Boise State takes down University of North Dakota (UND) 42-18 for their first win on the season.
Normally when a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team plays an Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team it’s a trap game, but this was a must-win game.
After the Broncos rocky and underwhelming start to their 2023 season, this game was going to be a deciding factor on many fronts. A loss would have impacted how the team views their coaching staff, depth chart and even their starting quarterback.
Dropping to 0-3 would have also been significant considering the Broncos were favored to win the Mountain West Conference at the beginning of the season.
“We will celebrate it today,” head coach Andy Avalos said. “We will because it’s hard, every victory needs to be celebrated. Thankfully we had our game right and so it gives us an opportunity to get organized and move forward.”
The day didn’t start without its challenges though.
Sixth year middle linebacker, DJ Schramm, was absent from the match. Schramm led the team in solo tackles (53) and total tackles (110) last year.
In his absence, redshirt sophomore, Marco Notarainni, stepped up to the plate, helping the Bronco defense hold the Fighting Hawks’ offense to just 183 total yards.
“DJ runs the defense, it’s pretty clear,” Notarainni said. “He runs the defense in communication … Everybody looks up to him. He’s obviously the captain of our team. Big step up for me, obviously … with the guys that were in, the guys that stepped up, it was really cool to see a bunch of different guys being placed on the front seven back end, it’s really awesome.”
The defense also racked up six sacks this week, half of which came from a defensive line that was without one for the first two games.
In the second straight game without senior running back George Holani, the Broncos relied on sophomore running back Ashton Jeanty to carry the rock.
Jeanty had a solid game, notching 73 yards and three touchdowns.
True freshman running back, Jambres Dubar, accompanied Jeanty with a huge showing of 62 yards on just 10 carries.
Boise State’s passing attack had some highs and lows. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Taylen Green threw 62% (18-29), 188 yards, a touchdown and one interception off of a tipped pass.
That’s not the whole story however. Green threw two near missed picks that were dropped by North Dakota defenders.
The Bronco offense gave up a season high of three turnovers to the Fighting Hawks, which they capitalized on for 12 points.
“We turned the ball over way too many times today,” Avalos said. “There’s plenty of things that we can clean up as we watch this game film. We talked about it, we’re going to do a better job at taking care of the ball.”
Boise State has developed in other areas however.
Redshirt sophomore, Eric McAlister, is starting to look like Taylen’s No. 1 guy. He had six catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns against North Dakota, doubling his previous career high of 70 yards.
“Me and TG always talk like that Texas connection but it’s always great to be his first read,” McAlister said. “Knowing today he was looking at me a lot more today, it felt great.”
It made sense for the Broncos to struggle offensively and defensively in their first two games of the season considering they had one of the hardest schedules to start the season, playing Washington and University of Central Florida.
However, Boise State should be operating at a much higher level against an FCS team. They performed well overall, but played very slow and safe.
The offense’s carelessness with the football seemed to spawn a slow, methodical style of play, with screen pass after screen pass to lul the defense to sleep.
Every now and then, Green would unload a deep shot. Then if the offense found themselves in the red zone, it was up to Jeanty and Dubar to hammer it into the end zone.
This strategy worked well, but was boring. They lacked explosive plays during the first quarter which ended with Boise State only being ahead by 7 points.
Offensive coordinator, Bush Hamdan, got creative in his playcalling near the red zone.
Three of the four drives that made it inside the 20 yard line featured Jeanty taking a direct snap in the wildcat formation. The lone outlier was Green’s lone interception that tipped off of sixth year tight end Riley Smith’s hands.
Hamdan took a field trip today in the first half, literally. He spent the first two quarters down on the field calling plays instead of in the sky box where he normally is.
“He started the first half off on the field called the game on the field,” Avalos said. “We wanted to get a feel for what it was like for him to be down there to be able to lead, to be able to get us in rhythm and keep us going early on in the game … We’re not afraid to make adjustments to whatever is best for the team … it was nice to have him down there.”
While the offense did look a bit better this week, hanging 42 on an FCS team is a bit different than on an FBS team. There are still big questions on the table regarding the offense’s ability to score, and score fast.
McAlister and Jeanty were the stars of the offense, but Green’s lack of offensive production for the team is concerning.
With this win, the Broncos now hold a 1-2 record as they enter into conference play against San Diego State in San Diego, California on Sept. 22.
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