhouse Is Jaden Mickey, the transfer from Notre Dame. Mickey got the start against Eastern Washington last week after an unfortunate set of circumstances for Davon Banks in Week 1. Mickey did not disappoint, making seven tackles, one for loss, and forcing and recovering a fumble. We’ll always wonder why he logged only one defensive snap in the opener at South Florida. No. 20 was very visible on the Blue. Other candidates remain, including Malik Sherrod from Fresno State, who took a step forward versus Eastern; defensive tackle Dion Washington from Hawaii, who has three tackles and a sack so far; and David Latu from BYU, who has four tackles, one for loss.
THE NEW BIG PICTURE
What’s it all mean after the 51-14 blowout last Friday? The natural question is: was Boise State that good, or was Eastern Washington that bad? The truth is probably somewhere in between, but it skews toward the Broncos being good. They got a handle on the inexplicable effort and concentration issues that were exploited by South Florida. And speaking of USF, a little bit of the sting—just a little—was taken off that loss when the Bulls pulled off their thrilling upset of Florida in The Swamp last Saturday. The downside: South Florida is getting the buzz this week as the new favorite for the Group of 5 spot in the College Football Playoff, pending its game at Miami this Saturday. And the Bulls have the head-to-head win over the Broncos. Not that anyone around here should be preoccupied with the CFP right now.
NORMAL NUMBERS?
After two games with wildly different outcomes, Boise State’s numbers have evened out and are almost normal. You wouldn’t guess that the Broncos have had a strange start—stuck in neutral at South Florida and pinballing against Eastern Washington—when you see that they’re averaging 29 points and 507.5 yards per game on offense. Or that they’re allowing 24 points and 332.5 yards per game on defense. Maddux Madsen’s pass efficiency is now middle-of-the-pack at 132.8 after he recovered with a 300-yard game versus Eastern. But it’s so early, and it has indeed been weird. Boise State has a bye week to assess it all before playing an early Mountain West opener a week from Saturday at Air Force. The Broncos will see where they really are in Colorado Springs.
PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS ALREADY
Respected West Coast college football writer Jon Wilner has debuted Pac-12 power rankings, a year before the rebuilt conference begins play. And two weeks ago we wouldn’t have believed this. Wilner has always looked at Boise State objectively, but he’s obviously not convinced that the rout of over Eastern Washington has healed much. Writes Wilner, “The loss at South Florida certainly has a different feel after the Bulls toppled Florida. It’s like when you’re weak and fragile but the worst of the nausea and vomiting has passed and you can envision eating again in a day or two.” Yet Wilner has Boise State ranked fifth in the new eight-team league. No mulligan after USF jumped into the Top 25 this week. The Broncos played with a chip on their shoulder last Saturday, and they obviously need to keep doing that.
UNCHARACTERISTIC OF A KELLEN PROGRAM
Kellen Moore is a finesse guy, and finesse teams usually don’t commit many penalties. That’s what was so surprising in Moore’s debut as an NFL head coach. His New Orleans Saints racked up 13 flags in their 20-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday in the Superdome. It was the team’s highest penalty count in eight years. Still, the Saints had a chance to win at the end before the Cards’ Budda Baker knocked the ball loose from Saints tight end Juwan Johnson on the goal line with four seconds left. Kellen’s next shot is at home this Sunday against the 49ers, who will probably be without quarterback Brock Purdy and will definitely be missing tight end George Kittle.
BABY STEPS FOR ASHTON
Ashton Jeanty gained 22 yards on his first three official NFL carries for the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday. Two of them went nine yards. Then the New England Patriots locked down on Jeanty, as he had just 16 yards on his final 16 carries. He did score his first bona fide NFL touchdown, though, and he earned it on a twisting three-yard run. Little-known fact: Ashton is within 5,318 yards of Doug Martin’s career record for NFL rushing yards by a former Boise State running back. Martin racked up 5,356 yards in his seven-year career with Tampa Bay and Oakland. (In case you’re wondering, that’s almost twice as many yards as any other former Bronco has had in the NFL—Alexander Mattison is next, then Jay Ajayi.) Jeanty moves on to Monday Night Football now against the L.A. Chargers.
