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Wednesday Weekly…November 12, 2025.
Instead of sheltering Max Cutforth from the media, Boise State put him in front of the cameras and mics Tuesday going into his first start at quarterback for Boise State. And Cutforth presented himself well. You want to root for him in the crucial game at San Diego State, and you hope almost two weeks of preparation has changed what we saw when Cutforth was thrown into the deep end against Fresno State. He’s still a one-time walk-on from Skyview High, but that’s another reason to pull for him. Cutforth is the first Idahoan to start at quarterback for Boise State since Meridian High’s Travis Stuart, who went most of the way for the Broncos in 1992. Before that it was Bob Wheeler, a Borah High grad who started one game 40 years ago when starter Hazsen Choates was suspended.
Maddux Madsen, as expected, has been ruled out this week. But coach Spencer Danielson said Monday he hopes Madsen can return this season. It sure didn’t look like it when Madsen was helped off the field in the Fresno State game by putting no weight on his right leg, but medical miracles do happen. Danielson did say the injury will not require surgery. So Cutforth it is against the Aztecs. He’ll have Chris Marshall back, as the volatile wide receiver has completed his one-week suspension. He and the receivers will have to help Cutforth out. The Aztecs’ sorry defensive statistics at Hawaii will be rendered meaningless if the pass-catchers can’t get separation.
WHAT TO MAKE OF SAN DIEGO STATE?
The Mountain West paradigm is changing every week. The team that shut out Fresno State the week before the Bulldogs came to the Blue and bludgeoned Boise State was itself annihilated 38-6 last Saturday at Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors basically put it away in the first half behind 228 yards passing and three touchdowns from quarterback Micah Alejado, with all three of the TDs to wide receiver Jackson Harris. As it applies to the Broncos, they don’t have a combination like that to lay on the Aztecs considering their depleted QB and receivers rooms. The task at Snapdragon Stadium this week is only slightly less daunting than it was before the weekend. But suddenly this game is for sole possession of first place in the conference.
THE REAL RILEY IS DUE
Jay Tust, now of Bronco Studios, had an amazing stat late last week. It was the running backs with the best seasons in yards-after-contact per carry in the nation over the past five years. No. 1 is not a stunner: Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty with 5.25 last year. But No. 2 is, to me anyway. That’s the Broncos’ Dylan Riley with 5.2 yards after contact per attempt so far. Even after what happened in the past two games. Since Riley’s 201-yard day against UNLV, he has rushed for just 50 yards combined on 18 attempts, averaging 2.8 yards per carry. He still has a shot at a 1,000-yard season, especially if Boise State makes the Mountain West championship game. But what the Broncos need right now is the “A” version of Riley at San Diego State. The Aztecs are going to be stackin’ the box.
THE OLDSTER & THE YOUNGSTER
Former Boise State stars scored half of Seattle’s touchdowns in the Seahawks’ 44-22 win over Arizona last Sunday, and one of them made history. Veteran DeMarcus Lawrence became only the fourth NFL player ever to return two fumbles for touchdowns in the same game. In fact, Lawrence did it in the same half, and the plays were almost identical. Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight forced both fumbles by Cardinals’ quarterback Jacoby Brissett, and Lawrence scooped-and-scored on both, covering 34 and 22 yards. Lawrence had scored two defensive TDs in his entire 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys. His TDs were sandwiched around a nine-yard score by George Holani, who was inserted into the game in the heat of the battle. It was the first rushing touchdown of Holani’s career (to go with his special teams TD).
MEADOW CLEARLY SEES A VICTORY
Boise State built a 10-point lead with five minutes left in the first half against UT Rio Grande Valley Tuesday night, but it stayed in that neighborhood until about six minutes were left in the game. From there, the Broncos pulled away for an 85-65 victory as the goggle-less Andrew Meadow led the way with 21 points. Meadow was hit in the face and was cut around his eye during the Broncos’ “secret scrimmage” against Washington last month. He decided to check out contact lenses, and he used them for the first time last Saturday in the win over Utah Valley. They have improved Meadow’s peripheral vision, and that’s paid off on the defensive end. He guarded UTRGV’s Marvin McGhee III, who put up 30 points at Southern Utah last Saturday. McGhee scored nine against Meadow and the Broncos.
