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BOISE — It has defeated two teams out of the Pac-12 Conference to start the season. It is averaging 38 points per game and it is outrushing its opponents by 112 yards per game. And now it is back in the national polls. Boise State came in at No. 24 in this week's AP poll after thumping Oregon State 38-24 in Corvallis this past Saturday.
Tailback Jeremy McNichols had a career day by rushing for 208 yards and scoring four touchdowns. The Broncos amassed 435 yards of total offense in the first half alone.
Boise State is 3-0 for the first time since 2011, and Utah State represents its first conference game. The Broncos were picked to win the Mountain Division and might have a little redemption on their minds when they face the Aggies on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium. Utah State forced eight turnovers in the 2015 contest that saw the Aggies thump the Broncos to the tune of 52-26. That loss snapped a 12-game winning streak that Boise State had going against Utah State. The Broncos are no strangers to getting redemption though. Only two opponents have notched back-to-back wins over Boise State since 2001. San Diego State did it in 2012-13 and Air Force accomplished that in 2014-15.
Brett Rypien leads the Bronco offense that has been on fire since the season began. The sophomore out of Spokane, Washington, is averaging 287 yards per game through the air and has thrown four touchdown passes on the season. One of his favorite targets is senior Thomas Sperbeck, who has 19 receptions, 367 yards and two touchdowns so far in 2016 after earning All-Mountain West First Team honors in 2015. Sperbeck is averaging 122.3 receiving yards per game.
And there is McNichols. The 5-foot-9 junior from Long Beach, California, is a wrecking ball. He is third in the country in touchdowns with nine and is fifth in the country with 182 all-purpose yards per game. McNichols knows how to get into the end zone as he scored 26 touchdowns in 2015 that helped him earn All-Mountain West Second Team honors.
The offense is just one part of the equation that the Aggies have to worry about. The other is that the Boise State defense hasn't allowed 100 rushing yards in the 2016 campaign. In the last four games for the Bronco defense dating back to the 2015 Poinsettia Bowl, opponents are averaging just 53 yards per game. The Broncos like to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks and lead the nation with 4.33 sacks per game. They have recorded 13 total sacks over the first three games. This is a pretty remarkable stat considering that Boise State lost its entire defensive line to graduation or the NFL draft. However, Sam McCaskill, David Moa, Elliot Hoyte, Jabril Frazier and Gabe Perez have been up to the task and allow just 72.3 rushing yards per game.
With it being the conference opener for Boise State and playing on the blue turf, it will be a tall order for Utah State to go in and knock off the Broncos for a second straight year. Rypien, McNichols, Sperbeck and company are off to a fast start, and it should continue on Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. at Albertsons Stadium.
Kyle McDonald is a sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs and the Utah Valley University Wolverines. He is a communication major at UVU and will graduate in the spring of 2017. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias
