No. 25 Boise State appears to have a clear path to the College Football Playoff — as long as it can take care of business.
The Broncos will try to take another step toward the playoff on Saturday when they travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for a Pac-12 Conference matchup with Colorado State.
“Everything that came maybe easy in-season is really hard now — meetings, practice, a little cold outside,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “You have to be your best now and it’s hard. That’s why you’re going to see the college football landscape in the next month drastically shift and change, and the best teams will continue to grow.”
Boise State (7-1, 4-0) stayed unbeaten in the conference last week with a wild 46-45 home win over Texas State. The Broncos trailed 39-28 before backup quarterback Max Cutforth fired three touchdown passes in just over 3 1/2 minutes, the last with 2:40 remaining to Akeem Wright to complete the comeback.
Cutforth could get a chance to start this week if Maddux Madsen isn’t fully recovered from a left knee injury he suffered in the fourth quarter against Texas State. Madsen has completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,681 yards with 15 touchdowns and just one interception.
Danielson doesn’t believe the offense will change much if Cutforth is the starter.
“They both have strengths and weaknesses different from each other,” Danielson said. “But schematically, it’s been our goal to have Max be able to go out and do all the things we need to do in order to execute the game plan.”
Boise State boasts one of the nation’s most balanced offenses, averaging 222.8 yards on the ground and 226.5 yards in the air.
Meanwhile, Colorado State (3-5, 1-3) has hit the skids after a promising start, dropping five of the last six games. That includes last week’s 31-14 setback at Utah State, where its normally potent offense was held to a season-low point output and gained only 263 yards.
The Rams have been good offensively but dreadful defensively. They are scoring 35.5 points per game and are gaining 435.5 yards per game but boast FBS-worst marks in total defense (526.4 yards per game), scoring defense (42.4 ppg) and rushing yardage (261.1 yards per game).
First-year coach Jim Mora Jr. knows his team is in for a challenge trying to not only stop the Broncos’ passing attack but also a running game led by Dylan Riley. He’s rushed for an FBS-best 1,049 yards and scored 10 total touchdowns (nine rushing, one receiving).
“He’s one of the best players in the country, one of the best running backs in the country,” Mora said. “Huge challenge this week against Boise State. They do things well. They run the ball well, they stop the ball well. It’ll be a great opportunity for us to bounce back.”
Colorado State’s one chance of pulling off an upset is for quarterback Hauss Hejny to enjoy a big game. Hejny has 14 touchdown passes and two interceptions but missed time earlier this year with an injury.
Last week, Hejny completed 19 of 30 attempts for 186 yards with a score.