AHRENS’ STAR IS RISING
The first thing I noticed when Spencer Ahrens saw his first action for Boise State in the exhibition win over Idaho last month was his defense. If the true freshman forward can combine that skill set with what he’s shown offensively so far, he’s going to be starting before long. Ahrens came off the bench to score 19 as the Broncos got it right with a 101-77 romp over Utah Valley. And he added 10 Tuesday night versus UTRGV and gave Boise State the lead for good with a three-pointer 7½ minutes into the game. Ahrens is a Canadian who’s taken a circuitous route to Boise. He’s from Oakville, Ontario, but honed his hoops skills at Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas and Bella Vista Prep in Phoenix. He’s 6-10, and man he can do some stuff that 6-10 guys don’t normally do.
ON TO THE G LEAGUE
Two former Boise State Broncos were first-timers in the NBA G League last Friday. Tyson Degenhart came off the bench to get 14 minutes, putting up 10 points and snagging three rebounds, all on the offensive end, in a Raptors 905 rout of College Park. Degenhart added another 10 points on Sunday in another Raptors rout. He was perfect from the field, including a couple of three-pointers. And O’Mar Stanley played seven minutes in his G League debut, scoring two points and pulling down three rebounds in Motor City’s romp over Sioux Falls. Stanley put up five points with four rebounds in a loss to the Skyforce the following night.
TWO TEAMS STARING DOWN .500
There will not be a fourth straight winning season for Idaho, nor will there be a fourth straight FCS Playoffs appearance after the Vandals dropped a 28-14 decision to UC Davis last Saturday in the Kibbie Dome. Idaho is 4-6 and can still finish .500 but will have to get past Sacramento State on the road Saturday night to still have a chance. A .500 season would look great to Idaho State after what those guys have been through this century. ISU has had only two winning seasons in the past 21 years. The Bengals, at 4-6 themselves, won’t get one this year, but they can avoid a losing campaign by beating Weber State and the Vandals to wrap things up. They’ll go for their third win in a row Saturday versus the Wildcats in Holt Arena.
CANYON COUNTY CRUISE
College of Idaho football has punched a ticket to the NAIA Playoffs after its surprisingly easy 36-13 win at Carroll College last Saturday. And just like that, the end of the regular season is here on Saturday when the 8-1 Yotes host Southern Oregon at Simplot Stadium. And in hoops, the first leg of the United Heritage Mayors Cup is set for tonight as C of I and Northwest Nazarene face off in Caldwell. The return game in the series happens next Tuesday in Nampa in the rivalry that dates back to 1933. The Yotes are an uncharacteristic 2-2, while the Nighthawks just started their season last Saturday and are 0-1.
STEELIES LONGEVITY, SHEEN STYLE
When the puck drops for the Idaho Steelheads Friday night in West Valley, UT, coach Everett Sheen will break the record for most games coached in franchise history, topping the mark of 360 held by John Olver and Derek Laxdal. Sheen has already passed Laxdal for the most ECHL wins in franchise history, and he now needs nine victories to snap Idaho’s all-time wins record (ECHL plus WCHL) of 228 held by Olver. The Steelheads are still stuck in the middle going into the series with Utah, sporting a 5-5-1 record after dropping two of three last week at Kansas City. After this Friday’s game, the Steelies and Grizzlies venture up to Idaho Central Arena to face off Saturday and Sunday.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
November 12, 1969: Minnesota’s Harmon Killebrew, the proud product of Payette, is named the American League’s Most Valuable Player after a season that saw him lead the league with 49 home runs and 140 runs batted in. Killebrew led the Twins to the American League West title in the first year of divisional play in Major League Baseball. He would play six more seasons, ending up with 573 home runs, the most by a right-handed hitter in AL history until Alex Rodriguez came around. Killebrew secured a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
(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.)
