Boise State Roster Countdown 2021: Day 30, Isaiah Bagnah

30 days until kickoff...that has all the hallmarks of a MONTH. With just 30 days left, today we’ll look at #30 on the Boise State roster—Isaiah Bagnah

#30, Isaiah Bagnah, RS Sophomore, EDGE

Stats

Height: 6’ 4”

Weight: 236 lbs (-4)

High School: Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

How’d he get to The Blue^TM?

I can only assume he’s here because he was the most ferocious Canadian in the land. He was a three-star recruit for 247Sports and the no. 1 rated recruit in Alberta. He had a lot of interest from P5 schools but only a handful of offers (their loss, obvs). UCONN, UMASS, Old Dominion, Tulane, and Yale (he’s wicked smaht!!) were the other offers.

Also: he went to the same high school as former Bronco (and beer-chuggng enthusiast) Jon Gott. He’s also got other Canadians-shoes to follow in Mike ‘Bacon’ Atkinson, and Tyrone Crawford. This dude is destined for greatness.

Nickname

”Bags”

Again, I know this flies in the face of the actual pronunciation “Ban-Yah”, but I DON’T CARE

Look-alike

Dirty Bird era Jamal Anderson

Career highlights

6 appearances and 2 starts in 2020. Made a couple of non-redshirt-burning appearances in 2019. Three-year starter for his old high school. Was named to the All-Canada First team and South Alberta High School League All-star as a junior. named first-team All-Canada and first-team All Provincial as a senior. Played shooty-hoops, and ran track & field.

2021 Prospectus

Demitri Washington was supposed to be the heir-apparent to Curtis Weaver once CW moved on to the NFL, but an early injury last season put a “hold that thought” on Washington, so in his stead the Broncos got a big year from JuCo transfer Shane Irwin, who racked up six sacks in 7 games en route to a second-team All-MWC appearance. This year, with a healthy Washington (hopefully), Irwin, and now youngbloods like Bagnah, James Wilborn, and Gabe Hunter in the mix—along with Oregon transfer Andrew Faoliu—the pass rush should take the next step.

Will we have as dynamic a pass rusher as Curtis Weaver? Probably not...I mean, the dude set the MWC sack record in just 3 seasons, but I like the look of the youngsters and think Bagnah especially could take a big step this year if healthy. Last season, Isaiah made 2 starts and appeared in all but one game for the Broncos, so he’s got a bit of that all-important experience under his belt and may help guide some of the even younger Broncos to an impactful rotation. Believe it or not, Bagnah was second on the team in sacks last season with 3, and I think could double that number fairly easily if he’s good to go in all the contests (Bagnah sat out spring ball with a hamstring injury). If guys like Dylan Herberg and Casey Kline can also take the next step, I like our ability to seal the edges and get after the QB with how stout our interior D-line is shaping up to be.

Is he on Twitter?

Yes, and waxing philosophical to boot

Completely made up fact

It’s lazy to come up with completely made up facts that rely on Canadian stereotypes. After all, it’s a lovely country filled with folks that aren’t too dissimilar to their American counterparts. Sure, they eat Ketchup flavored potato chips and travel in kilometers, but does that mean that kids there collect Mountie trading cards?! Yes, they do...and Isaiah has a commissioner Brenda Lucki rookie card in MINT condition.