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Boise State occupied the college football big stage on Saturday when running back Ashton Jeanty\u2019s contention for the Heisman Trophy put a spotlight on the Broncos.
There\u2019s another bigger moment on the main stage ahead when the Broncos\u2019 Playoff Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal takes place on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n
Both the opportunity to contend for a national championship and Jeanty competing for the Heisman<\/a> represent new heights in what has been a meteoric yet steady rise for more than two decades. These milestones are also dramatic departures from just a year ago, when Boise State football reached a critical juncture in its story.<\/p>\n The Broncos ended their 2023 season with a 35-22 loss to UCLA in the LA Bowl<\/a>, concluding an 8-6 campaign. The six losses were the program\u2019s most in one season since 1997, only the second year after Boise State moved up to Division I-A from Division I-AA.<\/p>\n A down year happens, even for dynasties. However, with a 7-5 record in 2021, the Broncos finished two campaigns in a three-year span with win percentages below .600. The program had not endured such a stretch since its first three seasons of I-A membership.<\/p>\n College football came out of the pandemic and into a landscape wholly different from when it entered.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in\u00a0National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston<\/i>\u00a0on June 21, 2021, allowing athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL), was just one in a series of transformative changes. The SEC\u2019s announcement one month later of its expansion to include Oklahoma and Texas began a consolidation of power that the Big Ten followed by systematically splintering the Pac-12 starting in 2022.<\/p>\n Boise State defied the odds in becoming a powerhouse over the preceding two decades. In an ecosystem dominated by mega-conferences, NIL collectives, and an essentially open transfer market, how could the Broncos realistically continue to beat those odds?<\/p>\n So far, Spencer Danielson has provided the answer.<\/p>\n The 2023 season ended in disappointment but also foreshadowed the Broncos\u2019 run to the College Football Playoff\u2014and it began at a low point.<\/p>\n Boise State fell to 4-5 after a Nov. 4 loss at Fresno State, facing the very real prospect of its first sub-.500 finish in 26 years. The Broncos routed hapless New Mexico the following week, but then-head coach Andy Avalos\u2019 fate was sealed.<\/p>\n He was fired, and defensive coordinator Danielson was elevated to interim coach. A member of the BSU staff since 2017, Danielson had spent considerable time becoming familiar with the program and the roadmap to success there.<\/p>\n \u201cMy No. 1 goal,\u201d Danielson said immediately following last year\u2019s LA Bowl loss, \u201cis to continue to make Boise State a place where players come, they stay, they’re developed, and they play in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a nice sentiment. Actually enacting it is another challenge.<\/p>\n The first step required proof of concept, and keeping Jeanty on the blue turf was the perfect start.<\/p>\n
Considering Boise State won 10-plus games 18 times from 1999 to 2022\u2014including five of six non-COVID seasons from 2016 to 2022\u2014the six-loss campaign might seem like an aberration.<\/p>\n