clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Predict the Score for Boise State vs University of Washington

By Damien Alambra
Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

Hey!

Guess what guys?

It is that time of year (week?) where we throw out crazy score predictions and hope to get them right! This year Drew is going to be adding something special to the pot. He was able to be super awesome and procure a $10 gift card to the Blue and Orange Store for correctly (for the most part) predicting the score.

So, please, leave a comment with what you think the score will be. In the event of a tie, we will also include three tie-breaking questions. Leave those predictions in your comment as well. The first tie-breaking question to work will be the one we go with. (So if the first question breaks the tie, we are done and award as such.)

Closest to the actual score wins the gift card not against the spread. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. so be sure to leave your comments (and share this with as many people as possible) and hope for the best! Good luck to all the predictions!

Tie-breakers

  1. How many tackles will Tanner Vallejo have?
  2. How many catches will Chaz Anderson AND Jeremy McNichols have COMBINED?
  3. How far will Tyler Rausa's longest kickoff be?
Because I couldn't justify writing a whole new post I wanted to share a few of my thoughts regarding the -11.5 favorite for Boise State. To reiterate: the predict the score winner is straight up, not against the spread.

  • Regarding the -11.5 favorite for Boise State.

While I do take Boise State to win, the -11.5 spread is a stretch for a team that needs to replace Jay Ajayi and Grant Hedrick.

Finley has a strong arm, good vision, and was making good decisions in camp. Being in his third year at Boise State, second under Harsin, he has at least taken some snaps on the collegiate level. Unlike his likely counterpart Browning.

McNichols has gained quite a bit of weight this year to take the pounding of a feature back. His ability to play both RB and WR bodes well for the versatility of the offense and confuse the green UW defense. The Boise State RB corp will, most likely, be by committee, unlike last year. Having the Stanford transfer in Kelsey Young, who has a Rose Bowl touchdown, will be an insurance policy in case McNichols struggles.

The Boise State offense still has to face a UW team that is going to be well-coached and has a staff that will know a lot about this Boise State team. Not only athletically, but schematically. The Boise State offense will have the ability to score, but they still will be going up against the most talented team on their schedule, and while experience on the o-line will help Boise State against a UW defense replacing a front seven, they still will have their hands full.

The defense will be solid returning, basically, everyone from the Fiesta Bowl. The d-line will be deeper with a possible 12-man rotation. Darian Thompson and Donte Deayon are both on the preseason All-MWC team and are on several different award watches. If Anu Solomon, and a solid Arizona team, cannot overcome jitters, big game hype, and semi-homefield advantage, I find it hard to imagine UW being able to do so AT Boise State.

While I have great faith in the defense and their ability to be, in general, deep it is the offense that could struggle until they hit their stride.

24-14 Boise State.

Good luck guys, and GO BRONCOS!!!