Boise State Broncos College Football Pregame Quote, 11/06/2023

Thank you guys for showing up a little bit earlier today. We have another event going on just shortly after this. So thank you guys for coming half an hour early and spending some time here, talk some Bronco football.

Coming off of our last game, we were very proud of the way the team fought, all the way to the end there, to the onside kick, as we talked about afterwards. As usual, it’s good to get back on the field and move around and do some things. Yesterday, we didn’t do a whole lot because we got home pretty late Sunday morning. But we had some pretty productive meetings and was able to recover some things coming out of last week’s game as we move forward into this week.

And as we spoke about afterwards, the focus and the priority is to be 1-0 this week as we get to play a home game here on the blue, late night game, Saturday night, with an opponent that is a, they’ve been in some really tight games and some similar situations to us in terms of playing one possession games down to the end. They’ve done some really good things on offense and has a defensive structure that always presents challenges. We’ve been focused on that last night and early this morning as we move into this week.

Coach, you’ve mentioned a couple of times that Maddux Madsen has been more efficient on passing downs and third downs. What specifically is he doing to be more efficient in those areas?

Well, there’s a huge part of the drop back pass game where he has been more efficient all the way through the course of the year, whether it’s being able to identify the front and working with the protections and understanding what we’re getting from particular defenses in terms of coverage structures and the progressions that go along with that.

Last week, we threw the ball for more yards than Fresno State. We rushed the ball for more yards than them. Now there’s certain things that, as a team, collectively we can do better to put ourselves in position to win our next opportunity.

Andy, with the news about Eric McAlister coming out today and obviously Stefan Cobbs’ injury in the last game, how deep are you guys going to have to dig in your receiver room now?

Yeah, but in the last game, we got to see Chase Penry come back and jump in there and make some plays and some critical moments, which was awesome to see. And him as well, he was a starting punt returner prior to going on the shelf. Then it’s an opportunity for Prince to really step up, who’s come in in the last couple of games and made some plays.

And with Billy [Bowens] and Shea [Whiting], Cole [Wright], and getting guys an opportunity. We talked about it last, at the end of the game, about being able to spread the ball around and getting some guys, younger players like Prince, that it’s starting to come along, getting guys like Chase off the injured list and getting Shea back.

Shea’s been on the shelf for a couple of weeks now too and he’s looked really good running around, had a really great week of practice last week. So we’re excited about that.

Where can Austin Bolt’s role evolve to with the opening and the receiving? That’s a huge part about it too, right? Speaking of that, between him and Prince have had experience playing that position. So Austin, in the last couple of weeks, has really come on, had a big catch in last week’s game. Austin and Prince will be the primary guys over there at that position as we move forward. I guess I’ll just ask, what are your thoughts? Or can you say anything about Eric deciding to transfer at this point in the season?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, it’s a part of college football right now, as they’re going to transfer portal. There are teams that are enticing people to do such things like this. That’s the nature of the beast right now. Is it right? It’s not right, but to each his own. We said, when we left the locker room after our last game, that those that we’re going to be all in, and we’re going to move forward, and we’re going to work together. It’s going to provide opportunities. Guys are going to thrive down the stretch here as we go. But again, it’s the nature of the beast when you got guys who are approaching 1,000 yards over the course of the season and walk out because of other opportunities.

How do you keep that from happening with other players on the team? What does Boise State need to do in the NIL game to take that?

Yeah, there’s no question. That’s going to be as we go into this next season and into this next phase of recruiting. That is a huge part of college football now. The NIL space is a huge part. We’ve done a great job recruiting. We’ve got some great young talent. We’re going to continue to recruit great young talent.

We were in a one possession game on the road against a team that has been very successful and we’re playing with a fair amount of young players and guys that are stepping up and playing. This young talent is going to continue to develop. They’re great young men. By the nature of it, the NIL space is where weare going to need to take care of Boise State. That’s just the nature of what college football is.

I think it is appropriate and the right framework that student athletes get to earn, get to receive money, and get to be a part of that space. I think that’s pretty cool and how Boise State football moves and is able to use that space as a lot of other people are in college football is going to be a big deal for our success. Not only being able to retain our players, which we’re really excited about. There’s a lot of people that are very interested in being a part of working those nil deals with players.

Going back to the quarterbacks for a second. Going into this week’s game, is Taylen Green still your starter?

Yeah, so we’re working through that. I know we’re just up, we’re in the middle of the morning talking about and looking at what the defensive structure that we’re going to play this week presents. It’s a different one, right? We all know that this defense structure, where it comes from so, we haven’t made any decisions to adjust. If we do decide to make that type of decision, obviously we’re always going to work and work with our guys and our family here first. But at this point, we haven’t made any decision to adjust.

