Can Boise State Stop Memphis's Rushing Attack This Week

BREAKING — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says there are 11 more games of college football this year.

As the college football world turns inside-out and upside-down after hearing this news, Boise State prepares for its home opener against Memphis in Week 2.

What happens in Memphis…

The last time the Broncos met the Tigers was in Week 5 of the 2023 season. The game was played in Memphis and, in a round-about-way, foreshadowed current era of Boise State football.

Memphis marked then-sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen’s first meaningful reps as a Bronco, where he took over for Taylen Green in the fourth quarter. Madsen led the team on two consecutive touchdown drives to keep the Broncos in the game, though they eventually fell short, 35-32.

2023 also marked the beginning of Spencer Danielson’s head coaching tenure, as he took over for Andy Avalos after his termination later that season. Danielson would eventually lead the Broncos to a Mountain West Championship.

Now, Madsen is a fifth-year senior with 27 starts under his belt, and Danielson is in the third year of his head coaching tenure, hunting for his fourth consecutive conference championship.

And … if that’s not good enough, the setting for this chapter of Boise State football isn’t just another home game, nor is it just another home opener. Saturday, Sept. 12, the Broncos celebrate 40 years of The Blue turf, debuting custom, hand-painted helmets from Armando Villarreal.

What better place than here, what better time than now?

Boise State Home Opener vs. Memphis

Is it finally time to get a signature nonconference win for the Broncos?

Since the Covid year, Boise State is 8-10 against nonconference regular season matchups.

Four of those wins came against FCS schools, while two came against Washington State and Oregon State, who are now fellow PAC-12 members. The remaining two came against Sun Belt schools, App State and Georgia Southern..

Since 2021, Boise State is 0-3 against American Conference teams, which Memphis is a member of. Will we finally see a change of pace for Boise State?

Game Breakdown

Memphis boasts an impressive run game, something Boise State struggled to establish in Week 1. Tigers sophomore running back Jaylin Carter racked up 280 yards and 5 touchdowns through two games, on pace for a 1,900 yard season.

Through two games, Carter averages 8.2 yards per carry. The young back leads the nation with 280 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Excluding the Tigers’ Week 0 game, Carter ranks third in yards and first in touchdowns, nationally.

“They want to run the ball,” defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said on Monday. “I see an athletic team, really good running backs, they got some receivers that can run. I think one guy hit 22 [mph] on the GPS … it’s a talented, talented group.”

Last week against then-No. 2 Oregon, Boise State allowed 119 yards on the ground, including a breakout 40 run from sophomore running back Jordon Davison.

“They’re a good team. You don’t go into Eugene and battle the number two team in the country like they did, with confidence,” Memphis head coach Charles Huff said this week. “For them to be in that type of battle with them shows that Boise has good players … It's going to be a challenge. It’s going to take us to play our best game.”

If you look past the big play, Boise State contained the Ducks’ run game as well any team will this season. Boise State's defense tackled as well as ever, posting 91 total tackles, led by junior defensive back Travis Anderson with 11.

“That’s a talented group we played, I don’t think that's disputed … I thought our guys tackled really really well on the perimeter,” Chinander said. “There’s a couple we’d like to have back … I think if we got those down, that maybe changes the game a little bit.”

The defensive performance by the Broncos last week is a promising sign of things to come, especially against a Tigers team that wants to run the football.

As far as the pass game, Memphis’ redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcus Stokes doesn’t seem to be the ‘do it all’ sort of guy thus far in his career. Last week against Arkansas State, he threw 12 for 15 and two touchdowns.

The catch? Two of his three missed throws were interceptions.

It may seem obvious, but Boise State’s game plan this week just might be to take away the run and force the young quarterback to win the game with his arm. That, along with limiting explosive plays should spell success for the Broncos.

“We had six explosive plays as an offense, we have to find a way to be more explosive. We gave up nine explosive plays as a defense, which is way too much, and those nine plays was 330 yards … can’t happen.”

On the flip side, Memphis’ defense is no joke.