Boise State Set for Saturday Night Battle at Colorado State

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State looks to keep its momentum rolling Saturday when the Broncos kickoff at Colorado State on FS1.

After rallying from a 20-point deficit to defeat San Jose State, Boise State (3-3, 2-0 Mountain West) will face a Colorado State (2-3, 0-1) team that lost a 19-point lead at Utah State.

Kickoff is set for 7:55 p.m. MT on Oct. 14 with Dan Hellie (play-by-play) and former Boise State Head Coach Dirk Koetter (analyst) calling the action on FS1. Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Pete Cavender (analyst) will have the call on the Bronco Radio Network and SiriusXM Ch. 385.

Opening Kickoff

Boise State has historically been successful against teams from the Rocky Mountain State, with a 28-9 (.757) all-time record against programs from the state. That includes an unblemished record against the Rams over the previous 12 meetings.
Stop us if you've heard this before but Boise State is facing one of the better passing offenses in the country. First, it was Washington as the Huskies led the FBS in passing last season. Then UCF (ranked 19th nationally in passing) visited The Blue followed by North Dakota, a team ranked fourth in FCS in passing. Now a trip to Fort Collins will find the Broncos challenged by the nation's fourth-ranked passing offense in Colorado State.
Eric McAlister is making a big impact on the Broncos this year and people are starting to take notice. McAlister's 170 receiving yards on a mere five catches against San Jose State shows just how dynamic he can be, particularly considering that 73 of his 170 yards came after the catch. He averaged 34.0 yards per reception in the game, a mark that ranks fourth-most in school history for a single game.
So far this season, Ashton Jeanty leads the nation with 44 broken tackles. That means this particular bucking Bronco is averaging 7.3 broken tackles per game.
Welcome to Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year. Boise State is proud to celebrate the hispanic heritage of head coach Andy Avalos, one of five hispanic head coaches in the FBS. Bienvenido al Mes de la Herencia Hispana, que se celebra del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre de cada año. Boise State se enorgullece de celebrar la herencia hispana del entrenador en jefe Andy Ávalos, uno de los cinco entrenadores en jefe hispanos de la FBS.

What You Need to Know

Don't Call It A Comeback
Or do. Call it whatever you want except you can't call it a loss. Despite trailing 27-7 to San Jose State on Oct. 7 at Albertsons Stadium, the Broncos played the full 60 to rally for a 35-27 win over the Spartans. That matched the second-largest come-from-behind win in the program's FBS era (since 1996).

Trailing (Score)	Won by (Score)	Opponent	Date
-25 (3-28)	+7 (59-52)	Colorado State	11-11-2017
-20 (7-27)	+8 (35-27)	San Jose State	10-7-2023
-20 (0-20)	+9 (38-29)	San Diego State	11-15-2014
-18 (6-24)	+5 (36-31)	at Florida State	8-31-2019
-17 (7-24)	+4 (55-51)	at New Mexico State	11-7-1998
-17 (6-23)	+7 (30-23 OT)	at Idaho	11-22-1997

Who Does Number Two Work For?
Obviously it's The Blue. Not only did Boise State match its second-largest comeback in its FBS history on Oct. 7 against San Jose State, the Broncos did so in front of the second largest crowd in Albertsons Stadium history.

Top Crowds at Albertsons Stadium

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date	W/L	Score
1.	37,663	Fresno State	Oct. 8, 2022	W	40-20
2.	37,491	San Jose State	Oct. 7, 2023	W	35-28
3.	37,426	Nevada	Oct. 2, 2021	L	31-41

All By Myself
Boise State's Ashton Jeanty can truly relate with Eric Carmen and his 1975 hit. That's because he is the only player in the country with 400-plus rushing yards AND 250-plus receiving yards. More than that, Jeanty is the only player in Mountain West Conference history to have 200+ rushing yards and 200+ receiving yards through his team's first three games of a season. Jeanty is the seventh FBS player to do so over the last 25 seasons. See the full list on Page 9.

This is it. This is the List.

Rank	Name, School	Rushing Yds	Receiving Yds
1.	Ashton Jeanty, Boise State	656	354

We're Lovin' It
No, opposing secondaries, you cannot have it your way. But we're loving what wide receiver Eric McAlister is doing to Boise State opponents so far this season. Not just a tall receiver, McAlister has become dynamic all over the field this season. EMac, as he is known, is a tough cover for opponents as he ranks tied for seventh nationally in contested catches and 10th nationally in receiving yards.

McAlister in the Rankings

Category	Stat	National Rank	G5 Rank	MW Rank
Contested Catches	7	T-7th	5th	2nd
Receiving Yards	596	10th	3rd	1st
Missed Tackles Forced	9	T-24th	13th	2nd
Yards per Reception	19.9	28th	13th	2nd
Yards After Catch	213	32nd	16th	6th
Receiving Touchdowns	4	T-36th	T-15th	T-6th

Ready, Set, Hut!
Boise State has some dynamic playmakers and that statement should come as no surprise. But just how dynamic are they? The duo of Ashton Jeanty (1st) and Eric McAlister (47th) both rank in the top 50 nationally in scrimmage yards per game making the Broncos just one of eight school in the country - and one of three G5 schools - to have multiple players rank in the top 50 in scrimmage yards per game this season.

