Broncos Host San José State for Homecoming Saturday

BOISE, Idaho – The climb to the top of the Mountain West Conference begins in earnest Saturday as Boise State hosts San José State in the annual Homecoming game for the Broncos.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT with the game airing live on CBS Sports Network. That's good news for Bronco fans everywhere as the Boise State Ticket Office announced yet another sellout on Friday at Albertsons Stadium. Only tickets on the verified Ticketmaster resale site remain for the contest.

Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (analyst) and Tiffany Blackmon (sidelines) will call the game on the TV Broadcast. Meanwhile across the Treasure Valley and region, Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Pete Cavender will call the action on the Bronco Radio Network in a broadcast that will also air worldwide on SiriusXM Channel 380 and on the SiriusXM app.

Opening Kickoff

Boise State has historically been successful against teams from the California Republic, with an 83-38-3 all-time record against programs from the state.
Boise State's defense has been under pressure this season facing some of the nation's best offenses. Now it's the BSU offense that will be tested as the Broncos face a pass defense that ranks 13th in the nation.
Boise State's defense often leaves opponents feeling blue when they are seeing red. Entering this week's contest, the Broncos have posted a Red Zone Defense that ranks 55th in the country. So far this season BSU opponents have scored 17 times (15 touchdowns, two field goals) in 21 visits with the Broncos forcing three red zone turnovers against UCF.
Saturday's contest might be the 15th time Boise State and San Jose State will face each other on the gridiron but it will be the first time in regular season play since 2019 and the first time overall since squaring off in the 2020 Mountain West Conference Championship 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

Some Things Never Change
And that includes the dulcet tones of Bob Behler airing throughout the Treasure Valley and across the region. Behler, the longstanding radio voice of the Broncos, will be broadcasting his 200th consecutive Boise State Football game Saturday when the Blue and Orange hosts San José State. And no, the Broncos will not be wearing gray helmets as an homage to Behler, sadly.
Defenders of the West. Crushin' 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 (199), Utah (196) and BYU (191) following. That's not a number to quack at. See the full list to the right.
Success in the Mountain West
Now in its 13th season in the Mountain West, Boise State has lost just 15 games in conference play, and only five of those losses have come by more than seven points.
We Hang Banners Here
The Broncos currently have 14 league titles since 1996, when they joined the Football Bowl Subdivision, tied with Oklahoma for the most in the country during that time. Ohio State (13) and Florida State (11) are the only other schools in the country to win double-digit conference titles during that time. The Broncos have won 35 conference championships all-time, including four in the Mountain West, eight in the WAC, two in the Big West, six in the Big Sky and 15 in the Intermountain Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC).
Not So Fast, My Friend!
Visiting Boise generally has opponents feeling (and seeing) blue. The less-than-hospitable reception often leads to confusion for opponents, causing a national-best 3.03 false starts per game by opponents since 2018. That's well more than North Carolina State's 2.48 opponent false starts per game, which is the second-best mark in the country. See the full chart to the left.
SpookySZN
There's not many places that are tougher environments to play on than the famous blue turf in Boise. Entering this week's contest, the Broncos have an .891 winning percentage on The Blue (131-16) since 2000. That marks the third-best home winning percentage of any team in the nation, trailing only Oklahoma (.910, 131-13) and Ohio State (.895, 137-16). See the full chart to the left.

We see you Bronco Nation 👀

Fans still looking for tickets are encouraged to use the verified Ticketmaster resale site: https://t.co/QGwpNhQJpI #Compete | #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/0LJgGJISIt
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) October 6, 2023

Scouting San José State

San José State enters this week's contest with a 1-4 record (0-1 MW) but don't let that record fool you. The Spartans have played four FBS opponents that have a combined record of 18-2.
Brent Brennan is in his seventh season as head coach of the Spartans. He has posted an overall record of 28-46 (.378), but has taken SJSU to two bowls in six years, the most in such a span for San José State since the 1980s.
This week's contest begins back-to-back road games for the Spartans but is balanced by the fact that San José State is coming off a bye week.
It is not true that the movie "300" was based off San José State and that Coach Brennan goes by the nickname King Leonidas, regardless of the tragic ending to the movie emulating SJSU's game results so far this year.
Anytime a team has been ranked in the series, the ranked team has won the contest.
These Spartans are no spring chickens. San José State is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University system.
San José State ranks 10th in the nation and first in the Mountain West in punt returns. James Ferguson-Reynolds will need to be on his game this week.
The Spartans are patriotic but do not call their defensive unit the PATRIOTs, despite ranking 13th in the nation and leading the Mountain West in passing defense.
Do you know the way to San José (State)? No, the school is not geographically challenged. Despite being founded in 1857 and its original campus being located in San Francisco, the school was originally named the California State Normal School and did not adopt the name San José State until 1921, a full 50 years after moving across the bay to San José.
San José State might be doing its best George Brett impression as the Spartans have only committed three turnovers this season, ranking SJSU fifth in the nation. That tally includes only one fumble lost and two interceptions.
In 1881, a large bell was forged to commemorate the school and would sound on special occasions. Despite a popular myth, the bell was not donated by Anita Ward.
Jalen Bainer, Andrew Gonneville, Andrew Jenkins and Jordan Pollard all are tied for 22nd in the nation in fumbles recovered while Jaylan Lawson ranks 56th nationally in forced fumbles per game.
San José State originally had official school colors of Gold and White but, possibly being jealous of Boise State, added the color Blue to the official school color palette prior to 1929.
Chevan Cordeiro, not to be confused with oil magnate Chevron Cordeiro, is the signal caller for San José State and ranks 35th nationally in completions per game, 71st nationally in passing touchdowns and 76th nationally in passing yards per game. Look alive, secondary.
In 1922, the State Teachers College at San Jose adopted the Spartans as the school's official mascot and nickname. Mascots and nicknames prior to 1922 included the Daniels, the Teachers, the Pedagogues, the Normals and the Normalites. With the nickname "Daniels" being eliminated from competition, so did the prospect of the Alma Mater being the traditional Irish folk song, "Danny Boy".

A Win Would...

Move Boise State to 14-0 in regular season games against the Spartans.
Register Boise State's 40th all-time win on CBS Sports Network.
Bring Boise State's all-time record against San Jose State to 14-1.
Move Boise State to a 7-0 all-time record at home against the Spartans.
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-

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Players Mentioned

James Ferguson-Reynolds