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Wednesday Weekly…December 31, 2025.
As the Pac-12 era dawns in 2026, I think we’re identifying Boise State’s new football rival. Ever since the Broncos-Vandals rivalry ended 15 years ago, there hasn’t really been one. Nevada? Didn’t end up playing it enough. Fresno State? Same thing. The Mountain West scheduling rotation watered those down. Utah State is the closest school geographically, but that rivalry hasn’t taken root. Enter Washington State and new head coach Kirby Moore. The former Bronco has already surrounded himself with one-time teammates. Moore took Matt Miller from Boise State’s staff to be his offensive coordinator, and he’s hired Brandyn Thompson from Sacramento State as his cornerbacks coach and Andrew Browning from Cal as his defensive line coach. Instant intrigue going into next season. I’m calling it a rivalry.
THOSE GRUESOME G5/P4 NUMBERS
I’ve talked ad nauseum about the gap between the Group of 5 and the Power 4 being infinitely larger than it was when Boise State played in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Well, Matt Baker of The Athletic did the deeper dive: “The football revenue of Boise State was about a third of what Oklahoma reported to the U.S. Department of Education when the Broncos shocked the Sooners. OU’s expenses roughly doubled the Broncos’ (a difference of $10.4 million). By 2023 (the most recent available year), the Sooners’ expenses mushroomed to more than three times Boise’s — but the difference was $45 million. The ecosystem has changed since Boise toppled OU, or UCF self-claimed a national title.” Match those G5 teams against this year’s, Baker says, and James Madison and Tulane are double-digit underdogs.
CASEY’S INVITE & BENEFIELD’S MOVE
The transaction wire was en fuego during Christmas week. On the positive side, Boise State left tackle Kage Casey accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl a month from now. On the not-so-positive side, there are now 14 soon-to-be-former Broncos headed for the transfer portal at the end of the week, although the only real impact player among them is safety Ty Benefield. Instead of going to the NFL, Benefield will go somewhere else for his final year of eligibility. Boise State can compete when it comes to national exposure for its players, witness Ashton Jeanty last year. It cannot compete with Power 4 money, and Benefield is poised for a payday with his 253 career tackles and five interceptions. Couple that with the fact that there sure won’t be any less exposure at his next stop, and there you go.
CHURN IN THE QB ROOM
It’s no surprise that Boise State quarterback Kaleb Annett has declared for the transfer portal. Annett was a scholarship quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, but he was beaten out for the No. 2 spot behind Maddux Madsen this year by Skyview High walk-on Max Cutforth, and Annett never got a shot during the four-game stretch encompassing Madsen’s injury in November. With both Madsen and Cutforth slated to return, and highly-touted true freshmen QBs Jackson Taylor and Cash Herrera about to join the program, it was time for Annett to go find a place to play. It would be interesting to see Taylor and/or Herrera in the mix for 2026. Chris Van Sickle of Bronco Nation News points out that both were trained by renowned California-based quarterback trainer Danny Hernandez, who gives both very high marks.
SHOULD BE A MARKET FOR ‘COACH K’
I haven’t had a chance yet to address this off the December 18 transaction wire, with Texas firing defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowki after five years in Austin. Defense wasn’t the Longhorns’ problem. You know Kwiatkowski was land big-time on his feet with a sterling portfolio that includes success as DC at Washington and at his alma mater, of course, Boise State. Kwiatkowski made a slew of big plays as a Broncos defensive lineman from 1984-87. The most memorable in my mind came at Nevada during his senior year, when he sacked Wolf Pack quarterback Jim Zaccheo on the final play of the game to preserve a 36-31 Boise State victory. That inspired a four-corner salute to Broncos fans in Mackay Stadium, interpreted by Nevada coach Chris Ault as a victory lap.
‘PROPOURRI’
Kellen Moore is known for handing out lots of game balls after victories. And amazingly, Moore and his New Orleans Saints have stacked four wins in a row. In a span of seven days over the last two triumphs, Moore doled out a whopping 22 game balls. And his players seem to appreciate every one of them. The Saints look to finish the season 7-10 on Sunday at Atlanta. That would be quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately, Ashton Jeanty didn’t replicate his masterful performance of December 21 in a narrow loss to the Houston Texans, the one that saw him catch a 60-yard touchdown pass and rush for a 51-yard TD. Jeanty was muted in a 34-10 rout at the hands of the New York Giants, gaining just 60 yards on 16 carries behind that struggling Raiders offensive line. He has one game to go in his rookie season.
THAT’S WHY THEY PLAY 40 MINUTES
An infuriating start for Boise State Tuesday night in ExtraMile Arena. In New Mexico’s final visit to Boise for the foreseeable future, the Lobos held the Broncos without a field goal for almost nine minutes out of the gate. But wouldn’t you know it—this is Mountain West basketball, and Boise State ground out a 21-19 lead at halftime. Then, wouldn’t you know it, the Lobos opened the second half on a 13-0 run. And, wouldn’t you know it, the Broncos built their biggest lead at 55-44 with 4½ minutes left in the game. Final: Boise State 62, New Mexico 53. A lot of ugliness, but a nice little victory. All the way through the Broncos’ MW era, the Lobos have been a basketball power more often that not, but the series between the two schools is now tied 15-15.
LONGEVITY COUNTS
Leon Rice is in his 16th season at Boise State (and 15th as a Mountain West coach), and the milestones naturally follow. Rice went into the New Mexico game with 168 regular season wins in Mountain West play since the Broncos joined the conference back in 2011. With the win over the Lobos, Rice passed San Diego State legend Steve Fisher as the winningest coach in MW games in conference history. And speaking of San Diego State, Boise State tangles with the Aztecs Saturday night in Viejas Arena.
THE YOTES HAVE TIME
College of Idaho already has twice as many losses as it had all of last season, but only one of the four has been in Cascade Conference play. Not to forget that last season was something special, ending with a 35-2 record and an NAIA national championship. Tuesday night, the Coyotes got 22 points from Dougie Peoples and held off Eastern Oregon 76-71 in Elgin Baylor Arena to move to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in conference. As they say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. The Yotes will host Warner Pacific on Friday night.
RAPID CITY BACK ON THE DOCKET
I didn’t have an ECHL players strike on my bingo card this season, did you? The Professional Hockey Players Association strike against the league lasted only 3½ days, officially ending with the ratification of a new contract Tuesday morning. A week ago, the league had seemingly really dug in its heels. But thankfully, the reality of no hockey over the holidays sunk in quickly (the Idaho Steelheads’ two games at Utah last weekend were postponed.) The Steelheads, who have now improved to 18-8-3 after a slow start to the season and are in first place in the ECHL Western Conference. And the Rapid City Rush will be able to use their Boise hotel rooms after all as they visit Idaho Central Arena Friday and Saturday.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
December 31, 2004: In the highest-profile game to date in Boise State history, the 10th-ranked Broncos are seriously outgained by high-powered and 7th-ranked Louisville but still have a chance to knock off the Cardinals on the final play of the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. A Jared Zabransky Hail Mary was picked off in the endzone to ensure Louisville’s 44-40 victory in a rare matchup of two top 10 non-BCS teams. The game had been billed as the second-best of the entire bowl season, and it did not disappoint. For Boise State, it was the end of an amazing 22-game winning streak that produced the Broncos’ highest national ranking to that point.
(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.)
