Week one, take two: Boise State football preview
November 24, 2018 was the last time Utah State Football played a game on what is often referred to as the “Smurf Turf,” Boise State’s iconic blue field. They lost to the Broncos, 33-24, spoiling an unblemished conference record in the last game of the regular season and surrendering their chance to win the Mountain West Conference.
That same evening, former University of Utah quarterback Jason Shelley was busy in his own big game, starting against fierce rival BYU. His night went better, as the Ute’s erased a 20-point deficit to win the ‘Holy War’ 35-27.
On Saturday, Shelley makes his debut as Utah State’s new quarterback, as they return to Boise for the opening game of the abbreviated 2020 season.
Head Coach Gary Andersen acknowledged that Shelley’s opportunity to start in the BYU game — and four other games to close out the Ute’s 2018 season — helped give him the edge against Andrew Peasley when deciding for a starter against Boise State.
The big, bad Broncos are once again favorites to win the Mountain West conference, proving the 5 p.m. showdown on Fox Sports One to be USU’s toughest test of the season, right out of the gate.
Shelley said he is excited to “put on some Aggie blue,” and can’t wait to go out there and play.
“I’m really juiced up…I’m just ready to go on the bus ride to Boise,” he said.
Also pumped up about what he called “an exciting opportunity” is Andersen. Previously beaten in all four meetings in his head coaching career against the Broncos, he understands the magnitude of the game with regards to what the Aggies want to accomplish this season.
“We’re all trying to get to that conference championship game,” he said. “But in our league, it goes through Boise.”
The Broncos, led by head coach Bryan Harsin, have won the Mountain Division of the conference the past three years and won the conference championship in 2017 and 2019. They return their two most prolific offensive weapons, sophomore quarterback Hank Bachmeier and sophomore running back George Holani.
Both shined in their Freshman seasons for the Broncos. Bachmeier — who missed six games last season with injury (including the Utah State game) — passed for 1,879 yards, going 137-for-219 with a 62.6 completion rate in just eight games; while Holani rushed for 1,014 yards at 5.3 yards per carry on his way to winning Mountain West Freshman of the year.
Last season against the Aggies Holani had his way with the Aggie defense, rushing for 178 of Boise’s 484 total yards of offense. But USU Senior safety Shaq Bond is determined to put up a better fight this go around.
“We’re very motivated,” he said. “We’ve been just working on tackling, tackling, tackling, making sure we stop the run.”
One thing that may play into the Aggies hand is Boise State’s inexperience on the offensive line; they only return one starter in left tackle John Ojukwu.
Facing a young offensive line should help out a USU defensive line that is surrounded with question marks.
“The defensive line is new(ish), but they’re ready,” said Bond.
"We are very motivated."
🗣 @Bond4Pres_#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/dxqwswcEVj
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 21, 2020
The Boise State defense returns five starters from last year’s team — including three guys in the secondary that received all-conference honors: Jalen Walker, Avery Williams, and Kekaula Kaniho.
“Really good players. There’s a lot of talent back there, there’s speed, athleticism, great knowledge,” Andersen said. “It’s hard to identify exactly what they’re doing…which is what a good defense does. It’s designed to frustrate and give a quarterback concerns.”
Their weakest point is the defensive line, where Boise has to replace three starters. But with a loaded secondary, and a talented linebackers crew that includes 2019 first-team all-conference selection Riley Whimpey, it’s expected to be a fierce bunch.
But Shelley believes that he and his offense can match up.
“I feel pretty confident. I know that I believe in the guys, I believe in me so I’m going out there with complete confidence ready to showcase my skills,” he said.
The Aggies say they’re ready, but we can’t know for sure until we see it on the field Saturday night.
“This year has been different for everybody,” Anderson said. “But at the end of the day these kids get to line up against each other Boise versus Utah State for three hours and a little bit of change on the backside of that and we’ll see exactly where we sit.”
@jacobnielson12
— sports@usustatesman.com