alt=Jay DrewPROVO — Air Force football coach Troy Calhoun created a minor stir in the Mountain West last weekend by wondering aloud if his program really belongs in the conference after a 43-24 win over Fresno State.
Calhoun was talking about the rigors of the Falcons’ schedule because they have to travel to Hawaii this weekend, then play host to Utah State on Oct. 26. He was complaining more about the schedule than the quality of competition, which AFA hasn’t exactly dominated.
“I like the Mountain West. … As far as the teams, the coaches, the players, the week-in and week-out games that we play within our conference and our opponents, it has been a good fit for us.” — Boise State coach Bryan Harsin
“We are in a league where, to be blunt, I don’t know if it is the route maybe we should go,” Calhoun told The Gazette, a Colorado Springs, Colorado, newspaper. Later, after being asked to clarify, he responded, “I just don’t know if it is really a match. I don’t know if it is best.”
BYU’s former league might not be working all that well for one of its former rivals, Air Force. But it is working spectacularly well for its newest rival, Boise State, according to Broncos coach Bryan Harsin.
The sixth-year coach, a former BSU quarterback, brings his undefeated and No. 14-ranked Broncos (6-0) to LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday (8:15 p.m. MT, ESPN2) to face the slumping Cougars (2-4) in what could be a sloppy game because rain and plunging temperatures are expected in Provo that night.
“I like the Mountain West,” Harsin told the Deseret News in a teleconference Monday. “… As far as the teams, the coaches, the players, the week-in and week-out games that we play within our conference and our opponents, it has been a good fit for us. I don’t feel the same way (that Calhoun apparently does). I feel the Mountain West is a strong conference.”
Boise State joined the Mountain West in 2011, the same year that BYU went independent, and has quickly emerged as its most successful football program. The Broncos are 7-2 all-time against BYU, 5-2 as a member of the MW.
“Like anything, there are things in any conference (you don’t love),” Harsin said. “I was in the Big 12 and the Sun Belt, so there are always little things in there (to complain about). And they are all very similar.”
Harsin said game times, television contracts and travel “are some of the real nit-picky things that people talk about,” but on the whole the league has allowed BSU to continue the success established by his predecessor, Chris Petersen. Boise State’s MW and nonconference schedule will be scrutinized heavily if it remains undefeated and challenges for an unlikely spot in the College Football Playoff.
Saturday’s game marks the first of three games against Mountain West teams for BYU, which has dropped three straight games and will have to beat either Boise State, Utah State (Nov. 2) or San Diego State (Nov. 30) in addition to defeating Liberty (Nov. 9), Idaho State (Nov. 16) and UMass (Nov. 23) to become eligible to play in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24.
Whether BYU should try to get back in the Mountain West is an annual topic of conversation in Provo, but Harsin said he is “indifferent” on the matter when asked if he would be in favor of seeing the Cougars rejoin the league in which they once flourished.
“We play them every year, so to be honest with you, it wouldn’t be anything different (for Boise State),” he said. “It would be there on the schedule and we would play them. Now I know we would be different than other teams in our conference because we play them every year. But that’s the way it has been set up.”
Saturday’s game, only the third BSU-BYU game to be played on a Saturday, is the eighth of a 12-year series that began in 2012 and will end in 2023. Last month, the schools 360 miles apart announced a new 10-year deal that will stretch from 2025 to 2034.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake said the series is important to BYU, partly because it ensures the independent Cougars a high-quality, Power Five-type opponent the latter two-thirds of the season when most Power Five opponents won’t step away from their conference schedules and play the Cougars.
“With our independent schedule there are only a few guys that we know we are going to play every year,” Sitake said. “Them being familiar to us and becoming a common rival, they are a really good team and have had good results the last couple of decades. I think it is a good matchup for us and brings out the best in our team.”
Harsin said he is OK with the series because of the geographic proximity and because the fan bases really enjoy it.
“It has been a good series,” he said. “I think it makes sense. I think that’s why they put it together and that’s why they decided they should continue it and extend it.”
Like BYU, which said Wednesday it won’t name a starting quarterback until just before kickoff, Boise State’s situation under center is also uncertain. True freshman Hank Bachmeier sustained a hip injury in the second quarter of the Broncos’ 59-37 win over Hawaii last Saturday and was capably relieved by redshirt sophomore Chase Cord and redshirt senior Jaylon Henderson.
“Well, that remains to be seen, now doesn’t it? Why would I give you that information right now?” Harsin asked Thursday morning after being asked if Bachmeier would play.
Cougars on the air
Boise State (6-0) at BYU (2-4)
At LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MT
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM