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Wednesday Weekly…October 22, 2025.
Talk about throwing August narratives out the window. At the outset of fall camp, the consensus had Boise State’s room as a three-headed monster: Sire Gaines, Malik Sherrod and Breezy Dubar. Where would Dylan Riley fit in? When Dubar was injured early in camp, it was going to be Gaines and Sherrod, with Riley as a contributor. Well, there Riley was in last Saturday’s 56-31 thumping of UNLV, contributing his first 200-yard game. He now has 695 yards on the season, 322 more than Gaines, and needs to average 61 per game the rest of the regular season to reach 1,000 yards. Before a season starts, you just don’t know what you don’t know. On a side note, it was good to see Dubar get his first two carries of the year in Game 7—he gained 10 yards in mop-up before kneel-down time.
A SNEAKY GOOD SEASON
Don’t blink, but Boise State’s Maddux Madsen has 15 touchdown passes on the season with at least five games to go. There could be two more, of course, with a Mountain West championship game appearance and a bowl game. So Madsen is about on pace for 30 passing TDs, a plateau no Broncos quarterback has reached since Brett Rypien during his senior season seven years ago. Madsen has taken some grief for Boise State losses to Power 4 schools (some of it way over the line of decency). But he’s kept his chin up, and hey—the Broncos are in first place in the Mountain West. This Friday night, Madsen returns to the scene of his first taste of college football. The only game he played in as a redshirt in 2022 was in mop-up time at Nevada, where he went 3-for-4 for 43 yards.
THE CLOSEST CALL ON THE BLUE
Boise State played seven home games last year, including the Mountain West championship game. Only one of them was close. You know where I’m goin’ with this. In early November, the Broncos got past Nevada 28-21 on the blue turf. It was a 14-14 game at halftime before two short Ashton Jeanty touchdown runs gave Boise State some separation. A fired-up coach Jeff Choate, the former Chris Petersen assistant at Boise State, had the Wolf Pack playing the best football of their 3-10 season, and it took 85 yards in the fourth quarter by Jeanty to keep them at bay. I’m thinking the Broncos have that memory stored, and the margin will be slightly larger Friday night at Mackay Stadium.
WHO ALL’S GOING TO GO?
Boise State fans have always traveled well. Witness the approximately 8,000 at Notre Dame three weeks ago, for example. That’s the way Bronco Nation used to travel to Reno for Nevada games. It would infuriate former coach Chris Ault and the administration there when Boise State faithful would take over Mackay Stadium. That happened all the way through 2010, but after that game, a lot of Broncos fans cashed in their chips on Reno. After the Wolf Pack’s upset, you heard story after story about in-your-face taunting and various objects thrown, to the point that Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and Nevada president Milton Glick had to issue a public apology. The once-huge caravan across the desert has dwindled since. It’ll be interesting to see how much blue and orange will be in the stands Friday night.
BOISE WAS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR HIM
It’s hard to process what we’ve learned about the death of former Boise State star Doug Martin last Saturday. What happened in Oakland wasn’t the Martin we knew. It hurts to even think about it. The Broncos have talked about a black decal honoring Martin on their helmets as soon as Friday night for the game at Nevada. His last game in Reno was during his junior year in 2010, in the loss nobody likes to talk about around here. Boise State’s only touchdown of the second half was by Martin, who took a screen pass from Kellen Moore 79 yards to the house.
One of the things that tugs at your heart through this is former Boise State running backs coach Keith Bhonapha’s comments in the San Jose Mercury News about Martin’s days as a Bronco. “He was just having fun playing ball,” said Bhonapha. “He really felt at home there.” Bhonapha visited Martin during his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Over a steak dinner, the coach recalled, Martin spoke sentimentally about his Boise State years, reminiscing about the familiarity and friendships that came before the realities of adulthood. “The amount of calls I’ve gotten from teammates since this weekend asking what happened…guys who were really close with him said they hadn’t talked to him in a couple years,” Bhonapha said. The impression he left is that they were the best times of Martin’s life.
