Boise State Football: 3 takeaways from tough loss at UCF

About 20 minutes into the first game of Boise State football’s 2021 season, it looked like the Broncos were going to be that top threat to Cincinnati in the Group of Five’s race for a New Year’s Six bowl.

Then UCF woke up midway through the second quarter and scored two touchdowns before halftime, making it a 24-14 game after Boise State was up 21-0.

The Broncos were in scramble mode as UCF had all the momentum, scoring a touchdown right before halftime to make things interesting. The Knights came out in the second half and scored quickly to make it a three-point game and then took the lead late in the third quarter.

Khalil Shakir and Hank Bachmeier answered back after Dillon Gabriel’s second pick, taking a lead halfway through the fourth quarter. But UCF answered back and held on.

What did we learn from this tough defeat to UCF?

3. The absence of George Holani was felt

About 45 minutes before the game, Boise State announced that George Holani would not be available, opening the door for Oregon transfer Cyrus Habibi-Likio and Andrew Van Buren to get some carries. They didn’t take advantage of the situation.

UCF’s defensive line played a big role in Boise State’s lack of a running game as the holes were plugged all evening, but the Broncos just didn’t look to have a go-to guy.

That’s where Holani would usually shine and that just goes to show that this offense will need him to be healthy moving forward if they want to have any kind of success. Holani’s absence was felt and all you had to do was look at the box score to figure that out.

Boise State finished with just 20 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Woof.