Andy Avalos, the sophomore coach, is looking to make his mark as the face of football at Boise State.
After finishing third in the First Division just a year ago, Andy Avalos and his Boise State football team are expected to compete for the conference championship in a deep mountain region.
This will be Avalos’ second year leading his alma mater program, having left Oregon to take charge of Brian Harsin once he resigns to become the next head coach at Auburn. Despite playing in the same mountainous division as the Air Force and the State of Utah, Boise State was selected to win the division and face Fresno State in the Conference title match. Expectations are high for Boise.
Consequently, it ranked 35th in FanSided’s Top 50 pre-season rankings, the Boise State Broncos!
Boise State 2021 football season review
Avalos returned to Boise after spending the 2019 and 2020 seasons as defensive coordinator for Mario Cristobal at Oregon. Although he had other careers in college football, coming home was too good for him to avoid this turn of his career. However, the Broncos suffered their worst full season since 1998, with Boise State winning just 7-5 last fall.
It was a mixed bag in the first half of the season for the Broncos. They went lose one, win one until Halloween. While they had impressive victories on the road in Utah and at BYU, the Broncos lost at home to the Nevada and Air Force. Although a road loss in the UCF was possible and a home loss for Oklahoma State likely was, Boise State was only 4-4 after beating Colorado State.
After proving their victory at Fort Collins, Boise State claimed three consecutive victories at Fresno State, versus Wyoming and New Mexico. While they would lose at San Diego State to finish the regular season, the second half of the year was definitely better than the first for the Avalos Broncos. Unfortunately, the Arizona Bowl vs Central Michigan game has been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak…
Boise State Offense Preview for the 2022 season
- Return garnish (7): Hank Bachmayer (QB), George Holany (RB), Stephen Cobbs (WR), John Ojukwu (LT), Will Farrar (LG), Ben Dooley (RG), Riley Smith (TE)
- Newcomer: Kid Beresford (RT)
- effect player: Hank Bachmeier (QB)
One of the main reasons why Boise is expected to do much better year on year is How much talent is on the offensive side of the ball?. They have about seven novice players, as well as a few other players who are very experienced in playing. From Hank Bachmeier in the middle, to Riley Smith at the tight end, Boise State should have no problems placing points.
Coming from Washington State is Cady Beresford, a senior Red Riding Hood official. He and his younger brother on defensive end Jack Beresford chose to leave Pullman in favor of playing at Boise State. Kid Beresford started eight of his nine games with the Cougars right guard a season ago. He is expected to properly tackle an experienced offensive line for the Broncos this year.
No player will be more influential across the board with the Broncos this season than the number one midfielder. Bachmeier needs to be better protected by his offensive line who has surrendered 27 mobile season before. There may be other excellent quarterbacks at Mountain West, most notably Fresno State’s Jake Hanner, but as long as Bachmeyer is upright, his team will stand a chance.
Boise State Defense Preview for 2022
- Return appetizers (8): Jackson Cravens (NT), Scott Matlock (DT), Demetri Washington (EDGE), Ezekiel Noah (MLB), Caleb Biggers (CB), J.L. Skinner (S), Tyrick Jones (NB), Kaunohe Kanyo (CB)
- New Arrivals (2): Cortez Hogans (Germany), Devin Wright (Edge)
- effect player: Scott Matlock (DT)
It’s not just the Broncos’ offense that has brought back many of the rookie players this season. Boise State’s defense dates back to about eight, including the likes of Scott Matlock in the trenches and JL Skinner in the defensive backcourt. Although the quarterback might be a little inexperienced when compared to other position groups, he maintained that Avalos was a former Boise State player…
As far as newcomers are concerned, a couple of transfers will play a defensive end for the Broncos this year. Cortez Hogans makes his way to Boise via Snow College. He was playing in Northern Illinois before that. Supporting him, and possibly competing for a starting point, is Devin Wright’s exit from the edge. He played college ball at Mississippi State, so he’s ready for that big leap.
A few players stand out in the Broncos’ defense, but let’s give Matlock a slight advantage over Skinner as the most influential player in this unit. Being able to dictate terms in the trenches will go a long way toward Boise State as they improve from a 7-5 team to a winning team in Mountain West and be in the mix to compete for the Group of Five Championship if they are lucky.
Boise State FC Player of the Year awards watching the 2022 season
A few Boise State football players appear on the award watch lists, including these four guys.
Stephen Cobbs, Hornung
Stefan Cobbs is expected to do big things in the middle of the Boise State offense. With a proven connection with Bachmeier, don’t be shocked if Cobbs returns to Hornung at the end of the year.
