Saturday, October 31, 2020, Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 6 p.m. ET
Broncos at Falcons Betting Preview: Broncos (-14), Falcons (+14)
Boise State Broncos
The No. 25 Broncos (1-0, 1-0 Mountain West) may have gotten a late start to the season, but they wasted little time making an impression with their 42-13 pounding of Utah State last week behind the performance of a couple of sophomores.
Quarterback Hank Bachmeier passed for 268 yards and accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, rushing) in the win. Running back George Holani rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. He also caught a scoring pass.
Junior receiver Khalil Shakir caught seven passes for career highs of 123 yards and two touchdowns.
The performance earned the Broncos a spot in this week’s rankings.
“That’s where we want to be, and not because of the ranking, but because we’re one of the better teams,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. “You always want to be one of the better teams in the country.
“I’m proud of our program. That’s important for Boise State and our brand and all the people that are part of the program. I do appreciate the recognition that we get for getting a chance to be in one of those polls or whatever it is. It’s appreciated. Now we have to keep finding ways to win so we can stay.”
Air Force Falcons
After opening with a big win over Navy, the Falcons (1-1, 0-1 Mountain West) are putting last week’s 17-6 loss to San Jose State behind them.
“Quick mindset,” fullback Timothy Jackson said. “We’re on to the next one and thinking about Boise now.”
Falcons coach Troy Calhoun (99-70 in 14 seasons) is looking to join College Football Hall of Famer Fisher DeBerry (169-109-1 from 1984 to 2006) as the only coaches to win 100 games at the academy.
Despite their avian mascot, Air Force is averaging 287.5 rushing yards a game, fifth most on the country. They have only 133 yards passing total in their two games.
Jackson has a team-high 178 rushing yards, but managed only 60 in the loss to San Jose State.
Sophomore Haaziq Daniels has passed for 133 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 121 yards and one score. The Falcons have given up only 13 points in their two games, but managed only six points in the loss last week. They ran for a respectable 206 yards against San Jose, but that followed a 369-yard performance in the opener.
“We’ve just got to be a little more stout,” Calhoun said. “We’ve got to block better, and we’ve got to run better, too.”
Broncos at Falcons Betting Pick for October 31, 2020
The Falcons rushed for 242 yards in last year’s meeting, but the Broncos passed for 260 in posting a 30-19 win. The Broncos pulled away from a 17-13 lead after three quarters with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns
Broncos at Falcons Betting Pick:
Broncos 42, Falcons 19
Broncos at Falcons Best Bet for October 10, 2020
Boise State wants to get off to an impressive start to the season to challenge for the Group of 5 New Year’s Day bowl slot. Bachmeier was an efficient 19 of 24 passing against the Falcons in last year’s meeting and was 20 of 28 against Utah State last week with three touchdown throws.
Broncos at Falcons Best Bet: OVER 49.5
