Boise State Enters New Era Saturday at Utah State

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State will have a slightly different look Saturday when the Broncos take the field at Utah State. The orange and blue colors on the uniforms will be the same and the team will still run out with the Hammer.

However, when Boise State takes the field this weekend the Broncos will be led by interim head coach Spencer Danielson in his first game in his new role.

Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (analyst) and Brandon Baylor (sidelines) will call the action on CBS Sports Network as the Broncos (5-5, 4-2 Mountain West) look to keep their championship hopes alive while thwarting the trophy-seeking hopes of the homestanding Aggies (5-5, 3-3 MW).

Opening Kickoff

The Broncos defended The Blue and extended a pair of streaks, in their 42-14 defeat of New Mexico, 42-14. This marked Boise State's eighth-straight game scoring 30 or more points, which is the second-longest active streak in the nation. The defense blanked the Lobos in the second half, which was the third-straight home game the unit has held a team scoreless in the final 30 minutes.
Boise State enters this week's action with an offensive line ranked 12th in the nation in sacks allowed, yielding only 1.10 sacks per game so far this year. That number is the third-best of a Boise State squad since 2012 (when the Broncos ranked sixth) and is just behind the 2022 mark when BSU allowed just 1.00 sacks per game to rank 10th in the nation.
Did you know that Boise State has the second-longest active bowl eligibility streak in the nation? The Broncos have been bowl eligible for 25 consecutive years, just one year behind Georgia's streak of 26 straight years (entering this season). The Bulldogs, at 10-0, have already upped their number to 27 and the Broncos are a win away from keeping pace with UGA.
So far this season Ashton Jeanty leads the nation with 72 broken tackles. That means this particular bucking Bronco is averaging 9.00 broken tackles per game as he refuses to go down to the turf.
Fans of offensive outbursts will want to tune in Saturday, as this weekend's showdown pits the top-gaining offenses in the MW against each other. Utah State enters averaging a conference-best 448.3 yards per game, ranking third in the league in passing offense (271.0) and fifth in rushing offense (177.3). Boise State is second in the MW with an average of 439.3 yards per game. The Broncos shadow the rankings of the Aggies, sitting at third in rushing offense (195.9) and fifth in passing offense (243.4).

What You Need to Know

Exodus Light, Enter Night
With Maddux Madsen out for the foreseeable future, the two-quarterback system has likely reached its conclusion but that doesn't mean Bush Hamdan's offense won't be ablaze. Entering this week's action, the Broncos are averaging 439.3 yards of offense per game, ranking 28th nationally and second in the Mountain West. That is the highest offensive output a Boise State team has registered since the 2018 Broncos averaged 459.5 yards per game, ranking 21st nationally and second in the MW that season. That marks the first time there has been a fired up Bush that hasn't been consumed by flames since a trip to Mount Horeb.
Quarter Century of Success
For the past 25 years, Boise State has been synonymous with success. The Broncos currently hold the nation's longest current streak of consecutive winning seasons at 25 and are actively working to advance that number to 26. Not just the nation's longest active streak, it is also the fifth-longest streak all-time in college football (since 1950).

Most Consecutive Winning Seasons			Active Consecutive Winning Seasons
No.	School	Years	No.	School
41	Florida State	1977-2017	25	Boise State
40	Nebraska	1962-2001	21	Wisconsin
28	Oklahoma	1966-93	*18	Oklahoma State
26	Alabama	1958-83	*17	Alabama
25	Boise State	1998-present	*13	Georgia
25	Florida	1988-2012	12	Clemson
25	Virginia Tech	1993-2017	*12	Ohio State
			*11	Iowa
				* - includes this year

Success in the Mountain West
Now in its 13th season in the Mountain West, Boise State has lost just 17 games in conference play, and only five of those losses have come by more than seven points.
Remember, Remember the Month of November
It appears that as the season gets longer, the Broncos get stronger. Since Boise State moved up to the FBS level in 1996, the Broncos have gone 79-20 (.798) when playing in the month of November, resulting in a total of 21 bowl bids (and bowl eligibility in all 23 years), 14 conference championships (eight in the WAC, four in the MW and two in the Big West) and appearances in six Mountain West Championship Games.
Silver Bells
Boise State doesn't embrace the cowbells like people in Starkville, Mississippi do but when Kaonohi Kaniho blocked a Colorado State field goal attempt on Oct. 14, Bronco fans could hear silver bells ringing. That extended a remarkable streak where Boise State has blocked a kick now in 25 consecutive seasons. Turn to Page 24 to see the year-by-year breakdown.
No Caution Here
Look down on the field Saturday and you are not likely to see much yellow, at least due to Boise State. The Broncos rank top 10 in the nation in all of the fewest penalty categories, ranking seventh in fewest penalties (41) and fewest penalties per game (4.10) and eighth in fewest penalty yards (358) while ranking eighth in fewest penalty yards per game (35.38). The same may not be said for Utah State as the Aggies rank 118th nationally in penalties per game.
Are You Not Entertained?
You never know what can happen in a Boise State game, especially this year. Of the 10 games the Broncos have played so far, four games (4%) have been decided by three points or less while six of the games (60%) have been decided by one possession (eight points or less). That means fans should stay in their seats for the full 60 minutes because this team will keep you entertained.
Highway 20 Ride
Punter James Ferguson-Reynolds may come from the Land Down Under but his time in America has the native Aussie humming a tune sung by a group from down in the Deep South. Boise State's punter enters this week's action in the top 25 nationally - and leading the Group of 5 - in several other punting categories. On Nov. 10, he was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award. He is the first Boise State player to be named a semifinalist for the award, which is given annually to the top punter in the nation. The sophomore is one of three semifinalists that play in the Group of 5.

Ferguson-Reynolds in the Rankings
Category	Stat	National Rank	G5 Rank	MW Rank
Punt Average	49.7	1st	1st	1st
Net Average	43.6	T-7th	2nd	1st
Inside the 20	20	T-14th	T-7th	2nd
Inside the 20 Pct.	50%	6th	2nd	1st
Touchbacks	6	T-5th	T-2nd	1st
Longest Punt	71	T-8th	T-6th	2nd

How Does That Stack Up?
Okay, sure, James Ferguson-Reynolds' numbers are impressive for this season but stepping outside the vacuum of a single year, how does he stack up? A comparison of Ray Guy Award Winners in the chart below shows he really is actually that good.

Name	Team	Note	Avg.	Net Avg.	Pct. Downed	Pct. I20	Pct. TB
James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	2013 Candidate	49.68	43.62	25.0%	50.0%	15.0%
Adam Korsak	Rutgers	2022 Winner	43.96	43.45	33.3%	46.7%	2.7%
Matt Araiza	San Diego State	2021 Winner	50.54	43.85	23.5%	50.6%	18.5%
Pressley Harvin	Georgia Tech	2020 Winner	47.98	44.80	13.3%	48.9%	6.7%
Max Duffey	Kentucky	2019 Winner	48.12	44.53	30.6%	55.1%	8.2%
Braden Mann	Texas A&M	2018 Winner	51.02	44.78	10.0%	42.0%	18.0%
Michael Dixon	Texas	2017 Winner	47.46	44.19	21.4%	54.8%	9.5%
Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	2016 Winner	47.75	44.30	26.6%	60.9%	3.1%

Has He Reached The Peak?
James Ferguson-Reynolds is on a roll now but it's anyone's guess as to how much better he can be. But when we say he's one of the best the Mountain West has ever seen, we're not just full of hot air. Entering this week's game, Ferguson-Reynolds' career punting average is the fourth-best mark in conference history (see full chart on page 8).
Dalmas Certainly Has
Boise State senior Jonah Dalmas connected twice in the Broncos' 42-14 win over New Mexico on Nov. 11 to push his career total to 71 made field goals. Not only does that expand his recently acquired school record but it also ranks second in Mountain West history. Dalmas currently is the league's career leader with an 87.7% career field goal percentage.
30 Rock
The Broncos have scored 30 or more points in eight consecutive games, averaging 34.6 points per game during that span. This is the second-longest active streak in the nation, trailing No. 6 Oregon. The Ducks have scored 30 or more points in all 10 games this season. This ties Boise State's longest 30-point streak since 2014, when the team averaged over 50 points per game during the seven-game stretch. The 2011 squad scored 30-plus in all 13 games, averaging 44.2 points per game that season.

