Everything You Need To Know: Boise State

By: Kris Wright |
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Matt Johns has 6 touchdown passes with 3 interceptions so far this season for UVa. ~ Mike Ingalls

The Virginia football team played two night games last season at Scott Stadium. Both produced big wins in the ACC. On Oct. 4, UVa faced Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m. and won 24-19. On Nov. 22, the Hoos hosted Miami at 7 p.m. and rolled 30-13. In fact, the Cavaliers are 5-2 in home night games under coach Mike London.

UVa is hoping for some more night magic this week when Boise State comes to town. The Hoos face the Broncos at 8 p.m. in the first Friday night game in Scott Stadium history.

This will be Virginia’s third game this month against a team ranked in the Associated Press preseason poll. The Cavaliers fell to preseason No. 13 UCLA and preseason No. 11 Notre Dame to open September. Boise appeared at No. 23 in that poll. UVa wraps up non-conference play with this game before a bye week precedes the start of ACC play.

“Well, competition is always good,” Cavalier coach Mike London said. “The level of competition has been something for us that has required us to make sure that we continue to raise our level of play. … Having had three games under our belt, getting ready to go into the fourth game, non-conference game, it’s an understanding and experience that we’ve had as a football team. Now we need to carry it over into winning a game against a really good football team, particularly here at home.”

With that in mind, here’s Everything You Need To Know.

Essentials

Game Nuggets

  • This is the first meeting between Virginia and Boise State. Friday night’s kickoff is the first-ever Friday night game at Scott Stadium. It is only the third all-time Friday game in stadium history and the first since 1994.
  • Like Notre Dame two weeks ago, Boise State is playing its first-ever game in the Commonwealth of Virginia. UVa hosted Idaho in 2011, the only previous time a team from the state played at Scott Stadium.
  • This is the second season for BSU coach Bryan Harsin, a former Bronco quarterback and assistant coach. He led the team to a 12-2 record in his debut season.
  • Since the start of the 2006 season, Boise State is 11-5 against schools from the Power 5 conferences. The Broncos have logged 17 straight winning seasons.
  • Both coaching staffs will take part in Coach to Cure MD, a nation-wide project designed to build awareness and funding to support researchers. The coaches will wear Cure MD patches during the game.

Spotlight On Boise State’s Shane Williams-Rhodes

Virginia has allowed six touchdowns of at least 24 yards so far this season and four of those scores have come on passes to wide receivers (UCLA’s Thomas Duarte-30 yards, Notre Dame’s Will Fuller-59/39 yards, William & Mary’s DeVonte Dedmon-41 yards). Enter Boise State’s Shane Williams-Rhodes.

Williams-Rhodes enters this week’s game as the leading receiver for Boise State and the Mountain West Conference as a whole with 18 catches. He has 18 receptions for 173 yards. The two-time honorable mention All-Mountain West receiver has 188 career receptions, the fifth most in program history. He’s two catches away from fourth place. He has 13 career touchdown catches. Two weeks ago at BYU, the senior recorded his fifth career game with 10-plus receptions when he grabbed 11 passes for 107 yards.

The Broncos also use the 5’6″, 173-pound wideout in the running game from time to time, giving him 48 carries in his career. Between jet sweeps, reverses, and bubble screens, the idea a lot of the time is to get the ball in his hands quickly with him already on the move. Boise State has also used Williams-Rhodes at least once in one of its famed trick plays (click here to see it). Keep an eye on the slot wheel route in particular because it is a play that could give Virginia’s corners trouble with its double move flavor.

Williams-Rhodes has worked hard on increasing his role to all those facets after being mainly a screen and punt return threat earlier in his career.

“After my sophomore year, after catching all those bubbles,” Williams-Rhodes told the Idaho Statesman in the preseason, “I said I wanted to become a more complete receiver. And I feel like last year we did that. And this year, I just want to complete the task.”

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Maurice Canady and the secondary will face several receiving threats when Boise State comes to town. ~ Mike Ingalls

Matchups To Watch

Boise State’s offensive line vs. Virginia’s defensive line and linebackers. It’s been a weekly occurrence so far this season and it isn’t changing this week as another experienced offensive line takes on the UVa front seven. Entering this season, Boise State’s returning linemen had a combined 95 career starts, which tied for 15th most in the country per Phil Steele. Everyone up front has had the benefit of a redshirt year, led by redshirt seniors Marcus Henry and Reese Odhiambo. Henry earned first-team All-Mountain West honors at center in 2014, while Odhiambo took second-team honors at left tackle. The Broncos haven’t run the ball as well as they expected against FBS teams, including just 72 yards against BYU. Virginia has struggled with run defense, however, so this battle up front is a big one.

