Fresno State Bulldogs at Boise State Broncos: TV info, odds, and finding a perfect fit

Boise State did not get off to a great start this season and had its starting quarterback hit the transfer portal after a Week 4 loss at Texas-El Paso, which is similar but nowhere near as bad as losing at, say, UConn.

But with quarterback Taylen Green now apparently entrenched as the starter, Boise State last week seemed to figure out what it does best offensively in a 35-13 victory over San Diego State. The Broncos in the second half rushed the football on 31 of their 35 plays, rolling up 273 yards at 8.8 yards a pop and all five touchdowns.

On the stat sheet it might look like something from a different era or a service academy, but it proved an effective way to get through a game against a program that has been known for its defense, and the Broncos are likely to stick with what is working after such a sluggish start.

Green, who is 6-foot-6, very fast and a tough player to get on the ground, accounted for 104 rushing yards in the second half on just seven plays, breaking off chunks of 17, 12, 39 and 12 yards with one of those five scores.

And, with the quarterback in the run game, it only opened up the Broncos’ offense.

Running back George Holani had 40 yards on eight plays in the first half, with 20 coming on one play. But in the second, he had 91 yards and touchdown runs of 12 and 29 yards on just nine plays.

Ashton Jeanty had 9 yards on three plays in the first half, and 73 and a 32-yard touchdown on nine in the second.

“He’s very athletic, big guy, 6-foot-6, but he can really run,” coach Jeff Tedford said of Green. “But it’s not just them. It’s the other guys carrying the ball and the offensive line did an excellent job. They’re tough to slow down when you have to be alert for all those different facets of the run game, when you include the quarterback run, as well.”

But throwing the football, that’s just not a strength. Green has completed 63.2% of his passes, but is averaging just 5.3 yards per attempt and has thrown two interceptions without a touchdown pass.

On passes 10 or more yards down field this season he is 3 of 11, 27.3%.

Against San Diego State, it didn’t matter.

Against Fresno State, it might not matter.

The Bulldogs at one point not all that long ago excelled at taking away the strong side of dual-threat quarterbacks. It was described as making the other team play left-handed. But Fresno State has not had to face a steady diet of run-pass options and designed quarterback runs, and dealing with injuries in the defensive side of the football it could have difficulty trying to limit Green in the run game and turn him into a pocket passer.

Stopping the run has not been a strength to begin with. The Bulldogs have allowed 25 runs of 10 or more yards in their four games and have 24.0 tackles for loss, and are ninth in the Mountain West Conference in rushing defense with a game in there against FCS Cal Poly.

The Mustangs are ranked ninth in the Big Sky Conference in rushing.

THE GAME

FRESNO STATE at BOISE STATE

When: Saturday, 6:45 p.m.

Where: Albertson’s Stadium, Boise

TV: FS1 (Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis)

• Find it fast: Channels 652 and 1652 on AT&T Uverse, 35, 408, 731 and 1208 on Comcast, 219 on DirecTV, 150 on Dish Network.

Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)

• Find it fast: 1400 AM in Visalia/Tulare; 1340 AM in Fresno; 1280 AM in Stockton; 970 AM in Bakersfield; 92.9 FM in Modesto; 96.7 FM in Fresno

The records: Bulldogs (1-3, 0-0 in MW), Boise State (3-2, 2-0)

The series: Boise State leads 16-7

Last meeting: Boise State won 40-14 in 2021

The line: Boise State -7

NOISE ABATEMENT

Fresno State practices in the mornings, and when playing on the road will play crowd noise during team practice periods to help prepare its offense for what could be a raucous environment.

It might be irritating to the neighbors, but the Bulldogs might want to crank up the volume this week.

Boise State has played home games against Tennessee-Martin and San Diego State and between them they have been called for 12 false start penalties and two delay of game penalties.

That’s five and one for the Skyhawks, seven and one for the Aztecs.

Fresno State has cleaned up that part of its game the past two weeks, but against Oregon State the Bulldogs were called for a false start five times and that game was played on their home field.