Scouting Utah State

Utah State enters this week's contest with a 5-5 record (3-3 MW), hoping to register its first three-game winning streak this season.
Blake Anderson is in his third season at Utah State, compiling a record of 22-15 (.595) with the Aggies. He made the move to Logan following seven seasons at Arkansas State, where he posted a record of 51-37 (.580). Following a 4-7 year during COVID in 2020 - his only losing season at A-State, he chose not to take that ish back to Jonesboro and headed to Utah.
USU has a prolific offense that ranks 20th in the nation in scoring (35.5 ppg) and 22nd in the country in total offense (448.3 ypg).
The Aggies offense, which operates at a speed of running plays on average five seconds faster than UCF, has a playbook that is believed to be a single sheet of paper with the quote, "I wanna go fast." Sure, Utah State fans may consider themselves like Ricky Bobby, but we think it's better described by the quote from Chandler Bing, played by the late, great Matthew Perry (RIP), "It bodes well for me that speed impresses you."
Utah State has fully embraced the ethos of "Sharing is Caring." The Aggies rank 126th nationally and 11th in the MW in time of possession and 112th in the country and 10th in the MW in turnovers lost.
If there's someone out there that has slowed down Utah State's offense, it is themselves. The Aggies rank 10th in the Mountain West and between 115th and 118th in all categories involving fewest penalties or fewest penalty yards. Meanwhile, the Broncos rank in the top 10 nationally in those categories.
Jalen Royals (3rd with 11), Terrell Vaughn (7th with 10) and Micah Davis (45th with 6) all rank in the top 50 nationally in receiving touchdowns this season. One can only suspect Boise State's defense will have so much dime coverage this week that it could be renamed the William J LePetomane Memorial Thruway.
When the location for Utah State University was being debated prior to its founding, historian Joel Ricks, in 1938, "Provo had received the Insane Asylum, Salt Lake City had the University and Capitol, and most of the legislature felt that the new institutions should be given to Weber and Cache Counties." We cannot help but respect the truth in historians' research.
The image of a bull first appeared on a football game program in 1975, and the following year it was adopted as USU's mascot. For a few years, USU used an actual white bull, painted blue, which was brought to sporting events and corralled on the sidelines. However, when the Smith Spectrum was built, there were concerns with the bull ruining the floor. We can't imagine why.
In 1987, USU Student Athletics Vice President John Mortensen decided that Utah State should still have a mascot and spent $750 on a costume for Big Blue. The costume was somewhat of a disappointment because it was royal blue, not navy, had real animal horns, and was not easy to move around in. No word on if this costume was debuted on Halloween or if it was retired due to haunting the dreams of people far and wide.
We like to keep things light here, particularly in this section. However, we have to note that mental health is an incredibly serious aspect of human existence and our respects go to the memory of Blake Anderson's late son, Cason. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please do not hesitate to call or text the National Suicide Hotline by dialing 998.

A Win Would...

Move Boise State to 23-5 all-time in games against the Aggies.
Keep the Broncos alive in the chase for the Mountain West Championship.
Mark the eighth consecutive win in the series.
Give Spencer Danielson a 1-0 record all-time as an interim head coach.
Make the Broncos bowl eligible for the 26th consecutive year, the second-longest streak in the country.
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

Jonah Dalmas

James Ferguson-Reynolds

Ashton Jeanty

Kaonohi Kaniho

Maddux Madsen