Over the final eight games of the season in 2022, there weren’t a lot of teams hotter than the Boise State Broncos. After starting out 2-2 BSU head coach Andy Avalos made some changes to the offense. Avalos switched quarterbacks from Hank Bachmeier to this year’s starter Taylen Green and also brought in Dirk Koetter to take over as offensive coordinator. Both moves paid off immediately as the Broncos won 7 of the final 8 games.
With 8 games under his belt, Green is no longer green. Here’s a look at Washington’s Week 1 opponent:
Opponent First Look: 2022 Boise State Broncos
2022 Season Recap: W-L: 10-4
Head Coach: Andy Avalos (Career Record: 17-9)
Under Head Coach Avalos, Boise State has been able to continue the success past head coaches have had at Boise St. The team finished with a 10-win season for the 17th time since the year 2000. Unlike past coaches carried by offense, Avalos’ style of defense has been the carrying force for the Broncos.
Expectations weren’t very high heading into the 2022 season for the Broncos. They were coming off a 3rd place Mountain West finish in 2021 having lost their best player to graduation.
Boise St was picked to finish 4th in the MWC in 2022 preseason polls. The 2022 season began with a 34-17 blowout loss to Oregon St, with the lone bright spot in that game being a 74-yard touchdown run by then-backup QB Taylen Green.
Three weeks later the Bronces proceeded to lose to UTEP for the first time in their history. The 27-10 loss was unexpected coming off a 54-13 victory the year prior.
This loss was the changing point in the season leading to starting QB Hank Bachmeier to enter the transfer portal and being replaced by Taylen Green. Boise St. also fired then-offensive coordinator Tim Plough and replaced him with Dirk Koetter.
After taking over as starting QB, True Freshman Taylen Green went from unknown backup to star. Boise St won 7 of the next 8 games with their only loss being a 3 point loss to BYU in a back-and-forth game on a late go-ahead TD by BYU.
Taylen Green’s play over that 8 game stretch was enough to win MWC Freshman of the Year. The Broncos finished the regular season with a 9-3 overall record and 8-0 in conference play, this landed them a spot to play for the Mountain West Conference Championship against Fresno St.
Boise St was favored by 3 points in the championship game after previously defeating Fresno 40-20 earlier in the season. However, this time the Broncos were unable to pull out a victory against a veteran-filled Fresno St team losing 28-16.
Although they didn’t reach their goal of a MWC Conference Championship their season was not over yet. They went on to play North Texas in the Frisco Bowl winning 35-32 behind a dominant rushing performance running for 223 yards and 3 TDs. Looking forward the Broncos will continue to strive for their yearly goal of winning Conference Championships.
Week 1 at Oregon State– Loss – 17-34 – 185 Passing Yards – 126 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TDs
Week 2 at New Mexico – Win – 31-14 – 170 Passing Yards, 3 Passing TDs – 148 Rushing Yards
Week 3 Tennessee Martin – Win – 30-7 – 204 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TD – 123 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD
Week 4 at UTEP – Loss- 10-27 – 93 Passing Yards, 1 Passing TD – 84 Rushing Yards
Week 5 San Diego St – Win – 35-13 – 134 Passing Yards – 316 Rushing Yards, 5 Rushing TDs
Week 6 Fresno St – Win – 40-20- 127 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TDs – 316 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TDs
Week 7 at ir Force – Win – 19-14 – 227 Passing Yards – 115 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD
Week 8 Colorado St – Win – 49-10 – 305 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TD – 209 Rushing Yards, 5 Rushing TDs
Week 9 BYU – Loss – 28-31 – 219 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TDs – 104 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TDs
Week 10 at Nevada – Win – 41-3 – 261 Passing Yards, 1 Passing TDs – 267 Rushing Yards, 4 Rushing TDs
Week 11 at Wyoming – Win – 20-17 – 211 Passing Yards, 1 Passing TD – 269 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TDs
Week 12 Utah St – Win – 42-23 – 220 Passing Yards, 4 Passing TDs – 208 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TDs
Week 13 Fresno St – Loss – 16-28 – 175 Passing Yards, 1 Passing TDs – 146 Rushing Yards, 0 Rushing TD
Week 14 North Texas – Win – 35-32 – 137 Passing Yards, 1 Passing TDs – 320 Rushing Yards, 3 Rushing TD
2022 Offense:
