Boise State University (-16) at Utah State University

Date: Friday November 25th, 2022

Time: 10:00am MT

Stadium: Albertsons “Bronco” Stadium (36,382)

TV:CBS

TV Commentators: Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor

Radio: KBOI 670 AM

Commentators: Bob Behler and Pete Cavender

Know Thy Enemy

Buster Bronco is hosting Thanksgiving at his house, but all he’s planning to serve ‘Ol Big Blue and the Aggies is an “L!” It's Boise State versus Utah State on the national stage of CBS on Senior Day!

Utah State came into this season as defending Mountain West champions and would have been playing for a Mountain Division title this Friday if it were for a slip up in Laramie to their former quarterback Andrew Peasley, about a month ago. The Aggies, much like the Broncos, have had a “tale of two seasons.” This year USU found themselves 1-4 after their first five games. The Aggies won their season opener against UCONN, but then proceeded to lose 4 straight to Alabama, Weber State, UNLV and BYU. But something changed after the loss to the Cougars, because the Aggies have been on a tear, winning five of the last six and are currently on a three game win-streak.

On offense the Aggies will feature a “spread” attack that features multiple receivers that are lined up from sideline to sideline. However, even with that they have a “downhill” rushing attack lead by Calvin Tyler Jr. that will punch you in the mouth if you’re not careful. So far this season the Aggies are averaging 42 rushing attempts per game which is second only to Air force in the Mountain West. During their current win streak Utah State has averaged 47 rushing attempts including 50 attempts last week against San Jose State. Something that the Aggies will do is try to establish the run and then surprise the defense with their vertical play-action pass game.

On defense the Aggies have done a good job mixing up the pressures and coverage's in their base 4-3 defense. The last three games the defense has really caused some havoc with their pressure. In those games they have 10 sacks, which is almost half of their season total, three forced fumbles, three interceptions and have blocked two field goals. They are a very opportunistic unit that will make you pay for your mistakes. It seems like the Aggies have play makers at every level of their defense, from defensive end Daniel Grzesiak up front, AJ Vongphachanh at linebacker, to a pair of ball hawking safeties Ike Larson and Hunter Reynolds.

The Aggies are coached by Blake Anderson. Anderson is in his second year as head coach at Utah State. Anderson was previously the head coach at Arkansas State from 2014-2020. Anderson is just the second coach to lead his team to a Mountain West championship in his first season as head coach. Anderson has an overall record of 16-8 as coach of the Aggies.

Boise State and Utah State familiar foes on the gridiron, as Friday’s meeting will be the 27th in the series. Boise State of course leads the all-time series 21-5 and currently holds a 6-game win streak. Whoever wins these games usually wins big. Currently only 5 games have been decided by less than 10 points. Boise State’s largest margin of victory was a 52-0 blowout in 2007 and Utah State's largest margin of victory came in 2015 when they defeated the Broncos 52-26.

What Happened Last Time

There would be no coming back for Utah State this time around.

Boise State scored the first 17 points of the game and limited the Aggies to just a field goal as Utah State dropped its Mountain West home opener 27-3 in front of 23,715 fans last September on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. The Aggies outgained the Broncos 443-435, but could not overcome a blocked field goal, a missed field goal, three turnovers and a turnover on downs on a fake punt early in the second half.

The back-breaker was a 3-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier to defensive tackle Scott Matlock with 5:09 to play. Matlock, who also recorded five tackles and blocked a field goal in the game, lined up at tight end and was left wide open in the end zone. That capped a 15-yard drive after a critical fumble by Utah State quarterback Andrew Peasley. It took the Broncos nine plays and 4 minutes, 23 seconds to cover 15 yards because of penalties.

Bachmeier threw for 287 and Khalil Shakir had seven catches for 113 yards and a score that made it 17-0 early in the third quarter.

Players to Watch

UTAH STATE

GS., CALVIN TYLER JR., RB #4

The Aggies mascot is a big blue bull, but ‘Ol Blue is not the only bell cow. Calvin Tyler Jr., is the poster child for an “every down” running back. The grad student is 22-yards away from surpassing the 1000-yard mark on the season, has a total of 219 carries and six touchdowns. Tyler is a huge part of their offense. He’s had over 18 carries all but four times this year. Last week against the Spartans he carried the ball 30 times! He will kill you with body blows and by the end of the game defenders are so tired of tackling him he usually is good to break a big one.

SR., AJ VONGPHACHANH., LB #10

The senior from Pasco, WA is an outright baller. You will see #10 flying all over the field on Friday morning. AJ leads the team in tackles with 85, has 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, three quarterback hits and two forced fumbles. Not only that, but he’s had 10+ tackles in four games and 5 or more in all but two games.

