November 25, 2025

Article By Nick Wade

Everything Boise State has fought to preserve this season now comes down to a single, cold afternoon in Logan, Utah. It is the kind of stage that defines November football in the Mountain West, the kind of moment where urgency collides with identity, and the kind of opponent whose very existence forces teams to earn every inch. Utah State is 6–5, 4–3 in the conference, undefeated at home, and guided by one of the sport’s sharpest defensive architects in Bronco Mendenhall. At 2 p.m. MT on CBS, the Broncos will walk into Maverik Stadium needing not just a win, but the kind of performance that withstands a top-25 offense, an elite dual-threat quarterback, and an energized opponent that sees this game as its own pathway to legitimacy.

For Boise State, the stakes are unmistakable. A win keeps the Mountain West Championship dream alive. A loss ends the chase on the final week of the season. It is that simple, and also that complicated, because the conference’s tiebreakers have turned the race into a labyrinth where every outcome beyond Saturday afternoon branches into further uncertainty. But clarity begins with one truth. Boise State must beat Utah State or nothing else matters.

The echoes of last week’s dominant win over Colorado State still hang in the background, but this matchup is built from tension rather than celebration. Where Colorado State fought to stay afloat, Utah State is surging toward its highest gear. Where Boise State controlled every phase at home, this game takes place on a field where the Aggies have not lost once all season. And where the Rams leaned on a hawk tuah quarterback, Utah State brings one of the most dangerous dual-threat players in the country in Bryson Barnes, whose blend of poise, balance, and reckless determination has made him the heartbeat of Mendenhall’s offense.

Barnes is everything Boise State must contain and everything the Broncos cannot allow to breathe. His passing line is sharp at 189 completions on 304 attempts for 2,502 yards with eighteen touchdowns and just four interceptions. But the problem extends well beyond his arm. Barnes has carried the ball 158 times for 644 yards and eight more touchdowns, running like someone who never expects the first defender to bring him down. His QBR of 61.8 only begins to describe his value. Utah State’s offense shifts fluidly through him, and collapsing his rhythm requires the kind of discipline that Boise State has shown in flashes but must now sustain for four quarters.

Containing him begins with the defensive line and extends to the boundary safeties, who will see a test unlike anything they’ve faced since early September. Barnes is at his most dangerous when he breaks contain and forces defenders to choose between attack angles. Boise State cannot afford to give him daylight. This is a game where edge responsibility becomes as vital as pass rush, where gap control matters more than raw pressure, and where every missed tackle risks becoming a twenty-yard scramble that drains momentum from the defense and energy from the sideline. Utah State thrives on extended drives and broken plays. Boise State must choke off both.

Mendenhall’s teams are always built from the same structure. They punish inefficiency. They live in preparation. And they force opponents to beat them in all three phases, something the Broncos have occasionally managed this year but have not always sustained. To walk into Logan and leave with the victory required to stay alive in the Mountain West race, Boise State must win offense, defense, and special teams without hesitation. Utah State’s special teams are clean, well-coordinated, and explosive enough to flip the field when given any crack of daylight. Boise State cannot afford mis-hits, shanked punts, blown assignments, or missed blocking lanes. A single special-teams error might become the spark that ignites an undefeated home crowd.

The offensive game plan must begin where Boise State has rediscovered its identity in recent weeks: running the football with force, layering play-action behind it, and distributing touches with versatility. Utah State plays predominantly out of a three-down front, which invites inside dive schemes that lean on power and patience. This becomes the domain of Sire Gaines, who has run with a surging confidence the past month and now stands at 700 yards on 134 carries with seven touchdowns and a long of forty-six. His decisiveness into stacked boxes gives the Broncos a chance to stay ahead of the chains, but he will need to be both punishing and efficient. If he forces Utah State to drop safeties into tighter support, Boise State gains leverage in the passing game and the second-level gaps begin to open.

Next comes the explosiveness of Dylan Riley, whose combination of speed, balance, and fluidity on the perimeter makes him the ideal complement against a three down front that often stretches horizontally to handle motion. Riley enters the game with 896 yards and nine touchdowns on 139 carries, highlighted by a seventy-seven-yard burst that served as one of the season’s defining offensive moments. His ability to sweep behind NFL prospect left tackle Kage Casey creates natural mismatches against backside flow and forces Utah State’s linebackers to chase rather than attack. That same concept works to the opposite side, where Riley’s acceleration gives him a chance to hit the edge before defensive ends can squeeze the lane. If Boise State finds success with Riley early, it will unlock the timing and spacing required for play-action concepts tailored for Max Cutforth.

Cutforth enters the matchup at fifty-four completions on ninety-one attempts for 516 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His efficiency has grown, his composure has sharpened, and his ability to work through progressions has developed as the offensive line has stabilized. But his most important trait heading into Logan will be his confidence. Play-action must become his ally, not a luxury. When the run game is working, windows will appear in the intermediate zones and down the hash marks. Cutforth must trust his arm, trust his receivers, and trust the timing that Boise State has spent months refining.

Coach Danielson stated this week that both Chris Marshall and Latrell Caples should be good to go in Logan.  Whether or not Chris Marshall is available remains uncertain, and that uncertainty changes how the Broncos attack vertically. Marshall’s season line of twenty-four catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns underscores his importance, but if he cannot go, the responsibility stretches toward Latrell Caples, Cam Bates, and the tight end group. Caples, also questionable, with 40 catches for 463 yards and three touchdowns, remains the emotional core of the passing game, especially after last week’s scary injury moment. His availability matters. His leadership matters. And his reliability on intermediate crossers and boundary timing routes could become a pivotal factor if this game tightens. If Trell is not available Cam Bates and Chase Penry will have to pick up the bulk of the load with support from tight ends Matt Wagner and Matt Lauter.

