Boise State can’t afford another game of ‘momentum’ at Oregon. What needs to improve

Boise State already knew it had a challenge on its hands in Week 2 of the 2024 football season. A road matchup against No. 3 Oregon has loomed large for most of the preseason.

The Broncos were adamant throughout fall camp that they weren’t looking ahead at the Oregon matchup, instead focusing on the season opener at Georgia Southern — a game Boise State won 56-45 for its first 1-0 start since 2020.

But with the opener having come and gone, there’s no ignoring the Ducks now, and they’ll welcome the Broncos to Eugene on Saturday with a point to prove.

Oregon opened its season with a less-than-convincing win against FCS opponent Idaho. The Ducks defeated the Vandals 24-14, with 10 of Oregon’s points coming in the fourth quarter.

That means Oregon, led by sixth-year transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel, will go into Saturday’s game with a chip on its shoulder. That may spell trouble for a Boise State defense that gave up 45 points and 461 yards of offense to a Georgia Southern team that finished 3-5 in the Sun Belt Conference last season.

Oregon opened the week as 20-point favorites.

“Oregon’s got a lot of stuff on film from the last year,” Boise State defensive coordinator Erik Chinander told the media on Monday.

“They have a lot of stuff that they didn’t do in that game, that they haven’t done, but there’s a lot of stuff to get ready for,” he continued. “We’ve got to get better at what we do. We’ve got to get ready for formations, the shifts, the movers and the different plays.”

Oregon’s woes against Idaho came from an inability to create explosive plays, and Idaho’s ability to stop the interior run game. The Vandals put a lot of pressure on Gabriel, sacking him three times and forcing him to scramble often.

Boise State did a good job of stopping big types of plays against Georgia Southern for about a third of the game, before things began to unravel.

After the Boise State defense held Georgia Southern to just nine points — a touchdown and a field goal — through its first six drives, the Eagles then scored a touchdown on four straight drives.

Chinander and head coach Spencer Danielson put the reasoning for Georgia Southern’s midgame resurgence down to momentum.

“There were times that when momentum started to shift, we executed and were able to get momentum back to stay in the fight and keep swinging,” Danielson said. “There were times that we didn’t, and that’s the learning point for me with our team.”

Boise State ultimately got the momentum back — the Broncos scored a touchdown on four straight drives to close out the game. But it won’t be that easy against one of the top teams in the country.

What needs to be improved ahead of Oregon?

Danielson said he knows what the Broncos need to do better heading into Oregon: getting the defense off the field on third down, winning one-on-ones and capitalizing on turnover opportunities.

The Boise State defense forced Georgia Southern into 19 third downs, but the Eagles converted on 12. The Broncos’ defense was on the field for 85 snaps compared to the offense’s 66.

Boise State also forced four fumbles but recovered only one, when sixth-year safety Alexander Teubner fell on a fumble forced by senior cornerback A’Marion McCoy in the first quarter.

“It’s doing the simple things better than anybody else,” Chinander said. “And part of those things is maybe we need to rotate guys a little bit better. Maybe we let them play too many reps down there in the heat. So a lot of things are correctable from the coaching staff and the players.”

If there’s one thing that is working in the Broncos’ favor, they’re coming up against a quarterback with whom the program is familiar.

Ducks quarterback Gabriel spent his first three collegiate years at UCF before transferring to Oklahoma for two seasons. This is his first season with Oregon. Boise State played Gabriel in the 2021 opener at UCF, a game the Knights rallied to win 36-31, with Gabriel throwing for 318 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Chinander said Monday that he recruited Gabriel in high school.

But he’s a different player now. Gabriel enters 2024 tied for fourth in total career touchdowns (152) and seventh in total yards (15,925) in NCAA record books. Against Idaho, he was 41-for-49 for 380 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s a dual-threat quarterback. You’re going to have to have a lot of different mechanisms to get him confused because he’s seen a lot of football,” Chinander said. “But pressure and confusing those quarterbacks, even if you can delay him for a split second.

“I feel like they have a really good offensive line; we have a really good pass rush, so that should be a good battle up front. But we have to find ways to get some pressure on him and confuse him in the coverage a little bit.”