BRONCOS DRAW THE SHORT STRAW
The Mountain West schedule is out for Boise State men’s basketball, and the story is just as much who the Broncos aren’t playing. The sudden addition of Grand Canyon University put the Antelopes on the 20-game slate, both home and away. So two conference opponents had to go away—and for Boise State it’s Air Force on the road and Fresno State at home. Those are a couple of struggling hoops programs (although the s got out of Fresno with just a five-point win last winter). Oh well, they have to hope these omissions just improve their strength-of-schedule. The last season in the Mountain West will be a grind. Boise State has made the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years, and last year was the one it didn’t. The Broncos will be good, albeit different in the first season of the post-Tyson Degenhart era.
THE RICE-FEW TWAIN MEETS
Just like the Rice boys grew up with Mark Few and his family in Spokane, AJ Few grew up with Leon Rice’s family. And now the latter two are united, as AJ has joined the Boise State men’s basketball staff. AJ and Max Rice were pals before and after Leon took the Broncos job 15 years ago. The younger Few, who has two degrees from Gonzaga, will be Director of Player Personnel and Men’s Basketball BroncoPRO. He’s spent the past three seasons on his dad’s staff with the Zags and also worked on an NBA Summer League coaching staff for the Miami Heat this year.
A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY IN MOSCOW
Idaho is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Kibbie Dome when it hosts Utah Tech on Saturday. The facility had operated as “New Idaho Stadium” for several years before the roof was added in 1975 thanks to contributions from William Kibbie and Idaho students. It has seen some lean years, but since Jason Eck—and now Thomas Ford—reshaped the program, the Dome has returned to its rockin’ days of old. The Vandals are coming of an entertaining 37-30 win over St. Thomas of Minnesota. They got a Big Sky Player of the Week performance out of quarterback Joshua Wood. And the QB on the other side, former College of Idaho Coyote Andy Peters, was solid in his own right, going 21-of-29 for 264 yards and three touchdowns.
HARSIN GETS HIS SHOT
Eagle High grad Davis Harsin, son of Bryan (and grandson of Dale, I must say), got his first taste of college football last Saturday as Idaho State gave New Mexico a scare before falling 32-22 in Albuquerque. With starter Jordan Cooke out due to a knee injury (not season-ending), coach Cody Hawkins tried Harsin and fellow backup Jackson Sharman, and he went with Harsin most of the way. Harsin connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass and also rushed for 61 yards and a TD. The Bengals have a bye this week before hosting Lincoln University a week from Saturday in Holt Arena. College of Idaho, coming off a 37-20 win at Rocky Mountain, also has a bye this week before hosting Montana State-Northern.
THE HAWKS WERE EVEN-STEVEN
The Boise Hawks needed a split of their season-ending six-game series in Ogden last week to secure a winning season—and they did not. The Raptors won four times, leaving the Hawks at exactly .500 (48-48) in their first year under new manager Kash Beauchamp. Third baseman Taylor Darden had to be Boise’s Player of the Year after posting a .429 batting average with 18 home runs and 125 RBI. Darden played in 95 of the Hawks’ 96 games.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by POOL SCOUTS…perfect pools, scout’s honor!
September 10, 2002: The East Coast Hockey League votes to absorb the West Coast Hockey League, including the Idaho Steelheads, beginning in the 2003-04 season. The WCHL was down to six teams after the demise of the Tacoma Sabrecats following the previous season, though it did have expansion franchises slated for Las Vegas, Reno, and Ontario, CA (the Reno franchise never happened). The move by the ECHL created a huge national Double-A minor league for pro hockey, and Steelies would win it all in their first season there.
(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.)