OUR NFL FAVES (AVERT YOUR EYES)
The Athletic has rated the NFL strengths-of-schedule for all 32 teams the rest of this season, and the New Orleans Saints’ slate is the fifth-easiest. Here’s hoping coach Kellen Moore’s team can take advantage of that, as the Saints sit at 1-6. There doesn’t seem to be much grumbling down there, as it is understood that Moore was dealt a tough hand. There’s moaning and groaning in Las Vegas, though. This isn’t the situation we thought we’d see Ashton Jeanty in as a rookie. Coach Pete Caroll has not been the Raiders’ rejuvenator as expected—they’re 2-5 after the demoralizing 31-0 whitewash at Kansas City, a game that saw Jeanty carry the ball all of six times (for 21 yards). The Saints host Tampa Bay this Sunday (ouch), and Vegas has a bye.
A RIDE AROUND THE STATE
Idaho’s losses at San Jose State and Montana were understandable and didn’t hurt the Vandals’ national FCS standing much. But these last two—to Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington—have left Idaho with a 2-5 record and out of the Big Sky championship race. The loss of quarterback Joshua Wood has certainly been a factor, but coach Thomas Ford says Wood may be back Saturday against Portland State in the Kibbie Dome. Look for the Vandals to get healthy figuratively, too, against the winless Vikings. Idaho State is coming off a bye week and hosts Northern Arizona Saturday. The Bengals, at 2-5, are still hanging onto hopes of avoiding a losing season. And College of Idaho has a rematch of its season-opening grinder of a win over Eastern Oregon—those teams play Saturday in LaGrande.
BRONCOS HOOPS – FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Takeaways from Boise State’s 89-83 exhibition hoops win over Idaho last Friday have to start with the obvious: Drew Fielder. The transfer from Georgetown and one-time Rocky Mountain Grizzly reintroduced himself to the Treasure Valley 5½ minutes into the game, and in the six minutes that followed, Fielder scored 15 straight Broncos’ points, draining a trio of three-pointers, plus a hook in the key and four free throws. He put up 24 points overall and also pulled down eight rebounds, three on the offense end. Fielder’s game is different than the departed Tyson Degenhart’s, but he’s somebody that the Broncos can similarly build around inside. The second takeaway would be three-point shooting, Boise State’s Achilles heel last season. The Broncos went 11-for-22—hopefully an omen.
STEELIES TAKE TWO AT TAHOE
The Tahoe Knight Monsters made a big splash in their debut season in the ECHL, and last Friday they looked to be just as tough an out in Year 2, beating the Idaho Steelheads 6-3 in the season opener. But then the Steelheads became comeback kids, rallying for 6-4 and 6-5 victories on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The final game was especially impressive, as Tahoe scored three goals in less than a minute in the second period to take a 5-2 lead. Still trailing by two, the Steelies roared back with three goals in the final stanza, two of them by Brendan Hoffman, to stun the Knight Monsters. So the table is set for the Steelheads’ 28th home opener Friday night versus the Utah Grizzlies at Idaho Central Arena.
TIM GILLIGAN’S CAUSE
Talking about former Boise State standout Tim Gilligan today for three reasons: 1) it’s Nevada week, and Gilligan’s from Elko—he never liked the Wolf Pack, 2) people say current Broncos wide receiver Ben Ford looks like him, and 3) most importantly, Gilligan was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a little over a year ago. He has started a scholarship called “No Fair Catch” to benefit walk-on football players at Boise State and young-onset Parkinson’s patients. Gilligan was a walk-on himself, and as a punt returner, he had a disdain for fair catches. And to raise funds for it, Gilligan is holding a “Walk-On For Parkinson’s Disease” on Saturday, November 15, at Kleiner Park in Meridian. You can register at NoFairCatch.com. And I’m pleased to tell you that Gilligan is doing well.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by LIGHTING ON DEMAND…illuminating the future!
October 22, 2016: The Curse of the Billy Goat is lifted, as the Chicago Cubs make the World Series for the first time in 71 years when they beat the L.A. Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. The Curse was legend, placed on the Cubs by a Chicago tavern owner who was ejected from the 1945 World Series because of the odor of the goat he had brought with him to Wrigley Field. The modern Cubs had been favorites for the pennant all season and responded by winning 103 games. The NLCS co-MVP’s were pitcher Jon Lester and second baseman Javier Baez, a one-time Boise Hawk.
(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.)