Even though I know Mad Dog [Maddux Madsen] played more in the game. But again, we’re behind at times two scores, and at one point, three scores within that game. And so Mad Dog, as we spoke about, gives us the best opportunity through the pass game. Ultimately, with what we’ve been doing, our production on offense has dramatically increased.

We heard Maddox might be getting 25% of the snaps in practice, or something along the lines of that. And I don’t know if that’s exactly accurate or not. But when he plays over 75% in the game, does practice need a more match with the amount of playing time on Saturday?

Yeah, I think somebody asked that the other day. And it was brought it up to me that I was probably going to get asked in here. I don’t know where the confusion came in on that. But he definitely gets more than 25% of the snaps. That doesn’t even make sense. We’re talking about, I don’t know if that was in a particular situation, maybe at practice, that that percentage came up. But that’s not the percentage of which we obviously operate off of. I wasn’t here for when that question or what that was said. There’s a little bit where the confusion, but that’s obviously not the case.

Andy, this offense, you guys have featured a receiver more so than just about any other offense in the league, if you look at team percentage of targets for that position. Is it crazy for you that that’s not as important anymore as maybe it was? I mean, you’re getting, Eric McAllister had more targets on Saturday than any other receiver in the country. He’s a big part of this. And then all of a sudden, he just doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore. I mean, do you shake your head at all this sometimes, man?

You know what, there’s so much changing in this game that you understand the realities and some of the things that go on externally within the game, unfortunately now. But as in anything, you control what you can control. You don’t get caught up in the things that you don’t, and you’ve got to be able to adapt to the new space. Ultimately, what it comes down to is we’ve got a bunch of great young men that are willing and ready to work and move forward. And guess what, it’s going to open up some opportunities for those young men that are going to thrive in this opportunity. But yeah, it does. You know what, to be honest with you, in many instances, it’s like I get the NIL space and all that. But how it’s operated and how certain people do certain things behind the scenes, I don’t know if that’s right for college football. I know it’s not right for college football. It’s not right for these young men. And what we all came to college for is to grow and to develop and to persevere and work through certain situations. But again, we don’t control all those things. So, we’re going to focus and lock in on the young men that are here and the young men that are going to thrive and grow forward.

The transfer portal doesn’t open for another month. So, I mean, nothing should have already been happening. What can be done, I guess, to police stuff like that that’s obviously happening behind the scenes?

Yeah, those are all things that those who are in control and have authority over that, they’re going to have to figure that out.

That’s not something right now that we’re going to give any more attention to. I’m sorry, it’s not like I want to neglect your question or anything like that, but ultimately, we will not let anything take our attention away from what is a greater good. What our priority is this week and the thing that we’ll focus on, which is our next opponent.

When you look at your running game, your running backs in particular, the performances you’ve got out of Ashton and George, how fortunate to have two. But unfortunately, you really haven’t had a chance to use them together. Thoughts on what both of them have been able to accomplish and how disappointing it is that you haven’t had them both on the same day.

Yeah, to be able to have them both on the same day is going to be huge. Coming into the year, that’s a big part of what we had built and put together in terms of packages and things we can go to on the call sheet. But that does speak to, again, as we’ve spoken about all year, the growth and the development of our offensive front, our O-line, our tight ends, and the wide receiver’s willingness to block. So, there’s tremendous positive there. We will continue to make sure that that’s a priority for us in terms of being able to run the ball, being able to use multiple tailbacks, as we go down the stretch here and you get towards the end of the year, it’s not just us. It’s football.

Everybody, the wear of on players and stuff, but especially at that position, I feel like that’s one of the things that we’ve been able to do here at Boise State is recruit multiple tailbacks and be able to play multiple tailbacks to take care of them and make sure that they’re impactful and in a position to be productive.

We didn’t get a chance to ask you after the game. We forgot to. But the fake punt you guys were able to execute there with the pass for the first time. Fourth and 12, obviously a big spot in the game. I think you got a field goal out of that to make it a one score game. What did you think of that play and what went into that?

Yeah, the fake punt was huge. I mean, that was a point that we needed a spark. We needed momentum. We needed the ball. We were able to identify something in there through the course of this year and last year, and we were able to capitalize on it.

It was actually a situation where we knew we were getting the look, but it’s a matter of what one particular individual on the other team was going to do, and whether he was going to cover Jaden [Virgin] or not. James [Ferguson-Reynolds] did an unbelievable job executing it and seeing it through. It was a huge point in the game for us. It really gave us some momentum there, and more importantly, gave us the ball back. We were able to go score some points at that point.

