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Wednesday Weekly: September 16, 2026.
I wasn’t one of those concerned about Boise State’s running game after the loss at Oregon. Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines had their moments against the Ducks, but at the end of the day, they averaged a combined 3.2 yards per carry. That was against an outstanding defensive line, though, so it was too early to sound the alarm. It all came together last Saturday in the Group of 6 showdown with Memphis, as the Broncos punished the Tigers in their 38-20 victory with 357 rushing yards, including a career-high 206 from Riley.
When Boise State the defense settled down in the second half, its offensive line simply wore Memphis out while bulldozing for Riley and Gaines. The Broncos rushed for only 93 yards at Oregon. But now, through four games, they’re at 450 yards. And that’s probably a true reflection of what this running game is. Boise State is averaging a nice, round 225 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry. If that becomes the norm from here on out, it bodes well.
THE MADSEN MICROSCOPE
One thing is still clear regarding Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen. Everything he does is scrutinized in the stands and in living rooms across Southwest Idaho. When the smoke cleared against Memphis last Saturday, Madsen had completed 61 percent of his throws for 221 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. The glass half-empty crowd groaned when it saw him miss a wide-open Troy Grizzle in the end zone in the second quarter. Sure, Madsen’s completion rate could be higher—over two games he’s at 56 percent. But he’s thrown four TD passes with no picks and has engineered six drives of 75 yards or longer. Madsen’s pass efficiency rating is 138.5. That’s above average, and it ranks third in the Pac-12.
RISING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME
How is it that Boise State yielded 519 yards versus Memphis—including what are affectionately known as “explosives” of 87, 80, 68, 44 and 37 yards—and only allowed 20 points Saturday? It’s because the Broncos were ultimately money on the money downs. Memphis was 1-for-8 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth. Boen Phelps’ sack of Tigers quarterback Marcus Stokes on fourth down from the Boise State 17 early in the fourth quarter was huge. Throw in the early blocked field goal, also by Phelps, and the Travis Anderson interception in the second quarter, and that was a big, big bend-but-not-break effort. The fact remains that there’s a ton of work to do. The run defense was solid, but Stokes averaged a whopping 22.6 yards per completion. That’s concerning.
BOISE STATE HOSTS THE FCS YOTES
Saturday marks the first meeting between Boise State and South Dakota in 53 years. They played in Bronco Stadium to open the first-ever Division II Playoffs in 1973, with Boise State winning 53-10. Now, the Broncos are FBS and South Dakota is FCS, albeit that division’s 10th-ranked team. So why is coach Spencer Danielson pumping up the Coyotes so much? I think it’s because of what lies ahead. After the bizarre one-extra-second loss Western Michigan was handed in Week 1 at Michigan, next week’s game against those other Broncos in Kalamazoo was instantly being hyped as the next Group of 6 game of the year. It’s hard for Boise State players to ignore that. I don’t think Danielson is “Lou Holtz-ing” us. He’s just making sure the 1-0 mentality maintains.
2-FOR-3 IN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
New conference—new titles for weekly awards. And Boise State took two of the three Pac-12 Player of the Week honors Monday. No surprise here: Dylan Riley got the nod on offense. Riley recorded his second career 200-yard game against Memphis and helped turn the game around in the second quarter. That’s when he peeled off his 71-yard run to set up Rasean Jones’ game-tying touchdown. And Riley was pounding in the second half. He was also named the Doak Walker National Offensive Player of the Week.
Cam Bates got the Pac-12 award on special teams, mainly on the merits of one play. After freshman Jeremyah Lane muffed a third quarter punt, the Broncos inserted Bates as the return man, and he promptly ran one back 72 yards for a demoralizing touchdown. Not a bad result for the first punt return of Bates’ career.
BRONCOS DON’T GET POLL HELP
After the craziness of the weekend, the new rankings were going to be an interesting study. And Boise State’s drop to 28th in the AP Poll after its win over Memphis is directly tied to Oregon’s shocking loss at Oklahoma State. The Ducks dropped all the way to 21st, so the Broncos’ close call at Autzen Stadium lost a lot of equity with voters. The two teams ahead of Boise State in “Others receiving votes”, Washington and Florida, have a sizeable lead in points. The Huskies dropped out of the Top 25 after narrowly beating Utah State, the previous week’s Idaho State victim.
EARLY G6 CONFERENCE COMPARISON
We’re three weeks into the first season of the new Pac-12 (counting Week 0), and the quest to be the Group of 6’s best conference is a work in progress. Both the Pac-12 and the American have played nine games against Power 4 opponents. The Pac-12 is 0-9, and the American is 1-8, with the only win coming from Tulsa against Oklahoma State. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News drills down the numbers more. The Pac-12’s average margin of defeat in those games is 20.3 points—it’s 31.8 points for the American. Two of the Pac-12 losses are by single digits (Boise State at Oregon and Utah State at Washington), but none of the American’s losses are by fewer than 14 points. The jury will still be out for a while.
SOME VINTAGE ASHTON
How cool was it to see Ashton Jeanty not only play last Sunday, but play so well? The former Boise State great shook off his late August ankle injury with 147 total yards from scrimmage in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 27-13 stifling of the Miami Dolphins. Jeanty had 102 rushing yards, but he did his scoreboard damage through the air as Kirk Cousins’ security blanket, making six catches for 45 yards and two touchdowns. He also got helicoptered on one of his rushing attempts, spinning hard to the turf—and he popped up and returned to the huddle. That one went viral. Another thing we were watching: did former Bronco Ahmed Hassanein make his NFL debut for Detroit? He did not.
AROUND THE HORN IN-STATE
Idaho State is going places it hasn’t gone in decades. In the polls, anyway. After dismantling San Diego 59-17 last Saturday, the 3-0 Bengals have jumped to No. 16 in both FCS rankings. ISU is the only Big Sky team that hasn’t played a conference game yet—and it won’t until a week from Saturday when it visits Southern Utah after a bye. Idaho is not having fun yet, as the Vandals are 0-3 with a six-game losing streak dating back to last season after their 23-17 loss to Lamar. They’ll try again Saturday in the Kibbie Dome against Abilene Christian, which is also 0-3. And College of Idaho, having enjoyed an early bye after two lopsided victories, is at Montana State-Northern Saturday afternoon.
AC BOISE KEEPS TRENDING UP
The stars have aligned for a pivotal matchup tonight at Athletic Club Boise Stadium. USL League One’s first-place team is in town just as AC Boise has climbed to fourth place in the standings. The Charlotte Independence beat ACB 1-0 back in May in North Carolina. AC Boise is unbeaten in its last six games and has won its last three, including a 2-1 victory last Friday over the New York Cosmos. And how about AC Boise moving up to the USL Championship league level next year? This is the second level of American pro soccer. It’s not a promotion/relegation thing—it’s more like an invitation. ACB has shattered USL One attendance records and will add 3,000 seats to the east side of their stadium next year.
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September 16, 2013: Until 2021, the San Diego Padres were the only major league franchise without a no-hitter, but a former Boise Hawk comes very close on this night. Andrew Cashner produced the best pitching performance ever by a Boise alum, tossing a one-hit shutout in the Padres’ 2-0 victory over Pittsburgh. Cashner had a perfect game going into the seventh inning, when Jose Tabata singled for the Pirates. Tabata was erased by a double play, though, and Cashner faced the minimum 27 batters in the first complete game of his career. Cashner was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2008 and pitched for the Hawks that summer.
(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.)
