Boise State football hasn’t won the Mountain West since 2014. These five players could break out and lead the Broncos to a New Year’s Six game in 2017.
Over the past few years, plenty of talented players have represented the Broncos on the Smurf Turf in Idaho’s capital. Upon Bryan Harsin’s arrival to take over for Chris Petersen in 2014, the Boise State alumnus led his alma mater to the Mountain West crown and a Fiesta Bowl victory. It seemed as though the College Football Playoff era was tailor-made for a school like Boise State.
But the Broncos have fallen short in Mountain West play each of the past two seasons. Though they won nine and 10 games respectively in 2015 and 2016, Boise State failed to win their league. Both years they didn’t even manage to win their division. As a result they were shut out of any chance at landing the automatic bid into a New Year’s Six bowl reserved for a Group of Five champion.
Last season, Harsin’s squad went 10-2 in the regular season but fell 31-12 in the Cactus Bowl to Baylor. The loss to the Bears ended a five-game winning streak against Power Five competition dating back to the 2014 Fiesta Bowl win over Arizona. They play Washington State and Virginia this year hoping to restart that winning streak.
To do so, Harsin and his coaching staff will have to turn to a largely new group of players. With only nine total starters returning on both sides of the ball, Boise State will need new stars to break out in 2017. Click ahead to see five candidates to become those breakout stars for the Broncos this season as they try to return to the top of the Mountain West.