BOISE, Idaho — Give it a couple of years and a clash between Boise State and Washington State will be a conference matchup with both as members of the Pac-12.
For now, it’ll have to settle for simply being a critically important early non-conference meeting between regional rivals that could have ramifications come December.
“It’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal for the community and for our players, for our staff. I mean that’s why you come to Boise State for opportunities like this,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said.
The unbeaten Cougars will make the short trip south to face the 25th-ranked Broncos on Saturday night with both teams believing a win could be a springboard to bigger things.
Washington State (4-0) has already passed a couple of Power Four tests with wins over Texas Tech and rival Washington, and last week survived a wild Friday night on the Palouse with a double overtime win over San Jose State. That victory marked the first time since 1906-07 the Cougars started 4-0 in consecutive seasons.
Washington State coach Jake Dickert noted it was the first time since he became a head coach that the Cougars trailed in the fourth quarter and rallied to win. He’s hoping that his team seeing a comeback like that happen can propel them forward.
“It says a lot to the culture. That was a culture win Friday night, no doubt about it,” Dickert said. “They believed in each other. They kept pushing. The glue of those bonds and that trust kept rolling.”
There is similar importance for the Broncos (2-1), who own one of the more impressive losses of the season falling at No. 8 Oregon in Week 2. Boise State became the final FBS team in the country to play a home game with last week’s easy win over Portland State and while there is an entire Mountain West schedule still to play, the matchup with Washington State is marquee opportunity to boost its resume.
“We played three games and that’s what I’m going to tell our team,” Danielson said. “There’s a lot of pub about this game and I get it. That’s the reality of it. Huge game. College Football Playoff. Top 25. Blah, blah, blah … it means nothing. We got to keep learning and growing. We have a huge opponent.”
The matchup features two of the biggest offensive stars early in the season. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is second in the country in yards rushing despite playing one less game than most others. Jeanty has 586 yards rushing through three games and has nine total touchdowns, more than 19 different teams. Jeanty also sat the second half of the easy win over Portland State.
“He’s just a really talented football player and I don’t know if there is a running back out there that is great without being behind a really good offensive line, too. These guys are moving people,” Dickert said.
On the other side is Washington State quarterback John Mateer, one of the most potent dual-threat QBs in the country early in the season. Mateer is third in the country averaging 381.3 yards of total offense and accounting for 501 yards rushing and passing in the win over San Jose State. Mateer has thrown 11 TDs and rushed for five more.
While both offenses feature stars, the Boise State defense has been decidedly better to start the season. The Broncos haven’t been great, giving up nearly 370 yards per game, but that’s still better than the Cougars. Washington State is 132nd of 133 teams nationally in pass defense, allowing nearly 320 yards through the air. Each of the last three QBs to play against the Cougars has thrown for more than 300 yards.
The Cougars have made up for the leaky pass defense by forcing eight turnovers thus far.
Despite being separated by only 300 miles, this will be the first matchup between the schools since 2017 and just the seventh all-time.
They will become much more familiar with one another beginning in 2026 when the Broncos become members of the Pac-12. Boise State announced two weeks ago that it would be leaving the Mountain West to make the move to the Pac-12, joining the Cougars, Oregon State and fellow Mountain West departures Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State.
