BY BOB BEHLER
With a game Thursday night, I had a chance to watch a lot of football Saturday and think some teams on Boise State’s schedule will be better than expected and others won’t be as good.
Through week three of the college football season, the Mountain West hasn’t fared very well against the Power 5. Last week, the conference went 1-4 and followed it up with a 1-6 mark this weekend. San Diego State has moved to the front of the Group of Five list for the New Year’s Six Bowl, as the Aztecs collected both wins, beating Arizona State and Stanford in back-to-back weeks.
To get it, they have to win the MW and then the beauty contest with the other four conference champions. Memphis, from the AAC, with its win over UCLA, is the other Group of Five team with a “marquee” victory. Boise State could have been in this early conversation if it held on to its lead at Washington State. Fortunately, the Cougars won again and look they will have a good year.
Boise State has a chance to get a Power 5 win Friday, when the Broncos take on Virginia. Virginia won two games last year, but is 2-1 this season and looks significantly better in Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s second season. After watching them, they look significantly better than when Boise State beat them in Charlottesville in 2015, 56-14. They have a returning starter at quarterback in Kent Benkert, who threw for a school record 455 yards to go with some playmakers. The have a better defense led by an outstanding linebacker in Micah Kiser and a safety in Quin Blanding. While the Cavaliers should be a more challenging opponent than originally anticipated, the reward for a victory could be worth more, too. Virginia very likely will win some games in the ACC and a “W” could pad the resume.
San Diego State has moved into the top 25, checking in at No. 22 in the AP Poll and No. 25 in the Coaches Poll. Boise State will have one and maybe two shots to knock off the Aztecs. They have a trap game coming up Saturday at Air Force. I know Michigan’s offense is fairly challenged, but Air Force did hang in there in the loss at Ann Arbor. The Falcons looked much better than I thought they would and this could now be a tougher game than I thought it would be. Wyoming has looked pedestrian so far. Josh Allen went 9-for-24 against Oregon and has a sprained ankle. Colorado State is hard to figure: Looked great against Oregon State, not so against Colorado, and you kind of have to throw out the Alabama game. Utah State has been clobbered by Wisconsin and Wake Forest. The Broncos have already beaten New Mexico and are off to a 1-0 start in the division.
The defense and special teams look very good. The offense right now is a work in progress. We’ll know a lot more about the Broncos over the next four weeks. Virginia, a bye, a road trip to BYU against a Cougars team that has had their troubles on offense, followed by a trip to San Diego are the hurdles in that time frame. The offensive line and playmakers on offense need to emerge. Right now, the recipe seems to be, win lower scoring games.
The Broncos will look to end September 3-1. Don’t count Boise State out. If the offense comes on, there can be a lot of fun as the season advances.
Bob Behler, the Voice of the Broncos, co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk with Bob & Chris weekdays from 1-3 p.m. on KTIK 93.1 FM The Ticket. He can be found @BSUBob (Twitter).
