Broncos Open 2019 Campaign Saturday

2019 Season Opener
Boise State (0-0) vs. Florida State (0-0)
Saturday, Aug. 31 • 10 a.m. MT
Tallahassee, Fla. • Doak S. Campbell Stadium
Series: First Meeting
TV: ESPN (PxP: Dave Pasch, Analyst: Greg McElroy, Reporter: Tom Luginbill)
Radio: Bronco Radio Network (PxP: Bob Behler, Analyst: Pete Cavender)
Live Stats | Listen | Watch

UPDATE - Game was relocated to Florida State's campus due to the threat of Hurricane Dorian.

BOISE, Idaho - The Boise State football team will open the 2019 season in a neutral-site match-up against Florida State, Saturday (Aug. 31). The Broncos and Seminoles will kick at 5 p.m. (MT), at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., and the game will be nationally televised by ESPN. This will be the Broncos' first game played in The Sunshine State.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between Boise State and Florida State. The Seminoles are slated to return to Boise next season – Sept. 19, 2020.

SEASON OPENERS
Boise State is 36-15 all-time in season openers, including a mark of 2-1 in games played at a neutral site. The Broncos opened the 2010 season with a win against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. (33-30), and the 2011 season with a victory over Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta (35-21). The Broncos dropped their last such game, against Ole Miss in 2014 (35-13) - also played at the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. The Broncos are 13-8 all-time in season openers played away from Albertsons Stadium in Boise.

OLD SCHOOL OPENER
The Broncos will open the season against a school from an Autonomous Five conference for the first time since 2015, when Washington visited Boise. The Broncos defeated the Huskies, 16-13, in a game that ended a streak of seven-straight seasons opening against an Autonomous Five opponent. Boise State went 4-3 in the games, winning at Oregon in 2009, and against both Virginia Tech (2010) and Georgia (2011) in "neutral-site" games. The Broncos dropped road games at Michigan State (2012) and Washington (2013), then fell to Ole Miss in a neutral- site match-up. Boise State got back in the win column to open the 2015 season against the Huskies.

AGAINST THE ACC
What should have been back-to-back games against the Atlantic Coast Conference is the Broncos' first against the league since hosting Virginia, Sept. 22, 2017. The Broncos were slated to play Boston College in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl to close the 2018 season, but the game was declared a "no contest" after lightning prevented the game from being finished just 10 minutes into it being started.

The Broncos are 2-2 against the ACC, with each of their two victories coming away from home, and each of their two losses coming in Boise. Boise State fell to Boston College in the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl (27-21), held at Albertsons Stadium in Boise. The Broncos then defeated Virginia Tech (33-30) in the 2010 season opener, held at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., and were victorious against Virginia (56-14) in Charlottesville, Va., Sept. 25, 2015, in what was recently-departed quarterback Brett Rypien's first-career start.

ONE WIN FROM 60
Boise State football head coach Bryan Harsin has 59 career wins entering his seventh season overall as a head coach. Harsin has won more than 75 percent of his games (59-20) at Arkansas State (2013) and Boise State (2014-present).

Harsin hit the 50-win mark at Boise State with last Nov. 9's victory over Fresno State, and his 52 victories with the Broncos are currently fifth-most for a head coach since Boise State became a four-year football playing institution in 1968. Only Chris Petersen (2006-13; 92), Tony Knap (1968-75; 71), Jim Criner (1976-82; 59) and Dan Hawkins (2001-05; 53) boast more wins as a head coach.

HEAD COACHES AT ALMA MATER
Bryan Harsin is one of only 16 head coaches in the country currently serving at his alma mater. Of the 16, four are in the Mountain West: Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Harsin, Nick Rolovich (Hawai'i) and Jeff Tedford (Fresno State).

BOISE STATE IN SEASON OPENERS
Boise State is 4-1 in its five season openers under Bryan Harsin (2014-present), with four-straight victories after the 35-13 loss to Ole Miss to start the 2014 campaign.

The Broncos have won their past three openers by double digits, defeating Louisiana, 45-10, in 2016, then posting back-to-back victories of 24-13 and 56-20 over Troy, with the latter coming on the road. Overall, the Broncos are 15-8 in season openers since joining the FBS in 1996, and 36-15 all-time.

RECORD IN AUGUST
Boise State is 5-4 all-time in August contests, but has dropped its last three (2012-14). Each of those three losses has come against an Autonomous Five opponent: at Michigan State in 2012 (17-13), at Washington in 2013 (38-6), and against Ole Miss in Atlanta in 2014 (35-13).

HOME ALL SEPTEMBER
This weekend's road trip to Jacksonville to play Florida State will be Boise State's only one over the first five weeks of the 2019 season. The Broncos won't leave Boise again until an Oct. 5 contest at UNLV.

The road game-free September will mark the first calendar month without an away or neutral-site contest for Boise State since September 1994. In that month, the Broncos opened the campaign with four home games and didn't' have its first contest away from home until Oct. 1 at Northern Arizona.

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Players Mentioned

Brett Rypien

Boise State Athletics