The Boise State Broncos became a great program when the USC Trojans were already in the midst of a dynastic period under Pete Carroll. The Broncos rose to prominence in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, a game played just after USC handled No. 3 Michigan with ease in the 2007 Rose Bowl.
If the Oregon State Beavers had faced an elite version of Boise State — or merely a competent version of Boise State — this past Saturday in Corvallis, coach Jonathan Smith would have been able to collect a lot of information and context on how to deal with USC’s offense when the Trojans and Lincoln Riley come to town on Sept. 24, a big game which is not that far away on the schedule.
Instead, Boise State served up a clunker, a game so bad that it’s hard for Oregon State to derive too much future value from its victory over the Broncos.
Sure, Oregon State will love the fact that it beat Boise State 34-17 and started its season with a win against a program with a good reputation. However, in terms of learning lessons which will serve them well against Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams, Oregon State did not walk away with any clear takeaways.
Notice the word “takeaways.” The Beavers did take the ball away from Boise State five times. They built a 27-3 lead before Boise State scored two garbage-time touchdowns late in the second half. Boise State’s quarterbacks (the Broncos did play two of them) threw three interceptions. The Broncos’ offense could not have been more inept through the first 40 minutes of this game. This will be nothing like the USC offense which will come to Corvallis.
Boise State did not prepare Oregon State for USC. That’s great for the Trojans.
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