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Wednesday Weekly…October 29, 2025.
Interceptions remain in the forefront at Boise State as we wrap up October. Jeremiah Earby became the first Bronco in three years—since J.L. Skinner at Wyoming in 2022—to haul in two interceptions in one game in the win at Nevada. And one of the catches was as good as any we’ve seen this season on either side of the ball. For that, Earby is Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. This big picture shows that Boise State as a team has made 11 interceptions this year, tops in the Mountain West. How about that after the lack thereof in 2024? Last season after eight games the Broncos had only four picks, and two of them had come in Game 8. A’Marion McCoy has that number by himself after snagging another one in Reno. Boise State had only seven picks for the entire season last year.
WORTH THE WAIT
Let’s do a deeper dive on Boise State cornerback Earby, because he deserved the spotlight after the game he turned in at Nevada. Earby’s two interceptions were his first of the year. But we always knew he had it in him. In spring football last year after transferring from Cal, all we heard about was all the picks Earby was collecting in practice. Then during the season last fall, nada—until the Mountain West championship game against UNLV, when he finally snagged one (and it was big). Earby and McCoy, his East Palo Alto running mate at cornerback, have come a long way in the past year. Now all Earby needs is a pick-six, as his buddy has three of them in his career. Of course, Fresno State will probably try to bait those two into overcommitting on coverage Saturday.
A WIN IS…
Every season there are clunkers. I’m sure you noticed that Oregon had one against woeful Wisconsin last Saturday, winning just 21-7 in Eugene. Boise State had a clunker in its 24-3 win at Nevada last Friday. Former Broncos assistant Jeff Choate had that game circled for a year and had the Wolf Pack playing with their hair on fire, especially on defense. But the key word is “win.” And as the old adage goes, it’s a lot easier to correct things after a win than a loss. It was a clunker for nicked-up Maddux Madsen to be sure, but when the Boise State offense needed to impose its will in the fourth quarter, he marched them 80 yards in 15 plays and took more than eight minutes off the clock, and Madsen went 5-for-5 for 51 yards. How soon we forget the UNLV game.
HOPING NO. 5 TURNS THE PAGE
Boise State wide receiver Chris Marshall has been suspended from the team for one week by coach Spencer Danielson, who referred to what he called the “standard” on how “players interact with coaches and (other) players.” It’s unknown whether that so-called “interaction” had to do with not being targeted in the win at Nevada—or Marshall having a couple of drops and appearing to give less than full effort on a couple of other throws that looked to be in his reach. Danielson insists Marshall will be back next Monday for the Broncos’ second bye week of the fall. The former five-star recruit has been alternately dazzling and puzzling this season, with 24 catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns. Who’s the next man up against Fresno State this week? Do I hear true freshman Quinton Brown, anyone?
BULLDOGS ROLL WITH NO. 2
The last time Fresno State visited Boise State during the regular season, it had quarterback issues. Star signal-caller Jake Haener was injured, and the Broncos defense feasted on backup Logan Fife in a 40-20 victory. Not to forget that Haener was healthy that December, when the Bulldogs came back to Boise and won 28-16 to capture the Mountain West title. But Fresno State has QB challenges again. The season dawned with E.J. Warner, son of former Super Bowl champ Kurt Warner. But E.J. was benched a week ago after having thrown nine interceptions. He was replaced by Sacramento State transfer Carson Conklin, a move fans had clamored for. But Conklin was under 50 percent and threw two picks in the 23-0 loss to San Diego State. Nevertheless, coach Matt Entz is sticking with Conlin on Saturday.
SHINY OBJECTS ELSEWHERE
You could see this coming a mile away: quarterback Tradon Bessinger decommitted from Boise State Monday, leaving Jackson Taylor of Thousand Oaks, CA, as the only QB in the fold in the Broncos’ 2026 recruiting class. Bessinger, the Kaysville, UT, star, visited Iowa last weekend, and he has landed offers from not only the Hawkeyes, but also BYU and UCLA, plus interest from numerous other Power 4 schools. According to 247 Sports, Blessinger already has a visit to Provo set up. His star has been rising, as he has thrown 44 touchdown passes this season versus only three interceptions. And who knows what artillery the power programs pull out in the NIL era?
SHAK IS BACK
With Ashton Jeanty and the Las Vegas Raiders coming off a bye, and Kellen Moore and the Saints coming off a forgettable performance, let’s zero in on Khalil Shakir. The former Boise State star is still as reliable a target as Josh Allen has in Buffalo. Last Sunday at Carolina, Shakir caught a short pass from Allen in the slot, broke a tackle just past the line of scrimmage and raced downfield, turning a Panthers cornerback inside-out along the way. The 54-yard touchdown catch-and-run gave the Bills an insurmountable 26-3 lead in a 40-9 win. Shakir, with 31 catches this year, is pacing behind his 76-reception season in 2024, but he started slowly due to an August 1 high-ankle sprain. He’s on a roll now.
PIVOTAL GAMES IN THE BIG PICTURE
With the FCS now playing 12-game seasons, it takes seven victories to notch a winning campaign. So at 3-5, Idaho will have to win out to collect its fourth straight winning season. The Vandals righted the ship as expected last week in a 45-6 pummeling of winless Portland State. This week presents a bit more of a challenge, as they face Northern Arizona in Flagstaff Friday night on ESPN2. The good news is: quarterback Joshua Wood is back under center after throwing for 259 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions versus the Vikings. Idaho State, meanwhile, tries to avoid a losing season when it visits a surging UC Davis, where ISU coach Cody Hawkins cut his coaching teeth under his dad, Dan.
TALK ABOUT A FANTASTIC FINISH…
If you don’t know how College of Idaho improved to 6-1 last Saturday, get a load of this. In a rematch of their opener against Eastern Oregon in LaGrande, the Yotes and Mountaineers were scoreless—not only after the first quarter, not only at halftime, not only after the third quarter, but with just 1:10 left in the game. That’s when Eastern lined up for a 49-yard field goal that could have won it, and C of I’s Dee’Shon Swafford blocked it, returning it 60 yards for a touchdown. The Yotes’ Mason Priddy sealed it at the end with an interception. When does a game end 7-0 anymore? College of Idaho returns to Simplot Stadium Saturday afternoon to take on Arizona Christian.
LOOKING UP AT THE AZTECS AGAIN
A year ago, Mountain West media voters picked Boise State as the men’s basketball preseason favorite. That didn’t pan out, as the Broncos finished fourth. This year, the poll leaned into tradition, and San Diego State was the unanimous choice last week in Las Vegas. Utah State was second and Boise State third. Only one Bronco was tabbed first-team Preseason All-Mountain West: junior forward Andrew Meadow, the leading returning scorer for the team at 12.6 points per game. Meadow scored in double-figures 26 times last season and shot a serviceable 35 percent from three-point range. But eyes will be on the postseason awards, as Georgetown transfer Drew Fielder and UCLA transfer Dylan Andrews are getting buzz as a Newcomer of the Year contenders. A lot of hoops to be played.
STANLEY GETS A FRESH START
Former Boise State standout O’Mar Stanley will begin his pro basketball career stateside, as he’s been taken in the first round of the G League Draft by the Motor City Drive, the Detroit Pistons’ affiliate. Stanley is poised to rejuvenate his game after a fall-off as a senior with the Broncos. Ex-teammate Tyson Degenhart was already a member of Raptors 905, the Toronto G League affiliate. Stanley and Degenhart are prepping for their teams’ season openers, with both set for a week from Friday.
SHEEN SHINES WITH A STEELIES RECORD
The Idaho Steelheads are all over the map early in the season, but at least their last game was a victory. The Steelies and Utah Grizzlies played an odd home-and-home series last weekend, beginning their home season last Friday—and they were zipped 5-0. So Idaho promptly turned around and traveled to West Valley City, UT, and returned the favor with a 4-2 victory. That gave Steelies coach Everett Sheen his 218th victory, a record for the franchise in its ECHL era. Sheen now needs just 11 victories to pass John Olver for the overall Steelheads mark. He’ll try to get one or more of those in a three-game set against the Tahoe Knight Monsters starting Wednesday night in Idaho Central Arena.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by CORSO ITALIAN STEAK…it’s about food, cocktails and vibe.
October 29, 2003: At the time we wondered how significant it would be over the years to come, but it’s now a landmark day in pro basketball history. Six months after the third and final retirement of Michael Jordan, LeBron James made his much-anticipated NBA debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 18-year-old phenom was impressive, scoring 25 points with nine assists and four steals in a 106-92 road loss to the Sacramento Kings. It was indeed significant—James is in the 23rd season of his remarkable career and has been the NBA’s career scoring leader since February, 2023.
(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.)