29.5 Points per game, 190.6 Passing Yards per game, 196.5 Rushing Yards per game, 20 Passing TDs, 27 Rushing TDs
2022 Defense:
19.5 Points per game, 167.7 Passing Yards allowed, 124.8 Rushing Yards allowed, 13 Passing TDs allowed, 16 Rushing TDs allowed,
Key Losses from 2022 team:
- Safety – JL Skinner – 65 Tackles, 4 INT, 5 Pass Deflections
- CB – Caleb Biggers – 39 Tackles, 1 INT, 4 Pass Deflections, 1 Forced Fumble
- LB – Ezekial Noa – 60 Tackles, 4.5 Sacks, 2 INTs, 3 Forced Fumbles
2023 Boise St Broncos:
Head Coach: Andy Avalos (Career Record: 17-9)
Coaching Changes:
Bush Hamdan- Offensive Coordinator/ QB Coach
Jabrill Frazier- Edge Coach
James Montgomery – Running Backs Coach
Erik Chinander – Defensive Line Coach
Key Returning Starters:
QB– Taylen Green- SO – 2022 Stats: 2042 Passing Yards, 14 Passing TDs, 6 INT, 588 Rushing Yards, 10 Rushing TDs
RB– George Holani – SR – 2022 Stats: 221 carries, 1157 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs, 24 catches, 151 Receiving yards, 3 Receiving TDs
RB– Ashton Jeanty – SO – 2022 Stats: 156 carries, 821 rushing yards, 7 rushing TDs, 14 catches, 155 Receiving yards
LB– DJ Schramm – SR – 2022 Stats: 107 Tackles 11.5 TFL 1 Forced Fumble
2023 Preview:
The Bronco offense is a run heavy style of offense. They will run at you from multiple different spots and should have an elite rushing attach with QB Taylen Green and its two running backs (George Holani and Ashton Jeanty). The trio is returning for the Broncos after combining to rush for 2,566 yards in 2022. If Taylen Green can improve as a passer, Boise St will have one of the nation’s best offenses. Green’s running ability was much talked about after his impressive true freshman season but while inaccurate at times he finished the season with 2,042 passing yards and 14 Touchdowns while only throwing 6 interceptions.
Adding to the weapons Boise St will have on offense on top of their RBs is the best WR group in the MWC. Returning all 3 starters (Latrell Caples, Billy Bowens, and Stefan Cobs) from last season as well as adding Erik McCalister gives the Broncos a good group of guys who can have success with using their size in jumpball situations. On the offensive line Boise St must replace two starters from last season and will have a Sophomore and a Freshman starting at LT and RG this season in order to fill those spots. They also moved Curran from starting at RG last season to C this year.
On defense the Broncos will need to replace 6 starters from a group that was ranked 7th in the country last year in total defense. Transfers brought in should help with the pass rush production losses. Avalos always coaches a stingy defense especially on the back end. Last season Boise St only allowed 13 passing TDs all season. But with starters Caleb Biggers, Tyreque Jones, and JL Skinner departing for the NFL Draft/ Graduation the Broncos will need returning starters Kaonohi Kaniho and Rodney Robinson take on bigger roles. Washingtons WRs will be the best WR group Boise St will play all season and will surely give their inexperience DBs a hard time.
Expect the Broncos to compete for double digit wins again this season for the 18th time since 2000. But in order for Avalos to make that happen Green will need to continue his development and elevate the offense along with new play caller Bush Hamdan. On defense Avalos will need the new starters to maintain last years level of play. With the talent Boise St and Avalos have returning on offense and the ability Avalos has shown to put together a quality defense, Boise St should be the favorite in the Mountain West this season and will give the Huskies a real challenge week 1.
2023 Starting Lineup:
QB – Taylen Green – SO – 6’ 6” 221 LBs
RB –George Holani – SR – 5’ 11” 210 LBs
WR – Billy Bowens – SR – 6’ 1” 200 LBs
WR – Erik McCalister – SO – 6’ 4” 200 LBs
WR – Stefan Cobbs – SR – 6’ 0” 190 LBs
TE– Riley Smith – SR – 6’ 4” 236 LBs
LT – Kage Casey – SO – 6’ 4” 307 LBs
LG – Ben Dooley – JR – 6’ 3” 300 LBs
C – Garrett Curran – SR – 6’ 5” 303 LBs
RG – Roger Carreon – FR – 6’ 5” 305 LBs
RT – Cade Beresford – SR – 6’ 6” 308 LBs
DE – Ahmed Hassanein – JR – 6’ 3” 272 LBs
DT – Braxton Fely – SO – 6’ 1” 290 LBs
NT – Herbert Gums – JR – 6’ 1” 306 LBs
DE – Demetri Washington – SR – 6’ 3” 275 LBs
MLB – DJ Schramm – SR – 6’ 230 LBs
WLB – Andrew Simpson – SO – 6’ 226 LBs
Nickel – Seyi Oladipo – JR – 5’ 11” 201 LBs
FS – Rodney Robinson – JR – 5’ 8” 180 LBs
CB – Markel Reed – SR – 6’ 1” 185 LBs
CB – Jaylen Clark – JR – 6’ 2” 201 LBs
SS – Alexander Teubner – SR – 6’ 1” 195 LBs