Virginia tight end Charlie Hopkins vs. Boise State nickel back Chanceller James. This one probably seems a little odd considering that Hopkins has two catches in three games. Against the Broncos’ hybrid scheme (4-2-5, 3-3-5 looks with a safety in the box a lot and roams), however, there will be opportunities to use the tight ends in the seams and on bootleg plays. James is the biggest defensive back on the depth chart at 6’2″ and 216 pounds so someone like Hopkins at 6’6″/255 (or any of Canaan Severin, Keeon Johnson, and Evan Butts too for that matter) could have a useful size advantage in this one.

Virginia quarterback Matt Johns vs. Boise State defensive backs Donte Deayon and Darian Thompson. Johns enters this week’s game with 6 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions (14 and 8 for his career) and he’s done a good job of protecting the ball so far this season. He’ll be tested by the Broncos, though. Deayon and Thompson have combined for 30 career interceptions and they have 3 already this season. Boise State tied for fifth nationally with 22 interceptions in 2014, which included 5 of the pick-6 variety. Johns trusts Canaan Severin to make plays, but he’ll need to be careful with jump balls or forced throws this week.

Boise State receiver Thomas Sperbeck vs. Virginia defensive backs Tim Harris, Demetrious Nicholson, and Maurice Canady. The spotlight above focused on Shane Williams-Rhodes, but Sperbeck is dangerous too. He led the team with 877 yards last season on 51 catches, but he didn’t have a catch until the fifth game of the season when then-starter Matt Miller was injured. He has 12 catches for 140 yards and has thrown a pass too this season. Sperbeck was the Fiesta Bowl MVP on offense with 12 receptions for 199 yards in that game. Harris, Nicholson, and Canady each have been beaten on deep-ball touchdowns this season and Sperbeck could be a target downfield.

Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols vs. Virginia linebacker Micah Kiser. McNichols has logged 54 carries for 204 yards and he has an FBS-leading 7 rushing touchdowns (8 total) this season. The Broncos like to punch it in with the running back if they get near the end zone – last season, Jay Ajayi had 28 rushing touchdowns as well. McNichols is a threat in the spread option attack and maybe more so with quarterback Thomas Stuart in this week as a skilled runner in place of injured Ryan Finley. Kiser is coming off a game with a career-high 15 tackles but he’ll need to be active and getting off blocks to help slow down the read option.

Kris’ Keys

1. Turnover margin. The defense has no take-aways this season, while Boise State has 4 interceptions. The Broncos thrived on picks last season too. If Virginia is going to win a big game, it must take care of the football.

2. Set the edge and make the quarterback keep it. The Cavaliers are struggling with their run defense. UVa has allowed 183.33 rushing yards per game, which is ranked 86th nationally. The issues are varied from gap assignments to shedding blocks to tackling, but one area that has to improve against Boise is “setting the edge” and turning plays back inside to the pursuit. With jet sweeps, read option, and bubble screens on the menu, protecting the outside edges and turning the play to the pursuit will be a huge part of this one. When it comes to read option, make Tommy Stuart keep the ball and then execute against his carries to keep some touches away from Jeremy McNichols.

3. Move the pocket and point of attack. Led by hybrid end-linebacker Kamalei Correa (12 sacks in 2014) and an experienced front seven overall, the Broncos are tough on defense. They rank No. 2 nationally in run defense and No. 21 in total defense. Boise has 21 tackles for loss with 7 sacks already this season too. This is not a team you go right at and succeed very often. Use Matt Johns’ mobility to your advantage and move the passing zones. Use the versatility of Taquan Mizzell and T.J. Thorpe to attack from different angles on sweeps or screens too. UVa must keep Boise State off balance in its pursuit.

The Pick

Virginia can win if … Matt Johns spreads the wealth. Virginia has a lot of capable targets in the passing game and T.J. Thorpe is expected to rejoin the fray this week too. While Canaan Severin and Taquan Mizzell have been the leading targets through three games, it’s important not to force throws against this defense. Take what’s there and use all the weapons to sustain drives. Do that and cash in with touchdowns? It could lead to a win.

Virginia can lose if … it can’t stop the run. I’ve been hammering this point home all week in articles and radio interviews, but Jon Tenuta’s high-pressure scheme requires stopping the run first in order to set up advantageous pass-rush situations for the defense. So far, the Hoos aren’t getting the job done against the run and that’s had a trickle-down effect on the pass rush, take-aways, and the overall defense. If Boise State gets its spread attack going with good runs, it could be a long night for the defense and the Hoos.

And the winner is … Virginia. Mike London’s teams are 5-2 in home night games and first-time starting quarterbacks (either Tommy Stuart or Brett Rypien will be in this spot for the first time) often struggle on the road too. This feels like one of those early-season wins against teams like BYU and Louisville that London’s UVa teams have pulled off during his tenure. Hoos 27, Broncos 24. 2015 record to date: 3-0.