Game Facts

  • Date: Saturday, September 19th @8PM MST
  • Location: The Blue (Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID)
  • Weather at kickoff: 72°
  • Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous
  • Odds: Boise State by 25.5
  • TV: CBSSN
  • Radio: 670 KBOI/Here or Stream
  • Commentators: Chris “Hometown” Lewis (PBP), Randy Cross (Analyst), and Brandon “Alliteration” Baylor (Sideline)

Other facts

1. Gameday

If you have any brick walls you need ran through, watch this video first.

2. Hammertime

For getting the first punt return TD for Boise State in 6.7 Billion years, Cam Bates gets the hammer!

3. THREADZ

The haters will hate the white helmet and pants, but fun fact: this is actually the best uniform combination that we have. The more you know.

4. Skippy

I like the way they’ve mixed up the chaos flag raisers this year. Broncos have really been leaning into their legacy, and I appreciate that.

5. Remember when?

It’s September 19th and we still don’t have a 50-burger. Let’s hope this is the game to do it, just like last year.

Streaks

Boise State – Won 1

South Dakota –  Won 3

Best Name On Their Roster

Walter Young Bear, Strength Coach

goyotes.com

It seems pretty unfair to give young bear strength to players, no?

Best Picture On Their Roster

Kainen White, DL

goyotes.com

Kainen has the best head-to-hair ratio I’ve ever seen.

Players To Watch

Austyn Modrzewski, QB

South Dakota’s QB has an absolute cannon for an arm, and after two weeks of fairly porous pass defense, I am nervous. Here’s to hoping the young secondary has locked things down.

Wade Abrams, LB

Wade is off to a stellar 2026, racking up 24 tackles in his first 3 games, good for a blistering 91.8 run defense grade. That’s good for 4th among D1 LBs. Obvious caveat here is that Eastern Washington and Central Connecticut have no one like Dylan Riley or Sire Gaines, but I’d expect he’ll still rack up many a tackle.

Matchup(s) to Watch

Boise State DL vs. South Dakota OL

As many college football fans know, the Dakotas put together good football teams. The Coyotes have some big boys up front, and they want to play a similar game to Boise State (Run. the. ball.) Now, besides a pair of explosive runs, the Bronco rush defense has been quite good. If they can force South Dakota to be one-dimensional, we’ll be happy campers tomorrow night.

Keys to Victory

Pass Defense?

I was willing to make an exception for Oregon (because Oregon) and you could maybe say that the Memphis offense intentionally forces man coverage without help in a way that put our guys at an abnormally distinct disadvantage, buuuuuuuut, the fact of the matter is, our pass defense has been bad. I don’t want to see South Dakota getting big pass plays. I want them locked down. IMO even a win is a loss if I see more chunk pass plays.

Downfield Consistency

I liked what I saw from Madsen Week 1, but against Memphis, he was often slow to get the ball out on time (which Ryan Leaf made sure to mention). With this receiving core, I expect us to be able to move the ball downfield. Aside from the whole, score more points than the other team thing, getting Maddux some confidence to rip it downfield would be a win.

Score Prediction

South Dakota is no slouch of a squad at all, but the Broncos should be ready to play. The ‘yotes will give us a good run for our money, but ultimately if this team is who we think they are, they should be able to flex their muscles in this one. Broncos pull away in the 3rd quarter and cruise to victory.

Boise State 42, South Dakota 14

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