He broke high school rushing records. Now this RB will join his brother at Boise State

Boise State linebacker Ezekiel Noa and his younger brother, Elelyon, have spent the past couple of years as Mountain West rivals, but they’ll spend this season as teammates.

Elelyon Noa — a sophomore running back from Utah State — has transferred to Boise State, the team announced on Wednesday morning. He was on the field for the Broncos’ first fall practice, and he’s immediately eligible to play this season because of an NCAA rule that allows players to transfer once without penalty.

Ezekiel Noa is a sixth-year senior with 170 career tackles who is heading into his final season of eligibility. The younger Noa joined the Aggies in 2020 after a record-breaking high school career. He set a Helix High School (California) record with 5,830 career rushing yards, besting former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush’s total.

The brothers have been teammates before. In 2016, Ezekiel was a senior at Helix and Elelyon was a freshman. That was a special year for the siblings, and their father, Elias, said they’ve been talking about reuniting since before Elelyon even graduated from high school.

“There’s always a special bond between brothers, but when you can work and sweat together and be around each other every day, that just takes it to another level,” Elias Noa said on Wednesday. “We, as a family, couldn’t be more excited to get out to Boise and see them wearing the same uniform again.”

The Noa brothers a two of nine children. Ezekiel is No. 7 and Elelyon is No. 8, and whether they’re on the football field or in the living room, Elias said there has always been fierce competition between them.

“Ezekiel is always talking about how he’s going to tackle his little brother, and Elelyon comes back with something about making him miss,” Elias said. “There was never a dull moment in our house when those two were growing up.”

The brothers found themselves on opposite sidelines in each of the past two seasons. Boise State beat Utah State at home in 2020 and on the road last season. There were collisions between the brothers in both games, but Elias will never forget watching Ezekiel tackle Elelyon on the blue turf in Albertons Stadium in 2020.

It’s safe to say he prefers his sons be teammates, not rivals.

“When he made that tackle, I just remember screaming that Utah State should have run the other way,” Elias said.

The only chance Ezekiel will get to tackle his brother this season will be in practice, and that’s fine with Elias. He’s more excited about watching the brothers celebrate together on the sideline.

“We’ve been making trips to Boise State for five years, and now we have an excuse to come even more,” Elias said. “The nice thing is we don’t have to try to make it to games at two different colleges this year.”

Elelyon — a 5-foot-8, 200-pound native of La Mesa, California — was second on the team at Utah State last season with 597 rushing yards and added four rushing touchdowns.

Elelyon entered the transfer portal in January, but Boise State didn’t have a scholarship available, Elias said. That changed in the past few months after the departures of running backs Taequan Tyler (personal reasons) and short-yardage back Andrew Van Buren, who transferred to Portland State earlier this year.

Redshirt junior George Holani is expected to carry the load this season, but he has struggled to stay healthy the past two years. He missed almost all of 2020 with a knee injury and was slowed by a hamstring injury last season.

Freshman Ashton Jeanty has a chance to open the season as Holani’s primary backup, and former walk-on Tyler Crowe is the favorite to replace Van Buren as the team’s short-yardage back. Local products Taylor Marcum (Timberline) and Ethan Mikita (Eagle) both joined the program as walk-ons this summer, and former slot receiver Kaden Dudley has also moved to running back.