You mentioned Austin earlier. He had an unfortunate comeback from his injury or setback, I know. But how much is he capable of doing right now if you need him to do more? Do you feel like he is back at this point? Or I know you guys are pretty diligent at times about how you reintegrate players coming off injuries.

What’s best for one person is circumstances in his scenario and that is what we care about the most. We care about him having a quality experience as he works back in and has an impactful experience. There are some things that we have to be very mindful of with Austin [Bolt] as he jumps back in there. He is going to be a part of the mix now, and he’s ready to go.

But let’s all know we have to be very smart about how we do this in terms of taking care of his body. As he works back in, he got in the last game and made a nice play, which is awesome to see. We all felt pretty confident that last week was going to be the week when he got his first catch, and he was going to be able to do something. He was about a yard from staying in bounds on a stiff arm and scoring a touchdown, which would have been awesome for him given all the things that he’s been through. We just want to see him continue to grow and have fun and thrive, and the rest will take care of itself.

What’s his recovery? What had that been like? Just talk about the work you put in to come back from such an injury.

It was over more than a year. There have been a few points where, let’s just say, he was ready to progress and actually get into actual football play, and we had some setbacks. So, we had to slow some things down through the course of the summer and then again in fall camp. That’s why, just so everybody knows, yes, we want Austin to be in there, but we’re going to do right and make sure it is at the right pace so that he can have an impact and we do it the right way.

I know we asked you about him briefly after the game, but Jonah [Dalmas], and just what he was able to achieve. When I talked to him last week, he also said that Kyle Brotzman came out to practice last week and told him there’s nobody else he’d rather break his record than Jonah. How cool was that to see Kyle out of practice supporting Jonah?

That speaks to the brotherhood, right? Kyle [Brotzman] come out and see Jonah and spend a morning watching practice and hanging out. Jonah’s done a lot in this program and he’s been awesome, not just in terms of what he’s done on the field, but who he is off the field.

And just to see him mature and grow as a young man, a young man that came here off a mission and has now gotten married and is doing things, not just on the football field, but growing and maturing and becoming the man that he’s been called to be.

Seems like it’s been forever since we played New Mexico. That was what, week two last year. What do you see in them? What do they do best? Give us a little bit about what the Lobos are.

They are a balanced offense, number one. Their offense on film, as we’ve looked at it last night and been able to see it too as we’ve played common opponents throughout the course of the years. You get in the conference play, you start to watch each other. But their offense has been balanced in terms of the run game.

Their offensive line has done a really good job this year, not only in the run game, but they’ve protected the quarterback about as good as anybody in the league. Dylan has done a good job stepping in and throwing the ball around, whether it be off the run game or drawback pass. There are some wide receivers with length and go that have been explosive against everybody that they’ve played within the Mountain West. We’ve got a huge challenge there within our defense against their offense.

Then their defense always creates tactical issues in terms of front structures, coverage structures, and how they move bodies around within location to the box. That will take great detail and focus to make sure that we’re identifying things properly.

We’ve asked you a couple of times here just about the message to the fans and stuff about the direction of the program. 4-5, I know nobody around here is wanting that to happen. I mean, just what, with three games left here and two home games and still a chance, obviously, to get to winning season, get to a bowl game. What, I guess, is your message at this point when you’re speaking to boosters or fans or whoever?

The record is not where anybody wants it to be. I don’t think there’s any hiding that. We’re not going to deflect that. But what we’re not going to do is not appreciate how this team is growing. The difference in the margin between getting a mark in the dub column versus the loss column has been really slight for us this year.

As we grow forward and go down the stretch here in these last couple of games, it is going to be all about that 1%, 2% by each individual and just growing and thriving and each individual being us as coaches, too, and all in. That’s what we spoke about.

We have a group of guys who are eager to do that. We have a group of guys who have a desire to do that. Nobody wants to see the record where it is. That’s the bottom line. But at the end of the day, that margin isn’t very big.

All but one of those losses was a one possession game. So now for us to really continue to grow and learn from each one of those and apply it and how are we going to be better, how are we going to continue to improve certain areas within the team, you know, starting with being able to have more impactful plays on special teams and limit the explosive plays that we’ve given up, being able to continue down the stretch here.

There’s an opportunity for us to improve collectively our pass defense and that’s all 11 guys. That’s all of us as coaches. That’s all the guys that will be a part of the packages. It’s an opportunity for us that if we take care of the ball on offense and we finish drives in the red zone, as we’ve shown, that will create the separation of each man between that 1%, 2% difference.

One of the biggest things that I’ll say is we’re going to be very excited to see how the older guys lead this, how the younger guys continue to develop and grow, and how we come together here to finish this season.

