Boise State

1-1

Pac-12 · Spencer Danielson, year 4 (25-9) · Albertsons Stadium · 36,387 · 34,439 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#31 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #50 (+5.2) · FPI #36
The marketno line yetvs South Dakota · our model 86% Boise State · a number, not a pick

LastW 38–20 vs Memphis · Sat Sep 12 · Dylan Riley 206 rush yds, 11 rec yds

Nextvs South Dakota · Sat Sep 19 · 10 pm ET · Albertsons Stadium · first meeting on record · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 115-41 12 seasons
Best season 12-2 2024
Top-10 finishes 1 AP polled only
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive

Boise State's 2014–2025 record is 115-41. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Program outlook

Boise State beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl with a hook-and-ladder on fourth-and-18 and a Statue of Liberty two-point conversion. In 2026 the Broncos join the rebuilt Pac-12 — and the question that never actually went away gets its truest test: do they belong?

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The blue turf came first — a $750,000 carpet an athletic director dreamed up on a plane in 1986, trademarked, and turned into the most recognizable field in college football. Then came the program to match it. Chris Petersen went 92-12 over eight seasons, ran two undefeated Fiesta Bowl seasons, and built the archetype of the G5 disruptor: ordinary great guys, supremely prepared, willing to run the trick play in the biggest moment. Ian Johnson took the Statue of Liberty into the end zone to beat Oklahoma in overtime in 2007 — and then proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend on the field. Boise State finished that year as the country's only undefeated team, ranked fifth, with no lane to play for a title under the old system. The closed door is the program's permanent wound and its permanent fuel.

Ashton Jeanty ran for 2,497 yards in 2024 — the fourth-most in a season in FBS history — and the Broncos went to the first 12-team Playoff as a No. 3 seed, losing only to top-seeded Oregon. That season added a second canon entry to the blue turf's story. Spencer Danielson is now in year three. The 2025 season ended at 9-5, with a Mountain West title and a chastening 38-10 LA Bowl loss to Washington. The offseason fact that moved belief in Boise: the program leaves the Mountain West for the rebuilt Pac-12 in 2026, a power-adjacent conference with the real-competition schedule the program has always needed and never been able to consistently access.

The 2026 Pac-12 season is the test the giant-slayer has been building toward for two decades. Not a cupcake-laden non-conference schedule with one marquee game — a full league slate against programs with resources, recruiting depth, and no motivation to schedule Boise at home. The question 2026 will answer: whether Danielson's Broncos are a Pac-12 contender or a program that performed best at the ceiling of the Mountain West. The blue turf will be the same. The competition will not.

On the field

OKG football — ordinary great guys, supremely prepared, out-scheming more-talented rosters through preparation and the willingness to run the trick play in the highest-stakes moment. Petersen built the template; Danielson inherited it. Scheme-wise, a balanced attack with RPO concepts and a defensive system built on gap discipline and effort-over-athleticism principles. The home-field advantage at Albertsons Stadium — the blue turf, the altitude, the crowd that knows the game's history — is a genuine weapon that the program has defended at one of the best home win rates in the country.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Boise State

Boise State has won 74% of its games since 1970 — 82% at home, 67% on the road.

311-111 all-time · 56 seasons · 1970–2026

Home 172-37
Away 125-62
Neutral 14-12
62% 1970s
35% 1980s
49% 1990s
87% 2000s
80% 2010s
68% 2020s

Coaching Era · Boise State

Spencer Danielson

Spencer Danielson has held the program for 4 seasons — the era is established.

Era Spencer Danielson · 2023–presentPrev: Andy Avalos (2021–2022)OC: Nate Potter / co-Zak HillPrev OC: co-Matt Miller / Nate Potter (2025)DC: Erik Chinander / co-Terrence BrownPrev DC: Erik Chinander / co-Tyler Stockton (2024–2025)
4 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

The 2007 Fiesta Bowl

beat Oklahoma 43-42 in OT — a hook-and-ladder on 4th-and-18 to force overtime, then the Statue of Liberty two-point conversion to win; Boise finished as the nation's only undefeated team, No. 5 AP, its highest ranking ever

Miracle

The 2024 Playoff run

Jeanty's historic season carried a fifth Mountain West title and the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff — the only loss to No. 1 Oregon

Moment of the season — so far · Boise State · 2026

Lost 27-34 at Oregon

Week 1 of 2026. The early statement — the game this season gets measured from, for now. It turned on one snap in Q4 — a 46-point win-probability swing.

vs Top-5 (#2)

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

Boise State has sent 6 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — one of them in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

6 picks · 1 in round 1
#6 Ashton Jeanty Running Back · 2025 · Las Vegas · #1/310 final season
#111 Kage Casey Offensive Tackle · 2026 · Denver
#148 Khalil Shakir Wide Receiver · 2022 · Buffalo · #18/468 final season
#71 all-time · 6 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Program factsStadium, mascot, and the vitals that don't change season to season.
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Boise State is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Spencer Danielson2023
  • Andy Avalos departs22-14, 3 seasons
  • Hired Andy Avalos2021
  • Bryan Harsin departs69-19, 7 seasons
  • Hired Bryan Harsin2014
  • Chris Petersen departs92-12, 8 seasons
  • Hired Chris Petersen2006
  • Dan Hawkins departs53-11, 5 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Boise State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Mike Sanford2015 · Eliah Drinkwitz2016 · co-Zak Hill / co-Scott Huff2017–2018 · co-Zak Hill2019 · co-Eric Kiesau / co-Zak Hill2020 · Eric Kiesau2021–2022 · Tim Plough2023 · Bush Hamdan2024 · Dirk Koetter / co-Nate Potter2025 · co-Matt Miller / Nate Potter2026 · Nate Potter / co-Zak Hill
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Marcel Yates2016–2018 · Andy Avalos2019–2020 · co-Spencer Danielson / co-Jeff Schmedding2021–2023 · co-Kane Ioane / Spencer Danielson2024–2025 · Erik Chinander / co-Tyler Stockton2026 · Erik Chinander / co-Terrence Brown
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Blue Turf

since 1986

more

Albertsons Stadium's blue turf — installed in 1986, the first non-green turf in college football — is the program's permanent visual identity. Every flyover photograph confirms Boise State exists. Visiting teams cite the blue field as the most-disorienting first-quarter visual in CFB.

2007 Fiesta Bowl Statue of Liberty

since 2007

more

The Statue of Liberty 2-point conversion in overtime of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl vs Oklahoma — Ian Johnson, Vinny Perretta — is the most-replayed G5 trick play of the CFP era. The 43-42 OT win + the postgame proposal turned Boise State into a national-recognition program.

Smurf Turf Identity

since 1986

more

Bronco fans embrace the 'Smurf' label that opposing fans coined as a slur for the blue turf + small school + non-blueblood combination. The reclamation became permanent identity: 'be the smurf' is now affirmation, not insult.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 4-5

Most recent: 2025 — loss 38-10 (away). Last 5 postseason: 1-4.

20252024202320222019
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

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