Week One Preview: Boise State
On August 31, 2024, the Broncos of Boise State University will play the Eagles of Georgia Southern University. In terms of a national brand, Boise State is likely the second biggest team to make the trip to Statesboro, Georgia behind Brigham Young University (BYU) who played at Paulson Stadium on November 20, 2021. In that game, the Cougars handled the Eagles and headed back to Utah with a 34-17 win. This time, Eagle Nation is hoping for a different result. Boise State, of the Mountain West Conference, is widely regarded as the best team in the Group of 5. Former Head Coach Andy Avalos was bought of his contract in the middle of the 2023-2024 season and Defensive Coordinator, Spencer Danielson, was named the interim coach. Danielson and the Broncos finished 3-1 with him at the helm and on December 3, 2023, he was named as the 12th Head Coach of the program. He brought in former NFL Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Dirk Koetter, to serve as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach for the 2024-2025 season.
After losing QB Taylen Green to the Arkansas Razorbacks via the transfer portal, the Broncos recruited former USC QB Malachi Nelson to Boise, Idaho. In a close quarterback competition, Nelson was beat out by RS Sophomore QB Maddux Madsen who has been with the program since graduating from American Fork High School in American Fork, Utah. He is undersized (5’10”, 201 Pounds), but has a big arm and is a great athlete. In his Boise State career, Madsen has completed 84/136 passes for 9 TDs and 3 INTs. In addition to his arm, he is more than capable of extending plays and using his legs to punish overzealous defenses as shown by his 34 career rushing attempts in which he has gained 121 yards and scored 2 TDs.
Undoubtedly, the biggest name of the Boise State roster is the 5’9”, 215 pound RB Ashton Jeanty who is widely considered as a Heisman contender after a spectacular sophomore campaign that saw him carry the ball 220 times for 1,347 yards, 14 TDs in addition to 43 catches for 569 yards and 5 TDs. Jeanty is an extremely versatile back as seen by his statistics from last season and in watching film, it is obvious that he is capable of making big plays in between the tackles, on the edge, and in the passing game. His game film from last year is reminiscent of former Eagle RB Matt Breida in the Fritz era offense. His lateral quickness allows him to find small gaps and his speed allows him to turn what looks like nothing into big plays in a hurry. It will be imperative for the Georgia Southern defensive line to play disciplined football, control their gaps, and allow their linebacker group to play free and fast to the ball.
In the passing game, Boise State has some serious size. According to the two-deep depth chart released by Boise State, WR Prince Strachan is 6’5”, 211 pounds, WR Austin Bolt is 6’3”, 215 pounds, and TE Matt Lauter is 6’3”, 240 pounds. This is going to be a tall task for the defensive backfield of the Eagles, however the Eagles have more size and depth at the cornerback and safety positions than in recent years. Kennesaw State transfer, CB Chance Gamble (6’2”, 180 pounds) and Tracy Hill, Jr. (6,3”, 190 pounds) were named as the two starters at cornerback per the two-deep depth chart released by Georgia Southern. In addition, NB Marc Stampley II and NB Cam Williams who will both see playing time, stand around 6’0” as well. S TJ Smith, S Justin Meyers, and S Tyrell Davis will likely all see field time depending on packages and will play a vital role in slowing down Jeanty as well as the passing game. If the Eagles defense can slow down Jeanty, the Eagles secondary vs. the Broncos receivers will be an interesting matchup to watch.
On the defensive side of the ball, Boise State will rotate in two 310+ pound nose tackles in NT Herbert Gums and NT Sheldon Newton to clog up the middle of the field. Their defensive ends are extremely athletic with Jayden Virgin-Morgan playing EDGE where he gets after the quarterback most of the time and drops into coverage at others. On the other side, DE Ahmed Hassanein plays more of a traditional defensive end role. Both are extremely talented and will present a challenge for the Eagles offensive line group. There is quite a bit of experience on the offensive line for Georgia Southern with all but one of the starters being a junior, senior, or fifth year player. After losing 1st Team All-Sun Belt OL Khalil Crowder to graduation, the Eagles have beefed up the offensive line. The average size of the linemen listed as starters is 6’3.5”, 300 pounds with the smallest of the five being RS Sophomore C Chandler Strong who is 6’3”, 275 pounds. It will be interesting to see how he holds up to the 310+ pound nose tackles that Boise State rotates in.