Andy, what have you noticed from those leaders, the DJ Shramms, the Riley Smiths, the George Holanis, who’ve been through this? I mean, times are tough right now. We all know it. What have you noticed from them, some of the best teams are player-led?

That’s really what started to show up, especially you mentioned George, George being back out there on the field. His impact on the field goes far beyond that. We’ve spoken about that. Those guys are the first guys to speak up. Those guys are the first guys to speak up in the locker room.

We’ve been talking a lot about what does a player-led team look like? What are we leading? What are the things we’re leading? What are the things we’re holding to a standard? And it is being a leader. Being a leader is not easy. Being a leader means that at times, you’re going to have to make the right choice, which is not the easy choice, which is not the choice that maybe is going to have people.

Bottom line is sometimes being a leader, you’re going to have to hold people to a standard. What I love and what I’ve seen is that our leadership group is holding tight on that standard. Sometimes that’s going to have people feel in a certain way. But here in this program, it is only to help people grow.

As we’ve seen these young men, not only our leadership group grow, we’ve seen our team grow in a lot of ways, and especially here in the last three weeks. As we go down the stretch here in November, it is going to be critical. It is not going to be anything more than each and every day we get to make a decision about being all in for the greater good versus the self.

That’s the human nature of it. We’ve got a team that’s willing to be all in for the greater good, that is led and that is fostered by our leadership group. We learn a lot from those young men as well as us mentoring them.

I feel like Alex [Teubner] is the under the radar point lately. He has another big hit that he’s a knack for being able to make those all against staying within the frameworks of the rules of the game today.

Alex, Teubs, did a good job last week now, and he had to move positions there in the middle of the game. To be honest, it was to a position he didn’t practice. But because he’s a guy that’s locked in, a guy that’s dialed to the details of what’s going on, he was able to move positions. We were able to slide Zion in there, who given us our best opportunity with the personnel at that point when we had someone go down in the game.

But Tubbs has been playing well since he’s come back from injury. Not only that, but just his leadership and his presence, the way he operates, the way he works, it’s real. It’s real confidence. Then it shows up. You specifically spoke about his tackling ability and the physicality of what he plays with, because he’s got real confidence. Because he’s earned it by the way he prepares, by the way he works at practice and that’s a huge part for the maturity of our team too to grow forward.

As an example, whether it’s on the defense side of the ball or whether it’s at the wide receiver position and you guys getting opportunities, it is going to be about the preparation before we get on the field. The real work on the field that will come to life because you can talk all you want. At the end of the day, that hard work fosters what you need when the lights come on and it’s time to compete.

You were mentioning Prince is one of the guys who you expect to step up now. He’s a guy, I talked to his high school coach last week. When he came over here right after the hurricane, he just was like, I need to focus on football. How does he just focus on those stuff and not let the outside stuff affect him?

Well, Prince is a young man that’s been through a fair amount growing up in the Bahamas. The circumstances of the climate and the weather they get down there and the things that they endured through hurricanes and moving away from home and moving to Florida and playing there and living there with a host family in high school. Those are all things thrown at him as a young man that, in a lot of ways, provides an experience for him to grow, to learn, but also throws him into it pretty quickly in terms of having to grow up.

Prince is a young man that cares deeply. He’s a young man that’s talented and he’s a young man that we look to. I mean, the reality of it is he’s been so much. These are the type of guys that you jump behind, that you take your shirt off, your back forward because they’ve been through so much.

Every day as we move forward is just going to be about, as with any freshman, what does the process look like for me to be successful today at practice? If I do it today at practice and I take advantage of my opportunities within the game plan, then certainly as I stack days up throughout the course of the week, it’s going to happen on game day.

That’s a guy that you want nothing more to help Prince learn. This is college football. This is his first year in college football. It’s not high school football. There’s a lot more that goes along with it. But he’s a guy that has the willingness, the eagerness to learn those things and continue to grow into the man that he’s capable of becoming.

You guys were pretty thin at linebacker last week. Did you see DJ [Schramm] play all 70 snaps? How did he do? What he’s gone through?

Yeah, we lost a couple of linebackers. One even fell ill down in the hotel on Friday and was not able to leave the hotel. To be honest, for DJ [Schramm] and Drew [Andrew Simpson] to step up the way they did, I mean, those guys have been warriors. As Drew continues to grow and learn to be an impactful player on the field, but that leadership that comes along with it, I know he’s learning from DJ as well as from the coaches. What that truly looks like to be a middle linebacker and how you carry yourself, how you prepare, and how you lead the fellas on the field, we’re excited to see that again. It’s not ideal that those guys play the whole game. But we’re at the end of the season here, and sometimes circumstances call for it.

Thank you, guys.