Boise State wants its special teams ‘to take a big step.’ Starters could be the answer

Three games into Boise State football’s 2024 season, it’s been a bit of a surprise to find the special teams unit has faced some struggles.

It would be unfair to say the unit has been bad, but it’s certainly not been smooth sailing or up to the standards expected by the coaches and players.

Two special teams gaffes led to 14 of then-No. 7 Oregon’s 37 points in a 37-34 loss to the Ducks. In part because of those mistakes — an 85-yard kickoff return and a 100-yard punt return — the Broncos rank 127th out of 133 FBS-level schools in kickoff return defense and dead last in punt return defense.

Then there’s the Broncos’ typically lights-out Australian punter James-Ferguson Reynolds. The junior led the nation last season in punting average, but he had a shanked punt for 13 yards against Portland State last week, and later in the game he fumbled a snap — which led to a remarkable recovery that saw him scramble and get away a kick with his left foot.

Boise State coach Spencer Danielson put it plainly ahead of the Broncos’ potentially season-defining matchup against undefeated Washington State on Saturday: “We need to take a big step in special teams this week.”

It’s not just the coaching staff working to correct problems. Veteran players are stepping up and offering to play a role.

One of those players was redshirt junior linebacker Marco Notarainni.

Notarainni started on the kickoff team for Boise State against Portland State and recorded three special teams tackles. He wasn’t the only starter to play with the units, which often consist of players who don’t start on offense or defense.

“It really just comes from a place of caring for the team,” Notarainni said earlier this week. “I’m not the only one who did it; there are plenty of guys on the defense, plenty of guys in the leadership group, that stepped up and said, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ Nobody’s ever bigger than special teams.”

Notarainni wasn’t too sure why he was selected specifically to assist, but special teams coach Stacy Collins is also Notarainni’s linebackers coach.

But Collins had a better reason.

“Marco’s had a history of playing well on kickoff,” Collins said Thursday. “And so, as we look at schematics, I like how he matched with their scheme last week. In typical Marco fashion, he just goes out, shows up and gets the job done.”

Collins isn’t too concerned about Ferguson-Reynolds’ issues last weekend, either.

Especially in that world of football specialists, it’s, “What’s the next kick? What’s the next punt?” Collins said. “And that’s what we’ve really focused on, right there. And he’s had a great week of practice. … I know he’s in a good head space.”

Collins said the special teams unit has improved each week overall and has looked good in practice.

The Broncos tried a couple of squib kicks and different kickoff schemes against Portland State, and it could be something to keep an eye on against the Cougars. Collins said the idea is to keep opposing teams guessing.

“The more we can keep people off-balance, change and make them have to work a little bit, make them field different kicks, is part of the issue,” Collins said. “If you can’t kick the ball out every time, how do we change the picture a little bit?”

Boise State vs. Washington State

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Albertsons Stadium (36,363, Turf)

TV: Fox Sports 1 (Dan Hellie, Petros Papadakis)

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 160 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 2-1; Washington State 4-0

Series: Washington State leads the series 5-1

Vegas line: Boise State by 6.5 points

Weather: High of 92 degrees, low of 58 degrees, humidity 32%, few clouds, 0% chance of rain