Copyright San Diego Union-Tribune
The series between San Diego State and Boise State has been marked by close contests. Five of 10 meetings between the teams have been decided by fewer than 10 points. Four of them have been decided by less than a touchdown. That wasn’t the case last season, when the Broncos won 56-24 on the blue turf at Albertsons Stadium. It was SDSU’s second straight loss in what became a six-game losing streak to close out the season. The Aztecs are coming off a six-game winning streak entering this year’s matchup, and they are, in fact, slight favorites. Here’s a look at Boise State ahead of Saturday’s game: About the Broncos Boise State was picked in a preseason media poll to win the Mountain West for the umpteenth straight season. No wonder. The Broncos have played for the conference championship seven times in eight years. They have won four titles in that span, including last year’s 21-7 win over UNLV. That win gave them the opportunity to participate in the expanded College Football Playoff, where they received a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed. Boise State was beaten 31-14 by No. 6 Penn State to cap a 12-2 season. The Broncos haven’t been nearly as dominant this year. Boise State opened the season with a 34-7 loss at South Florida, rattled off three straight wins, lost 28-7 at Notre Dame, then won three more in a row. There was great disappointment two weeks ago when the Broncos were soundly beaten 30-7 at home by Fresno State. “We got booed off the field,” said Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, who grew up in Solana Beach. “I think there was frustration in this entire state after that game. … We haven’t been in that situation as a program. We’ve had some hard moments. It hasn’t been rainbows and butterflies, but that was a hard one, one of the harder moments for me as a coach. “I’ll never forget being on that blue and seeing a team raise the Milk Can (rivalry game trophy) and have our fans be as disappointed in us, as they should have been. I get it. … I would have booed me, too. We didn’t run from it.” Boise State had last week off, giving the Broncos two weeks to determine what went wrong against Fresno State and prepare for SDSU. The offense Starting quarterback Maddux Madsen suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter against Fresno State and did not return. Danielson announced Monday that Madsen is out this week and redshirt sophomore Max Cutforth will start for the Broncos. It’s a big loss for Boise State. Madsen torched the Aztecs last season, completing 24 of 32 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns. Cutforth completed 14 of 27 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions after replacing Madsen against Fresno State. Cutforth will be the first Idaho native to start at quarterback for Boise State in 33 years. He came to campus two-plus years ago at the bottom of the depth chart as a preferred walk-on. How did he climb this far? “He just continued to work, continued to work, continued to work, cointinued to learn, continued to grow and little by little he’s climbed, all the way to QB2,” Danielson said. “And we know when you’re QB2, you’re one snap away from being the guy, and he’s earned that right.” Boise State will no doubt try to take the load off Cutforth’s shoulders with a running game that has replaced Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty with a three-player attack. Sophomore Dylan Riley (104 carries, 745 yards, 7 TD), redshirt freshman Sire Gaines (99-473, 5 TD) and graduate senior Malik Sherrod (64-317, 2 TD) lead the way for a Broncos run game averaging 184.9 yards a game. Boise State has four receivers with at least 20 receptions this season: senior wide receiver Latrell Caples (26 catches, 351 yards, 3 TD), senior tight end Matt Lauter (24-232, TD), junior wide receiver Chris Marshall (24-467, 2 TD) and senior wide receiver Ben Ford (21-325, 5 TD). Marshall is returning from a one-game suspension. Caples scored three touchdowns last season against the Aztecs. The defense Boise State’s defense is allowing 24 points a game, numbers that rank 64th nationally. It ranks better against the pass (167.9 ypg, 11th) than the run (184.9, 37th), thanks in part to limiting Fresno State to 35 passing yards two weeks ago. The Broncos rank among the top 20 teams in the nation with 16 takeaways. It includes 11 interceptions. Junior free safety Ty Benefield has a team-high 68 tackles, 18 more than senior middle linebacker Marco Notarainni. Senior defensive tackle Braxton Fely has five of the team’s 18 sacks. Senior cornerback A’Marion McCoy shares the Mountain West lead with four interceptions. Did you know? Boise State has lost back-to-back conference games only twice during its 15 years in the Mountain West, in 2015 and 2021. The Broncos are 17-1 in the MW era coming off an open week. SDSU (7-2, 4-1) vs. Boise State (6-3, 4-1) When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Snapdragon Stadium Line: Aztecs by 2 1/2 TV: CBS Sports Network