For special teams, the Broncos return Lou Groza Award Candidate, Jonah Dalmas, who made 24/27 FG and 48/49 XP attempts last season for the Broncos. As for the punter, James Ferguson-Reynolds booted the ball 55 times last season with an average of just under 50 yards. Both players were named as Pre-Season All American players by several media outlets.
For the Eagles, Memphis transfer JC French enters his second season in Statesboro and was named the starting QB for Week One after a great camp and long quarterback battle with QB David Dallas and Indiana transfer Dexter Williams II. The Eagles return quite a bit of production in 3rd Team All-Sun Belt RB Jalen White, All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention WR Derwin Burgess, Jr., RB Omari (OJ) Arnold, WR Dalen Cobb, WR Josh Dallas, WR Joshua (Jet) Thompson, TE Beau Johnson, and WR Marcus Sanders, Jr. In addition to those guys, the coaching staff brought in former Auburn TE Tyler Fromm, former Oklahoma WR LV Bunkley-Shelton, and former Alabama State OL Dom Boyd to help bolster an offense that lost several key pieces in OL Khalil Crowder, TE Jjay McAfee, and WR Khaleb Hood among others. With French at the helm of the offense and RB Jalen White and RB OJ Arnold returning, the ground game should be stronger than the past couple of years due to French’s ability to use his legs on designed runs as well as scrambling to extend plays. Look for new Offensive Coordinator, Ryan Aplin, to have a much more balanced attack than the past two seasons with QB Kyle Vantrease and QB Davis Brin under center respectively. Look for a heavy dose of RB Jalen White early and often to set up play action shots down the field. RB OJ Arnold is most valuable as a receiver out of the backfield but is more than capable of running between the tackles, too. WR Derwin Burgess, Jr., WR Dalen Cobb, and WR Josh Dallas are electric athletes that can take on the distance at any given moment, but it will be up to the offensive line to ensure French has enough time to go through his progressions, make the right decision, and protect the ball. Turnovers lose games and JC French did a great job of protecting the ball throughout camp, so the Eagles will need to continue that trend to stay in this game.
On the defensive side of the ball for Georgia Southern, this is the deepest the roster has been in recent memory. Defensive Coordinator Brandon Bailey and his staff used the transfer portal to their advantage and brought in CB Chance Gamble and S Deontre Morris from Kennesaw State, and CB Ethan Pouncey from Florida to add depth to the defensive backfield that features S TJ Smith, S Justin Meyers, NB Marc Stampley II and NB Cam Williams. The strength of this defense remains its linebacker group led by 1st Team All-Sun Belt LB Marques-Watson Trent and LB Davon Gilmore. The defensive returns all four starters in DE Isaac Walker, DT Justin Rhodes, DT Latrell Bullard, and DE Davion Rhodes, so this group should be much improved with another offseason under this coaching staff. The key to the game will be slowing down RB Ashton Jeanty of the Boise State Broncos as he is absolutely electric. No one is going to stop him, but containing him and limiting chunk plays is going to be crucial for this matchup. When QB Maddux Madsen does drop back to pass, getting pressure on him, speeding up the game, and forcing errors will be big for the defense. The defense forced quite a few turnovers last season and to beat a good Boise State team, they are going to need to recreate that.
In the kicking game, the Eagles coaching staff brought in Savannah, Georgia native Gavin Stewart who played 4 seasons at Georgia Tech where he served as the kickoff specialist. Stewart has a big leg and will be the primary kicker for kickoffs, field goals, and extra points. P Alex Smith returns to the Eagles for his second season and will once again serve as the starting punter. Last year, he averaged 40.04 yards per punt and had 18 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. Obviously, the Eagles do not want to see Alex Smith on the field a whole lot, but when he does have to punt the ball away, he is a weapon in flipping the field.
Prediction - Eagles win if:
1) Eagles limit chunk plays - especially from RB Ashton Jeanty
2) Eagles win the turnover margin
3) Jalen White carries the ball more than 18 times
