Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 4, 2025 37 GAME PREVIEW: BOISE STATE BY JACK SOBLE BOISE STATE RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE The lazy analysis is, "Boise State is no longer good because it lost Ashton Jeanty." The Jeanty-less Broncos are less dangerous, of course, but the run game is far from their biggest issue. It was an issue in Week 1 against South Florida, to whom the Broncos lost 34-7 in a stunning upset by a then- unranked team. They rushed 38 times for 122 yards that night, splitting carries among three backs: sixth-year senior Malik Sherrod (11), redshirt freshman Sire Gaines (9) and sophomore Dylan Riley (7). Since then, they seem to have found something with Riley, who en- tered Week 5 averaging 9.8 yards per carry and 7.91 yards after contact. The Broncos are at their best when they run off left tackle, where redshirt ju- nior Kage Casey is one of the best in col- lege football. He has the second-highest Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade in the country among qualified offensive tackles at 89.2. Boise State brought back Casey and three others who played 200- plus snaps on the line that helped Jeanty rush for 2,601 yards last year. However, everything has to be ad- justed for opponents. The Broncos faced FCS Eastern Washington and Air Force (who went 5-7 last year) after USF, so it remains to be seen if they can run on a quality defense. That's not Notre Dame right now, but the Irish have actually de- fended the run relatively well this year. Notre Dame is 44th in the country in opponent yards per attempt, which is im- pressive given that Miami and Texas A&M are excellent rushing teams and the Irish don't have sack yardage as a thumb on the scale like most teams do. Most recently, Notre Dame held Purdue to just 76 yards on 28 carries (2.7 yards per attempt). We should also note that the Broncos have a fumbling problem. They coughed up the football 7 times through their first three games (T-122nd in the coun- try), and three of them wound up in the hands of their opponent. Advantage: Notre Dame BOISE STATE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Boise State has a returning starter at quarterback in Maddux Madsen, who certainly has some positive traits. Most notably, he has only been sacked once for 5 yards all season. That's a credit to the Broncos' offensive line, which has allowed pressure on fewer than 30 of Madsen's dropbacks, but his pressure- to-sack rate (6.3) is ninth among 103 qualified quarterbacks in college football. As a 5-foot-10 signal-caller who doesn't provide much of a rushing threat, though, Madsen has a limited ceiling. He's at his best when he can play the "point guard" quarterback role; i.e., getting the ball out quickly and let- ting the Broncos' playmakers do their job. He's an accurate downfield passer when given time and open receivers, but USF learned that if you can limit the quick game, you can limit Madsen. He averaged just 4.9 yards per attempt on 46 passes against the Bulls, and though that number has climbed to 8.5 since then, you have to account for the opponents. Boise State does distribute the ball relatively evenly among its top three wide receivers — redshirt junior Chris Marshall, sixth-year senior Latrell Ca- ples and redshirt senior Ben Ford — and redshirt senior tight end Matt Lauter. That's good news against a Notre Dame pass defense whose No. 1 cornerback, ju- nior Leonard Moore, is the only thing it has going for it right now. And Moore is dealing with an ankle injury, too. The Irish have struggled to cover (112th in Pro Football Focus coverage grade) and rush the passer (T-106th in sacks per game). Moore and redshirt senior nickel back DeVonta Smith's injuries have hurt, in large part because their backups are true freshmen. But that's not an excuse for much-maligned Notre Dame defen- sive coordinator Chris Ash, who has not taken long to torpedo everything ex-Irish DC Al Golden built. Frankly, it's difficult to give Notre Dame's pass defense the advantage over anybody until further notice. Advantage: Boise State NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. BOISE STATE RUN DEFENSE To say tackling was a problem for Boise State against South Florida would be a grave understatement. The Bron- cos were credited with 17 missed tackles On PaPer Redshirt junior Kage Casey earned the second-highest Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade in the country among qualified offensive tackles at 89.2 through Week 4. PHOTO COURTESY BOISE STATE ATHLETICS