Game Facts

  • Date: 12/16/2023
  • Location: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles (Rams’ Stadium)
  • Weather at kickoff: Irrelevant, since it’s a dome but, if you insist on rubbing it in that we’re currently experiencing borderline actual winter here…78 degrees and mostly sunny.
  • Odds: UCLA, -5.5
  • TV: ABC (national) 5:30pm MT Time
  • Radio: 670 KBOI/Here or Stream. There will also be a with a simulcast, airing on SiriusXM Ch. 382 and on the app. Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Pete Cavender (color commentary)
  • Commentators: Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Brock Osweiler (analyst–and hopefully recovered enough from the devastation of what Jamar Taylor and Boise State did to him in the Vegas Bowl in 2011 to actually form words into sentences) and Kayla Burton (sidelines)

Other facts

1. Leading Passer

You might suspect that Boise State’s leading passer would be a quarterback, but uh…presently, it’s not. With Madsen out for the season and Taylen Green off to the Kansas with an “AR” at the beginning of it, Boise State’s leading passer, with one pass attempt and one completion, for 21 yards is…

* wait for it *

…James Ferguson-Reynolds! That’s right. The punt god himself. Is there anything he can’t do??

2. Actual Passer

While it is truly a fun stat in the wildlands of NIL/Transfer Portal-era college football (which, again, can’t reform and stabilize soon enough!) that JFR is the leading passer, it’s actually a fluke because it won’t last one offensive series into this game. The starting QB for the bowl game has already been named. It’s going to be CJ Tiller. It’s worth checking out the kid’s highlight reel because there’s a reason he was so highly sought after as a recruit. It appears the kid can play! Let’s hope it’s a good day for him. The Boise State offensive line is quite good in protection this year (12th in the nation in sacks allowed) and he’ll have some great tight ends and running backs to dump the ball off to.

3. Streaks (For Geeks)

Boise State enters this game with the 2nd longest bowl eligibility streak, nationally, behind Georgia, having been invited to 21. Not counting withdrawing from the bowl game in 2020 due to COVID, the Broncos are 13-7 all-time in bowl games. If they take out the Bruins, their bowl win percentage would increase to 70%, which would move them into 2nd place in that category as well.

Not strictly related to on-field performance in this case but, if the Broncos win, Boise State wide receivers coach, Matt Miller, would move to 6-0 in games played against or involving Brock Osweiler. They’ve played games against one another since high school, as they both hail from Montana. Granted, Brock is only an announcer in this one, but he’s still involved, so it counts!

4. Homefield Advantage

UCLA’s stadium is actually further from their practice facilities than SoFi Stadium, so the Bruins are entering the game with the significant advantage of getting to practice on their home field and sleep in their own beds this week.

Streaks

Boise State – Won 4
Losing Team – Lost 1

Best Name On Their Roster

Marquise Villahermosa, Freshman DB

Credit: ESPN.com

The man’s name just straight up sounds like old world, old-money from the Spanish empire or something. It’s not at all hard for me to imagine that name being announced loudly to the other attendees as he and some equally fancy lady enter a maximally ostentatious ball.

Best Picture On Their Roster

Luke Duncan, Freshman QB

Credit: ESPN.com

Ladies and gentlemen, we got him! The man that can fill in to bring Paul Walker’s character back to the Fast and Furious movies, with only a little CGI touching-up, and carry the franchise for another 15 movies!

Players To Watch

QB, #4 Ethan Garbers

Garbers hasn’t been the starter all season, and he tends to get hurt a lot. However, he was the signal caller down the stretch and is the presumptive starter in this one. In the one game he stayed completely healthy in that span, the Bruins routed the USC Trojans 38-20. When playing this season, he’s completed 66.4% of his passes and has a 9:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

UPDATE: IGNORE EVERYTHING I SAID ABOVE ABOUT GARBERS

…Collin Schlee ended up getting the start for UCLA.

UPDATIER UPDATE: Schlee bounced his head off the turf. It was…pretty bad 😳. He was (seemingly) unconscious and twitching. Really hope he’s alright! At any rate, Garbers came in and proved he should have been the starter, because he scored on his first two drives and the Bruins have surged ahead.

LB #53, Darius Muasau

The Bruins had a terror on the edge this season in Laiatu Latu, who racked up 13 sacks, but he is forgoing the bowl game in favor of NFL draft preparation. Another couple notable defensive backs have entered the transfer portal. However, the Bruins still have a considerable talent at the linebacker position, on a defensive unit that has only allowed 69.6 rushing yards per game. That mark leads the nation. They also led the PAC 12 in total defense (299 yards allowed per game). Lacking their premier defensive lineman and having lost the defensive coordinator that orchestrated all that will hurt. But it’s not like the players that remain will have forgotten how to play or most of what made them successful this season. In fact, it’s likely that they can throw a few things at the Broncos that they won’t expect, precisely because so much of the scoutable components of their defense are gone. A candidate for headlining that effort will be linebacker, Darius Muasau. He leads the team with 64 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 passes defensed, and an interception.

Keys to Victory

Unleash the Cerberus

…as opposed to “release the kraken“. Different part of Greek mythology. And Liam Neeson will not be present to issue such an order. PROBABLY. At any rate…The strength of this team all season, but especially down the stretch, has been the run game. The offensive line is great, and the three-headed monster at running back that Boise State keeps in the stable is EXCELLENT at utilizing that premier blocking to devastating effect. Granted, Taylen accounted for some big, explosive runs this year, but the bulk of the reasons Boise State is averaging 214.8 rushing yards per game this season will all be in this game. Ashton Jeanty, George Holani, and Jambres “Breezy” Dubar are all starting-caliber tailbacks. Jeanty, in particular, stands out because he’s not just #2 on his jersey…that’s also where he’s ranked, nationally, in all-purpose yards. The Bruins’ defense is highly adept at stopping the run. However, the combined efforts of The Cerberus should be able to take enough pressure off of Tiller so that he can take some timely shots and keep the defense guessing. Maybe we can even get a couple deep shots to Bolt and Strachan. We’ve gotten a little spoiled with those lately, but they’re a lot of fun and WE WANT MORE 😈.

Stop The Run and Get Pressure…Duh

It’s been awhile since Chip Kelly offenses were running roughshod over PAC 12 defenses. In fact, this UCLA team is more predicated on solid defense. However, even though they’re not the same as those Oregon teams that were so prolific, they’re still averaging 420 yards per game. Part of that is due to the fact their two leading rushers also average over 5 yards per carry. However, if their intermittent starter at QB gets into a rhythm, he’s shown he has the capacity to be very productive. The Broncos have done a pretty good job of limiting opposing rushers down the stretch this season. So, if they can continue that trend and bottle them up, then pressuring the quarterback will completely neutralize the offense. Look for Braxton Fely and DJ Schramm to see to that first part of the equation and then look for The Hassassin to prove to his new (officially) head coach that he really is willing to run through a wall for him…and for that “wall” to be UCLA’s offensive line.

Score Prediction

Boise State 34, UCLA 28

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