The passing attack must expand, but it must not detach from the run game. Boise State has succeeded most when balance drives tempo, and high tempo drives pressure. Against a Mendenhall defense that thrives in third-and-long disguises, staying on schedule is not just helpful; it is survival.

The defensive side of the ball will require resilience and communication at a level Boise State has not yet been forced to demonstrate this season. Utah State’s top-25 offense is not a product of empty numbers or inflated performances against inferior competition. It is intentional, dynamic, and relentless. Running back Miles Davis, a senior with 689 yards and seven touchdowns on 118 carries, provides nothing but consistent acceleration through the first level. His sixty-four-yard breakaway against New Mexico showed that even if defenses bottle him up early, he does not need more than one crease to tilt the field. Braden Pegan, the junior wideout with fifty-eight receptions for 898 yards and five touchdowns, is the kind of downfield threat who forces defensive backs to respect his speed on every snap. Four of his receptions this season have traveled more than fifty yards, turning safeties into chess pieces whose hesitations create weaknesses in underneath coverage.

Boise State’s defensive leaders will need to set the tone immediately. Buck Benefield enters with eighty-three tackles, two interceptions, and a forced fumble, showcasing not just his ability to hit but his instinct to diagnose. Zion Washington, with fifty-one tackles, two sacks, and an interception, brings the kind of boundary force that will be crucial against rollout concepts and QB draws. Jeremiah Earby’s fifty-one tackles, four interceptions, and half sack highlight his ball-hawking ability, which must be present in every one-on-one matchup with Pegan or Utah State’s secondary receivers. Jaden Mickey offers twenty-five tackles, one sack, and two forced fumbles, giving the Broncos a physical presence at nickel that Mendenhall’s offense must account for. Derek Ganter Jr.’s twenty-four tackles contribute to the rotation needed to stay fresh against a high-tempo unit.

In the trenches, Braxton Fely’s five sacks on just eighteen tackles illustrate how explosive he is shooting gaps, while Jayden Virgin-Morgan adds forty-six tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles, filling the role of disruptor with a consistency Boise State must rely on. Marco Notarainni’s sixty-two tackles and one-and-a-half sacks provide stability and leadership on interior gaps, and although A’Marion McCoy is out for the season after producing twenty-seven tackles, four interceptions, and two touchdowns, the depth of Demetrius Freeney and Sherrod Smith filling his absence must now elevate their play to match Utah State’s pace.

Every defensive snap will matter. Every pursuit angle must be precise. Every wrap-up must be secure. Barnes and Davis will punish hesitation, and Pegan will punish misjudgment. Utah State will test Boise State’s eyes pre-snap and endurance post-snap. The Broncos cannot win this game if they flinch.

The third phase, special teams, cannot be an afterthought. Utah State is too sound, too efficient, too disciplined for Boise State to overcome errors. Field position will matter. Execution on punts, kickoffs, returns, and coverage assignments will matter. The Broncos must avoid providing Utah State with short fields or momentum-shifting returns.

Because all of this—every matchup, every assignment, every detail—exists within the larger context of the Mountain West Championship race. The scenarios surrounding the title game have grown more tangled with each passing week, and the conference’s tiebreak system has made the final weekend as dramatic as the sport could demand. But the first and most important piece remains straightforward. Boise State must beat Utah State.

If SDSU defeats New Mexico, Boise State’s path becomes clean. The Broncos would be in the championship, traveling to San Diego in a game shaped by physicality and weather rather than composite analytics. Boise State owns head-to-head victories over both UNLV and New Mexico, meaning their win plus an SDSU victory instantly sets the matchup.

If SDSU loses, chaos erupts. A three-way or four-way tie becomes unavoidable. In that scenario, Boise State’s head-to-head wins are erased by the tiebreak process. The round-robin is skipped. The CFP rankings almost certainly remain unused. And everything turns to the Mountain West’s composite system: SP+, ESPN Strength of Record, KPI, and SportsSource analytics.

SDSU currently sits at an average of 42 across the three accessible rankings. UNLV sits at 46. Boise State at 52. New Mexico at 57. Movement becomes possible depending on margin of victory, margin of defeat, opponent strength, and field performance. There are worlds in which Boise State hosts. Worlds where Boise State travels. And worlds where Boise State is eliminated altogether despite beating Utah State. The stress of those outcomes would weigh on Bronco Nation long after the final whistle in Logan.

Which is why the simplest path, the cleanest path, the one that gives Boise State the best chance to extend its season, demands two things: beat Utah State and hope SDSU handles business. Only then do the complications dissolve, the hypotheticals vanish, and destiny return to clarity.

Until then, the challenge in Logan stands alone. It is a road game against a ranked offense, against a dangerous coaching mind, against a quarterback who can break a defense’s back, and against a team that has protected its home field with absolute confidence. Boise State must bring everything. They must run with purpose. They must pass with precision. They must tackle with fury. They must finish drives, absorb counterpunches, and refuse to give away possessions. They must expand the playbook when the matchup requires it, and they must remain patient when Utah State attempts to dictate pace.

This is the biggest game of Boise State’s season, and one of the most important of the past several years. A victory keeps the dream alive. A victory gives this roster a chance to fight for a title in its final Mountain West season. A victory continues a legacy that has spanned more than two decades. A victory is everything.

And it must be earned at 2 p.m. MT in a stadium where no visitor has won this year.

All or nothing. Logan awaits.