Hawaii: A Litmus Test For Boise State Football?
A near record crowd is expected for Saturdays Boise State football home coming game against Hawaii, however many in the expected record crowd still aren't sure what to expect from Boise State.
The 14th ranked Broncos are off to a 5-0 start thanks to their come from behind win over Florida State opening weekend. Since then wins over Marshall, Portland State, UNLV were expected but each win was followed by new questions concerning just how solid is the 2019 Boise State football team.
No I didn't forget the win over Air Force, it's just that the Falcons are such an anomaly it's hard to judge performances from that game at any level, except to say any win over Air Force is a good win because the Falcons present so many problems.
Meantime, Wyoming, which barely held on to beat Idaho, dumped 53 points on UNLV while Boise State struggled to even run the football, needing big plays to finally pull away.
BSU beat Portland State 45-10, Idaho State topped the Vikings 54-21. Boise State would be favored by 31 vs. the Bengals, a margin, or better yet, respect at this point the Broncos haven't earned on the playing field.
Hawaii will test of of that Saturday night. The Rainbow Warriors come to town averaging 37 points per game, they've beaten two Pac 12 teams and crushed Nevada in Reno 54-3.
Still, Hawaii is 0-6 in Boise and just 3-12 all time vs. the Broncos, yet according to Boise State coaches this Hawaii team is the best team Boise State has faced all year.
It may be the series history speaking but as of today Boise State is favored by 13 and a half points. I don't feel the margin has been earned as of yet.
Hawaii will present the Broncos with a serious litmus test, a chance to show the improvement lacked following a bye week and less than impressive performance against a UNLV squad led by a back up quarterback.
As BSU head coach Bryan Harsin recently said, wins are like deodorant, covering up the stink. There's no doubt Boise State is full of talent and Hawaii tomorrow on the Blue would be the perfect time for that talent to shine. Remember, BYU lurks one week from Saturday in Provo.
Tonight in Mountain West action Colorado State is at New Mexico. Tomorrow: San Jose State is at Nevada, Fresno State at Air Force and Wyoming at San Diego State.