Team	Player 1	ScrYds/G	Nat'l Rank	Player 2	Scr. Yds	Nat'l Rank
Boise State	Ashton Jeanty	168.33	1st	Eric McAlister	99.33	47th
California	Jayden Ott	119.00	T-19th	MarShawn Lloyd	99.67	46th
Florida Atlantic	Larry McCammon	119.00	T-19th	LaJohntay Webster	105.40	37th
Georgia State	Marcus Carroll	134.20	8th	Robert Lewis	100.00	45th
LSU	Malik Nabors	128.67	11th	Logan Diggs	112.20	25th
				Brian Thomas Jr.	100.50	44th
Missouri	Luther Burden	132.50	9th	Cody Schrader	102.00	40th
Oregon	Troy Franklin	107.00	33rd	Bucky Irving	106.00	36th
Washington	Rome Odunze	124.40	14th	Ja'Lynn Polk	99.00	49th

Defenders of the West, Crushing' All Pretenders in the West
Since 2000, Boise State has been leader of the Team with the Broncos registering more wins than any other west coast team by over 25 victories with Oregon (217), Southern Cal (200), Utah (196) and BYU (191) following. That's not a number to quack at. See the full list to the right.

McAlister Ranks Fourth
With a stellar 170 receiving yards on only five catches against San Jose State on Oct. 7, Eric McAlister registered an impressive 34.0 yards per catch against the Spartans. That mark ranks fourth in school history for a single game, just behind Lou Fanucchi's 34.8 yards per catch against Northern Iowa on Sept. 9, 2000. It was also the most yards per catch by a Bronco since Thomas Sperbeck averaged 35.6 yards per catch (5-178) at Colorado State on Oct. 10, 2015.

Double Double Toil and Trouble
No, you're not seeing double, but Boise State and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan are brewing up a spell. The Broncos have shifted two a two-quarterback system in order to maximize the team's offensive output. This system is not new to Boise State as Bart Hendricks and Nate Sparks shared snaps in 1997 and 1998. Then in 2017, Brett Rypien and Montell Cozart tag teamed the QB spot. Nor is this idea new to college football this year, as you'll see the teams employing this system below.

Two Quarterback Systems in Effect in 2023

Ball State
Boise State
Bowling Green
East Carolina
Navy
Stanford

Scouting Colorado State

Colorado State enters this week's contest with a 2-3 record (0-1 MW) following a double overtime loss to No. 18/21 Colorado on Sept. 16 and a 44-24 loss at Utah State last week.
Jay Norvell is in his second season in Fort Collins, amassing a record of 5-12 with the Rams. This has followed five years at Nevada with a 33-27 record. Overall, Norvell looks to move to .500 as a head coach this week as he enters with a career record of 38-39.
Mums the word on a Rams run game. With QB coach Matt Mumme - son of "Air Raid" innovator Hal Mumme - Colorado State employs the nation's fourth-ranked passing offense. Overall, the Rams mix up the pass-to-run game at an 83:17 ratio.
The first time a RAM was used as a mascot for Colorado State was in 1946, which is impressive because the first RAM used in early prototypes of computers didn't take place until 1947.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi is the Colorado State quarterback and has a career 27 total touchdowns responsible for, a number that is so big it is larger than the number of letters in his name.
Jim McElwain was the first Colorado State head coach to depart the Rams for a different head coaching job, leaving Fort Collins for Florida in 2014. It is not true that Colorado State is considering erecting a shark statue in honor of his coaching achievements.
CSU could be considered the subject of the song made famous by Inner Circle. The Rams lead the nation in penalties per game and are second nationally in penalty yards per game. So CSU, whatcha gonna do when the boys in Blue come for you?
You'll hardly need six degrees of separation to notice the commonalities between Bronco opponents Colorado State and Memphis. Both have tremendous return teams - the Rams rank 17th nationally in kickoff returns (25.21) and 11th nationally in punt returns (11.97) - and it appears Colorado State happens to be fans of Elvis Presley, who is known for residing in Graceland. Why are the Rams Elvis fans? They've taken a cue from the King and his song "Return to Sender" as CSU ranks last in the nation in turnovers, coughing up the ball on 15 occasions so far this season.
Tory Horton, the top skill threat for the Rams, is the younger bother of Tyler Horton, a two-time first team All-Mountain West cornerback for Boise State. So it's true, the older brother really is the wiser brother.
Tory Horton still cannot be overlooked as he ranks fourth nationally in punt returns and 10th nationally in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
We can only assume constant threats of trademark infringement lawsuits are the reason for Colorado State's rotating nicknames and mascosts over the years. Their first mascot came in 1909 was a bear cub often seen wearing a sweater (alas, he was not eating honey but might have said "Oh, bother!" upon watching CSU games). That would then be replaced in 1912 by a dog the students lovingly named Peanuts. It is not true that Charles Schultz was the dog's owner.
We're sorry if this next fact causes negative flashbacks for Rams fans everywhere but Saturday's game in Fort Collins will kickoff at 7:45 p.m. That's right, Prime Time.

A Win Would...

Move Boise State to 13-0 in games against the Rams.
Register Boise State's 12th all-time win on FS1 in 18 tries.
Give Boise State a 3-0 record in conference play for the 18th time in the FBS era.
Mark Andy Avalos' second 3-0 start in MW play in three years.
Keep the Broncos undefeated in Mountain West play this season.
Be better than a loss.

For complete coverage of Boise State Football, download the Bronco Sports App or follow the team on social media on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X.

-BroncoSports.com-

Boise State Set for Saturday Night Battle at Colorado State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashton Jeanty

Eric McAlister

Boise State Set for Saturday Night Battle at Colorado State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashton Jeanty

Eric McAlister

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