Boise State announces changes to football schedules, adds series with Group of 5 power
The Boise State football team announced several changes to future schedules on Wednesday, including a home-and-home series with Memphis, which will begin in 2023.
The Broncos and Tigers were already scheduled to play at Memphis in 2030 and in Boise in 2031. Boise State will also travel to Liberty Stadium in Memphis in 2023 and host the Tigers in 2026. Exact dates and times have yet to be determined.
Boise State also announced Wednesday that it will host Eastern Washington in 2025. The Eagles have participated in three of the past four FCS Playoffs, and finished as national runner-up in 2018. The team went 10-3 last season and ended the year with a loss to Montana in the second round of the playoffs.
Eastern Washington will be paid $360,000 for making the trip to Boise, according to the game contract.
“We continue to balance our nonconference schedules so we can position ourselves for an opportunity to play in the best postseason games possible,” Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said in a statement. “To maintain our status as an elite program, we want to face quality opponents and play at home as often as possible while striving for conference championships.”
Boise State also announced Wednesday that its home-and-home series against Rice will now be played in 2032 at Rice and 2035 in Boise. The series was originally scheduled to be played in 2027 and 2029.
Boise State was left with holes to fill in future schedules after BYU announced in September 2021 that it would join UCF, Houston and Cincinnati in leaving the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12. The Broncos’ home game against BYU this season, which is scheduled for Nov. 5, will be the final time the rivals meet for the foreseeable future.
The Broncos’ nonconference schedules are set through 2025, but they have at least one opening every season between 2026 and 2035, and they don’t have any scheduled for 2034.
Running back leaves team
Boise State running back Danny Smith is no longer with the Broncos, a spokesperson for the program confirmed on Wednesday.
Smith, a redshirt junior, posted on Instagram earlier this month that he has retired from football. He didn’t appear in any games last season, but played in two in 2020 and three in 2019. The native of Oxnard, California, joined the Broncos as a three-star recruit in 2018 and redshirted that season.
Redshirt junior George Holani is expected to carry the load in Boise State’s backfield again this season. He missed most of the 2020 season with a knee injury and was limited by a hamstring injury last season, but he posted 1,014 rushing yards as a true freshman in 2019.
True freshman running back Ashton Jeanty joined the program in January, and he’ll likely open the season as No. 2 on the depth chart. Former Skyview standout Tyler Crowe and junior college transfer Taequan Tyler also remain on the roster.
Boise State’s future nonconference games
2022: at Oregon State (Sept. 3), at UTEP (Sept. 24), Tennessee-Martin (Sept. 22), BYU (Nov. 5)
2023: UCF (Sept. 9), at Washington (Sept. 2), North Dakota (Sept. 16), at Memphis (TBA)
2024: at Georgia Southern (Aug. 31), Oregon State (Sept. 7), Houston (Sept. 21), at Oregon (Sept. 14)
2025: at USF (Aug. 30), Oregon (Sept. 13), at Houston (Sept. 20), Eastern Washington (TBA)
2026: at Oregon (Sept. 5), East Carolina (Sept. 12), Memphis (TBA)
2027: USF (Sept. 11), at Marshall (Sept. 18)
2028: Cincinnati (Sept. 2), at East Carolina (Sept. 9), Georgia Southern (Sept. 16)
2029: at Cincinnati (Sept. 1), at Washington (Sept. 8)
2030: at Memphis (Aug. 31)
2031: Memphis (Sept. 13)
2032: Washington State (Sept. 11), at Rice (TBA)
2033: at Washington State (Sept. 10)
2034: No games scheduled
2035: Rice (TBA)
Note: All dates are subject to change for television.
