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Monday Special…October 6, 2025.
When Boise State played Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos were David and the Sooners were Goliath, of course. But that was more history and tradition—woven in with an inherent talent differential. Boise State’s 28-7 loss at Notre Dame Saturday is symptomatic of a new reality: the gap between the top of the Group of 5 and the Power 4 has grown so much, especially in the past five years, that this kind of result is going to be the norm. The money differential isn’t 3-to-1; it’s now more like 10-to-1. The Broncos played hard, but they played tight and certainly did not put their best foot forward. The most stark fact, though, was the difference in raw skill level and speed between the Broncos and Fighting Irish. Same was the case in the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State. It is, unfortunately, the way of the world.
You can choose to remember this if you wish: one week after Notre Dame went down to Fayetteville and beat the daylights out of Arkansas 56-13, the Fighting Irish were held to half as many points on their home field by Boise State. The Irish called it a “hard-fought” victory that will help their chances of returning to the College Football Playoff should they run the table the rest of the season.
MADSEN’S LONG DAY
Maddux Madsen followed the best game of his career with his worst, throwing four interceptions and having a fifth wiped out by a penalty. Madsen hit on some brilliant throws, including a 28-yarder to Chris Marshall. But the picks—the most in a game by a Bronco in 11 years—took all of the wind out of Boise State’s sails. The likelihood is a big bounce-back by Madsen this week against New Mexico in Mountain West play, where he is a lot more comfortable. And it’s conference play all the way from here on out.
FOOTBALL THINGS
Boise State had the lead for three minutes and 15 seconds late in the second quarter Saturday, thanks to a goal line stand that kept one Fighting Irish touchdown off the board and a 66-yard Broncos drive that ended on Madsen’s bootleg TD. And they were hanging around early in the third quarter, moving into Notre Dame territory until a sack stalled their drive. But Boise State was sloppy with penalties, 13 of them for 112 yards, and got sloppy with another part of their game as well (a la South Florida). Midway through the fourth quarter, when the game was still competitive, the Broncos had to go for it on a fourth down and failed at the Irish 48-yard line. Two plays later came Jadarian Price’s 48-yard touchdown run to put it away, featuring five missed Boise State tackles.
OKAY DAY FOR ASHTON
Man, the Las Vegas Raiders are a mess. But hidden in the 40-6 drubbing they took from the Indianapolis Colts Sunday is the fact that Ashton Jeanty was just fine. The Boise State great did what he could. The Raiders’ first play from scrimmage was a wheel route for Jeanty, with Geno Smith hitting him for a 29-yard gain. For the game, Jeanty had 67 yards on 14 carries and five receptions for 42 yards, for a total of 109 yards from scrimmage. The touches may sound low, but the Raiders pulled Jeanty toward the end of the third quarter, not wanting to risk anything with him in a blowout. There was a good count of Raiders fans there, and there were lots of Ashton Jeanty jerseys.
FANS CAN HANG THEIR HATS ON THIS
Observations for Bronco Nation after a trip to the hallowed grounds of college football. It got loud in Notre Dame Stadium, particularly on third down. And it was close to ear-splitting after the questionable roughing the passer call that negated a Madsen interception. But if you take the 77,000 fans in South Bend versus the 32,000 (temporary count) in Albertsons Stadium, it’s not relative. The impressive thing about Boise State home games remains the noise on every defensive down. I rarely heard that at Notre Dame outside of third down, and I just plain didn’t hear it Sunday during the sold-out Raiders-Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. All third down noise there was announcer-assisted. Broncos fans have had something going for a long, long time. May the din resume this Saturday night.
And oh by the way, the turnout from Boise State fans at Notre Dame was impressive. The school’s allotment of 5,000 tickets sold out easily, and plenty of others obtained their seats through other means. A look around the stadium showed pockets of blue and orange throughout—my estimate is 8,000 total. I heard the phrase “bucket list” a lot—that’s what it was for me. The history throughout the campus and in the stadium itself was certainly worth it.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
October 6, 2010, 15 years ago today: Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay becomes only the second major leaguer ever to throw a no-hitter in postseason play. The only other one was the legendary perfect game by the Yankees’ Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series. Halladay, making his first playoff appearance of a 13-year big league career, allowed just one batter to reach base (on a walk) in the Phillies’ 4-0 win over the Reds in the first game of the National League Divisional Series. It was quite a year for Halladay—he had thrown a perfect game earlier in the season against the Florida Marlins. Halladay died tragically in a plane crash in November, 2017.
(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.)
