Boise State Broncos College Football Betting
For the fourth straight season, Boise State went to the MWC Championship Game. The Broncos have now been to the MWC title game more often than any other team in the conference (five times), but they were unable to win their fourth MWC title since 2014. San Jose State’s Nick Starkel threw for over 450 yards and three touchdowns against the Broncos, and Boise State’s offense was unable to keep up with the Spartans.
The day after the loss to San Jose State, Boise State decided not to participate in bowl season. The Broncos’ team leaders reportedly took charge of the decision, but the coaches and administration stood by their players. Boise State will now start preparing for 2021.
Boise State Broncos Weekly Odds
Boise State elected to not play in a bowl game.
Boise State Broncos Season Review
It was a season full of ups and downs for Boise State. The Broncos got off to a great start, smashing Utah State 42-13 in their season opener. They picked up the cover the next week in a 49-30 win over Air Force on Halloween before being blitzed by BYU the first week of November.
The Cougars hammered the Broncos 51-17 to make a name for themselves while making Boise State look like a pretender. However, Boise State was playing its fourth-string quarterback after the first quarter as Hank Bachmeier and Chase Cord both were injured, and Jack Sears suffered an injury in the first quarter. That forced Bryan Harsin to turn to freshman Cade Fennegan. Fennegan wasn’t bad, but he couldn’t do enough to make the Broncos’ offense run properly.
Boise State responded from that loss with a 52-21 victory over Colorado State. The Broncos scored three special teams touchdowns in the first half off of blocked punts or kicks, and they ended the game with a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown. It was their last cover of the season though.
The Broncos were very unlucky to not cover against Hawaii, as the Rainbow Warriors scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes to get within the number. Boise State saw its next two games against San Jose State and UNLV canceled due to a precipitous uptick in COVID cases, but a win over Wyoming would earn them a spot in the MWC Championship Game.
The Broncos scratched out a 17-9 win in a driving snowstorm to finish 5-0 in conference play leading to their date with the Spartans.
Bachmeier missed a decent amount of time again this year. The sophomore was banged up a few times as a freshman in 2019, and he reportedly was sidelined with COVID earlier this season. However, he was Boise State’s best quarterback when healthy, completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,150 yards (7.4 YPA) with six touchdowns and two interceptions.
George Holani barely played after running for over 100 yards in the season opener, severely hurting Boise State’s ground game. Holani ran for over 1,000 yards with seven touchdowns last season, and he has averaged 5.4 YPC in his career. However, his injury made the Broncos reliant on Andrew Van Buren. Van Buren wasn’t as dependable, carrying the ball for 382 yards (3.4 YPC) and eight touchdowns.
We have probably seen the last of Khalil Shakir on campus. Shakir was Boise State’s most explosive offensive weapon this season, and he is likely to forego his senior year to turn pro early. He had 52 receptions for 719 yards and six touchdowns as the clear No. 1 receiver in this offense, and Shakir was also the second-leading rusher on the team. Bryan Harsin did whatever he could to get the ball in Shakir’s hands as much as possible in 2020.
This defense wasn’t as solid as we have seen in previous years. Boise State allowed 27.1 PPG and 373.4 YPG, and San Jose State, BYU, and Air Force all had success against this defense. The Broncos were one of the best on third down though, allowing opponents to convert just 27.1 percent of their third downs.
Avery Williams was one of the few bright spots as the only player on the defense to be chosen First Team All-MWC. However, some of that was due to his special teams prowess as Williams was also the Special Teams Player of the Year and First Team All-MWC at punt returner and kick returner.
2020 Boise State Broncos Schedule
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| Oct 24 |
vs. Utah State |
W 42-13 |
| Oct 31 |
@ Air Force |
W 49-30 |
| Nov 6 |
vs. BYU |
L 17-51 |
| Nov 12 |
vs. Colorado State |
W 52-21 |
| Nov 21 |
@ Hawaii |
W 40-32 |
| Dec 12 |
@ Wyoming |
W 17-9 |
| Dec 19 |
vs. San Jose State (MWC Championship) |
L 20-34 |
NCAA Football Teams
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