College Football: What did we learn from Week 4?

Week 4 of college football produced some thrills. Penn State miracles, Horned Frog dominance and Boise State’s decline stand out the most.

The first month of the season is almost over and we’ve seen pretenders, contenders and some who’ve decided to be both. As we venture towards October, let’s take a look back a what Week 4 of the college football season gave us.

Boise State’s aura and mystique is gone

Remember when it was a minor, sometimes major event when Boise State would take on one of the teams from a power conference? We would sit in amazement as the Broncos would methodically defeat one of these teams and we’d label them “giant killers”. That label, that image that has been as synonymous as the blue turf officially died on Friday night as Virginia took down Boise State 42-23.

While the Broncos still have a small shot at reaching a potential New Year’s Six Bowl, it has become increasingly more clear that Boise State is no longer a giant killer and any threats that the power five schools may have had about them is gone. Yes, Boise State reached the Fiesta Bowl in 2015. That’s not gone unnoticed. 

Two things stand out to me when assessing “why” this is happening. I think the first thing you look at is the Mountain West Conference. It’s not longer a two-three game season that determines whether Boise State goes to a top-tier bowl or not. Schools like Air Force, San Diego State, Colorado State and Wyoming have added hurdles to the Broncos quest for a top bowl and the conference has a case of being the best of the Group of Five.

The last reason is you have to give some credit to the team that beat them on Friday. The Virginia Cavaliers were just the better team and Boise State just doesn’t have the talent and aren’t good enough to beat teams like Virginia and Washington State. This is the new reality Boise State fans have to deal with. You’re no longer the bullies from Boise.