Scott Matlock, Bednarek, Outland
Matlock found himself on the watch lists of Bednarik and Outland. It might be tough for a Group of Five player to win any of the most prestigious honors in a given season, but Boise State is different.
GL Skinner, Thorpe, Nagorski
Skinner is in a similar position when it comes to pre-season awards as Matlock. Not only is Thorpe named the nation’s best defensive linebacker, but he’s competing for Nagorski’s side.
George Holany, Doak Walker, Maxwell
If Boise State leads in a ton of games, it would be easy for George Holani to be in the mix to win major college football trophies like Doak Walker or Maxwell. This will be difficult.
Biggest Boise State football match in the 2022 schedule
for what Boise could be this year, The Broncos has a timeline that is far from easy. They paint BYU at home and start the year on the road in Oregon at a non-conference. The Broncos should also play the top two Westerns this year at San Diego State and Fresno State back-to-back. Of course, it doesn’t matter if they lose matches in the division.
With a goodbye after the Fresno State game, it’s imperative that the Boise State top what could be the best Air Force team in years at Colorado Springs. Although the Broncos had 14 first-place votes out of 28 to win the mountain division, the Hawks were right in their tails with 10 first-place votes. Utah State is a big game at the end of the regular season for the Broncos, but the Air Force is the game.
As long as the Broncos beat the Air Force and Utah State, they can win the Mountain, even if they end up splitting from San Diego State and Fresno State the week before the Air Force game.
Best Scenario in Boise State Football
In terms of the Broncos’ best-case scenario, they have the timeline to win the Group of Five and reach the Six New Year. Although they don’t have the track or track record to say Cincinnati to smash the College Football Playoff party, they’ll be rewarded with a NY6 bowl if they go through their season to perfection. But even in the best-case scenario, that’s just too much.
In theory, Boise State could win all of its Mountain West games, but capitalizing on that by winning without a conference at BYU and in Oregon isn’t realistic. Although they could beat the Beavers at Reser and give the Cougars a home loss, Boise State still had to play the other top four Mountain West teams (San Diego State, Fresno State, Air Force, Utah State) in their schedule.
At best, this team can go 11-1 and win over Western Mountain, but 10-2 (7-1) A little more realistic.
Worst-Scenario Football in Boise State
No, the Broncos won’t go 7-5 again. It was an anomaly for one of the best programs in the country over the past quarter century. However, do not deceive yourself. This 2022 list of games is daunting as all the preparations for the Boise State are up. With the Broncos playing well in the second half of the season under Avalos, as well as the return of several starters, this team should push for 10 wins.
If the fan were to hit the blue grass, what would that look like? Well, it starts with Boise State dropping either an Oregon State game or a BYU non-conference game, but maybe not both. From there, they lost three of four against the best teams Mountain West could hope to offer for San Diego State, Fresno State, Air Force and Utah State.
Boise State has too much pride to be worse than Team 8-4 (5-3)but this table is brutal!
Boise State 2022 football season predictions
Ultimately, Boise State won’t be a team with a lot of variety this season. The Broncos are who they are, and they will be even better than they were a season ago. In most years, this team can be good enough to win the Group of Five and push towards an undefeated season. However, Avalos remains largely unproven as head coach and Mountain West as a whole appears to be in control.
Boise State starts the year off right with its first thrilling victory over a rowdy Oregon State team in Corvallis. They got 4-0 with their win over New Mexico, over UT Martin and YouTube. From there, it started with San Diego State coming into town on Friday night. While the Broncos score a victory over the Aztecs, they fall for the first time in a featured match for Heiner and Fresno.
Thinking of the heartbreaking loss at home for the Bulldogs, Avalos will put his boys ready after farewell and take down the best Air Force team in years, somewhat surprisingly. That momentum would net a stunning seventh victory of the year over Colorado State at Fort Collins. Then, arrogance took over, as the Broncos fell into the BYU in a game of revenge for them.
At 7-2, Boise State beat the Nevada and Wyoming Conference on the road in their place. With the Mountain Division title on the line, it all goes back to Utah history. It might be a revenge game for the Aggies, but the Broncos have got it. Unfortunately, the Mountain Division champions will have to hit the road to face San Diego State and Fresno State in place for a rematch.
Boise State will go straight 10-2 (7-1)but they did not win the rematch in the title match.
Boise State Football 2022
Nothing makes us happier than seeing Boise State challenge Wazzu at the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl. It’s going to be a Pac-12 versus Mountain West shenanigans for all over the world so they don’t care about it in Southern California. The amount of late night TV parts that will emerge from this bowl game broadcast will be out of wazoo. I’ll show myself to the door then, guys…
next one: #34: Florida Gators
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