Rs.FR., IKE LARSON, S #19

Ike Larson might be a freshman, but he’s making plays like a seasoned vet. The Smithfield, UT native is one half of the “no fly zone” safety duo that the Aggies have. Larson has 4 interceptions this season to go along with his, 2 sacks, three tackles for loss and 33 total tackles.

BOISE STATE

SR., TYNIEL HOPPER, TE #88

His Boise State career hasn’t been the flashiest, but Hopper has been a solid tight end for the Broncos the last four seasons. This season Hopper has 13 catches for 103 yards and had a long of 30 yards two weeks ago against Nevada. Hopper has yet to find the end zone this season, but if his catching number stay about the same, he might be due for one and it could be Friday morning.

SR., TYREQUE JONES, N #21

After being sidelined last week with an injury, Jones was spotted being a full participant this week in practice and should be good to go come Friday. The senior out of San Gorgonio High School changed positions from safety to nickel this season and has flourished. It just is another testament at how much Tyreque Jones loves football and wants to see the team when. Interestingly enough, Jones is a master sauce mixologist at Chick-fil-a according to defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson.

Rs.SR., DJ Schramm, WIL #52

The leadership and consistency might be the thing that will be missed the most once DJ Schramm is no longer playing Bronco football. It has been well documented that the weak side linebacker has not been at full strength towards the later part of this season, yet still straps it on week in a week out for the good of the team. Not only is Schramm a top notch teammate, he’s also out there making plays. Schramm will be apart of the attempt to slow down this potent rushing attack and will more than likely have to make one-on-one tackles this week if the Broncos want to win.

Focus Position Group: Running Back

The combo punch of Holani and Jeanty has been special this season. Last week in Laramie the two backs combined for 225 yards and two touchdowns in a hard fought win. What encapsulated the night was when Jeanty took a hand off, was seemingly stopped in the backfield, reversed his field, went 8 yards behind the line of scrimmage and pulled out a 9 yard gain on the play.

Utah State has the second worst rushing defense in all of the Mountain West, giving up nearly 200 yards per game on the ground. Last week Boise State put up 272 yards of rushing against the Cowboys who are currently fifth in that category. This could be the week that we see Green, Holani, and Jeanty all reach the century mark and break that school record.

Rev's Route to a Bronco Win

Read it Like a Book

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said they ran a “variation of the read option. about 18 times” last week. He also said the decision making by Taylen during those plays has been really good. This week I think the read option and the run/pass option plays a major role in the offensive game plan and look for Green to continue reading the defense like a book and exploiting them for a huge day on Offense.

Breakfast Turnovers

Utah State is a -5 in turnover margin this season, meaning they have turned the ball over five more times than they have made the other team turn the ball over. Through 11 games the Aggies have committed 22 turnovers including 16 interceptions. 8 of those were committed in the first four games by a quarterback who is no longer playing this season, but nonetheless, the Aggies are not taking care of the football. If the Broncos can force two or three of these things and turn them into touchdowns, it will go a long way to sealing the victory on National television.

ITS A TRAP

Many media members want to know if the Broncos are looking ahead to the championship game and want to know whether Boise State will rest some of their starters because their spot in the title game is already secured. When asked about it Coach Avalos simply said, “Next question.” I think he spoke loud and clear that the team is focused on beating the Aggies and rightfully so. For many teams this could be a trap game which would be a major buzzkill going into the championship. Boise State needs to continue with their 1-0 mentality and focus on executing the game plan for Utah State and save the championship prep for Sunday. Also the Broncos have not lost on Senior Day since 2015.

Editorial Note:

No Time To Waste

Boise State has always practiced in the morning hours under coach Avalos. This has paid dividends over the past two seasons as Friday will be the third game Boise State has played in the past two seasons in which kickoff was Noon Eastern. Last year they played in Logan at 10am and in the last game of the season they played a game against San Diego State that kicked off at 9am! Coach Avalos also said, “When your head hits the pillow Thursday night, when you wake up in the morning it's go time.” He added that their wake up call would be around 5am Friday morning. Last year you could tell the Broncos were used to getting after it during the morning hours as they jumped out to a commanding 17-0 lead against the Aggies.

Title Bout is Set

With wins from Boise State and Fresno State last week the Mountain West title game has been set. The Broncos will host the Bulldogs for the fourth time in the conference title game. Either Boise State or the Bulldogs have been in seven of the 10 Mountain West Championships. At the beginning of the season I didn’t think there was any way Boise State would be playing in the title game let alone hosting it. Boise State is 3-1 when hosting the championship.

SUNDAY SERMON TITLE:

FRESHMAN STEALS THE SHOW ON SENIOR DAY: Taylen Green Accounts for 400 yards of Offense as Boise State Runs Wild Over the Aggies in Regular Season Finale

Boise State 45, Utah State 14

Rev's Rundown

Boise State (8-3,7-0) (-16) vs Utah State University (6-5, 5-2)