Like these majestic mornings, sunrise on the 2023 season for the Boise State Broncos football team arrives with beautiful expectations this Saturday (9/2).
A semi-familiar foe will be across the field in the form of the AP 10th-ranked Washington Huskies. The last meeting between the teams was a 38-7 win in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl; a game that marked the final game for Washington head coach Chris Petersen, who led both programs to great heights over the years.
Many of the faces have changed since, but the two programs carry the same hopes and aspirations that buoyed them in previous seasons. For one team, it's a last hurrah in the Pac-12, with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback and goals of a spot in the College Football Playoff.
And for Boise State, it's a schedule, on paper, that places the team in prime position to return to a major bowl game (or, in the dream scenario, cracking the top four with a perfect season, though, being unranked to begin play puts them behind the eight ball in many ways).
To find those successes, and a Mountain West title to boot, the Broncos will look to overcome the ghosts of recent seasons floating in the air.
Boise State Broncos: Glory on the horizon?
A superficial view might indicate more gray skies than not since the 2014 Fiesta Bowl victory. That's what happens when expectations soared sky-high thanks to multiple memorable achievements and players between 2006 and 2014. A dominant run where so much good happened, building on a foundation and growing to the respected program BSU is today.
As the Andy Avalos era begins season three, hope is high for this program. Avalos looks to continue last season's successes and return Boise State to "national darling" status.
There is a lot to be said about what this program has done since the late 1990s. 1997 was the last time a losing season occurred and, counting the 1998 season, had only four or more losses in seven seasons.
And while since the last Fiesta Bowl the Broncos seemingly have fallen off, it's tough to recapture the special seasons under Petersen's watch, including those four seasons where Kellen Moore lit up the Blue.
It's disappointing to see seasons that don't end in titles or big bowl games. But there is also the balance in appreciating the Broncos are in the conversation each and every season, with teams aiming to take them down.
Being a top-tier team means opponents circling Boise State on the calendar, bringing their 'A' game and forcing a need by the Broncos to turn it up even more. It's a "come for the king" towards Boise State because so often the program is atop the throne (three Mountain West titles in six appearances).
It's been since '19 that Boise State has locked down that championship trophy. With an offense poised to stampede over opponents and stallions on the outside ready to run wild, the Broncos have a good chance to end both their title drought and New Year's Six bowl game drought. Add in an unproven, talented defense and Boise State is ready to announce their arrival in 2023.
A non-conference schedule for the ages could cement that belief, especially if things get started with a blast against the Huskies.
Doing the schedule dance
The most prolific match-up is this weekend in Seattle, where Boise State aims to grab the national spotlight with an upset victory.
Hype around the season is worth mentioning because of potential ramifications with each victory. The buzz would only grow with a victory Saturday but there is also importance in staying steady and even keeled, despite possible excitement swirling.
Even with a loss to the Huskies, there is plenty of reason to expect Boise State to make noise as the possible top team from the Group of Five. A home game with UCF awaits on 9/9 and a trip to Memphis awaits a few weeks after.
Against the Knights, the Broncos will try to exact a bit of revenge from a 36-31 loss in 2021.
The normal gauntlet of the Mountain West awaits, too, with an early road game at San Diego State to kick off conference play. A road game against Fresno State is also on the agenda. Predicted as winners of the Mountain West, the Broncos will enter each conference game with a bullseye on their backs.
Navigating the schedule aside, a run to a perfect season or a New Year's Six bowl game requires a tricky routine. Injuries need to be limited. The rise of unknown players will need to happen. Veterans will need to play mistake free football. A clank off a goal post or a tipped ball to stave off an upset will occur. All can factor into a special season, and with hope, the fantastic sunrise will turn into a brilliant sunset come December (or early January).
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