GLENDALE, Ariz. — There were two Boise States on the field on New Year’s Eve.
One was a conference champion living a dream season. Behind star running back Ashton Jeanty, the storied program has reached the College Football Playoff and once again sits atop the Group of 5 conference.
The other Boise State was a competent G5 roster that put up a valiant but futile effort against a better and more talented Penn State team.
Both versions coexisted in No. 3 Boise State’s 31-14 loss to No. 6 Penn State in the playoff quarterfinals Tuesday night in the Fiesta Bowl. The first is worth celebrating. The latter gave Big Ten runner-up Penn State a seemingly easier path to the semifinals than Big Ten champion, No. 1 seed Oregon or SEC champion, No. 2 seed Georgia, furthering the narrative that an imperfectly expanded playoff is necessary. It will promote Please adjust your seeding format as soon as possible.
For Broncos fans and those looking to root for Cinderella, a disappointing and underwhelming performance will not diminish the magic run. No, Jeanty didn’t break Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record, and he had 27 yards for his lowest rushing output of the season. No, the sport’s preeminent underdog hasn’t pulled off another Fiesta Bowl upset in the same stadium where the program’s decisive victory came. But 2024 will go down as one of the most memorable seasons in Boise State football history.
“I’m really proud of this team. Even though it didn’t go our way tonight, they re-established a standard in Boise to be the light on the hill they had lost for a while,” said coach Spencer Danielson. “It’s a legacy that can never be taken away from them.”
For other CFP teams or college football fans who weren’t in the field Tuesday (which is admittedly difficult to please), this matchup highlighted critical flaws in a system meant to reward conference champions, but one that was designed before. The reorganization thinned the Power 5 down to the heaviest Power 4.
The flaws in this playoff formula, in which the four highest-ranked conference champions receive byes, became apparent long before the teams split up on ESPN on Selection Sunday. That includes No. 9 Boise State, which jumped up to a courtesy third-seeded spot. Mountain West Championship. On New Year’s Day, No. 1 Oregon faces No. 6 Ohio State, an 8th seed, and No. 2 Georgia faces No. 5 Notre Dame, a 7th seed.
Those who understand this format have been warning about these unintended consequences for months. But seeing is believing. And Penn State brought that reality home in the Fiesta Bowl against the 9th-ranked but 3rd-seeded Broncos as a 6th-seeded team, albeit a 4th-ranked team. In a multi-billion dollar tournament played over several years, it was simple carelessness (or stubbornness?) that allowed a highly ranked but low seeded team to advance to the neutral site national championship quarterfinals. Favorite Game — The one the Nittany Lions ultimately won by 17.
“Obviously tonight, we didn’t execute the way we needed to win the heavyweight fight like we knew this was going to go,” Danielson said.
Boise State committed four turnovers and 13 penalties. (Mark J. Revillas/Image Image)
Boise State was not a charity. They outgained Penn State by 412 yards with 387 yards, and many of their problems were self-inflicted, including 13 penalties for 90 yards. But a Broncos team that lost just eight turnovers all season had four on Tuesday and benefited from an opponent that played with food for much of the third quarter. Penn State was leading from wire to wire, and with the lead briefly cut to 17-14 early in the second half, it felt like the Nittany Lions were in control the entire way.
“I think the Big Ten prepared our guys,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Boise is a really good soccer team. … We did not take them lightly. We talk about the maturity of our football team. I think it shows.”
This loss is not an indictment on Boise State or the 12-win season that preceded it. And this isn’t the same argument as those who argue about Indiana and SMU winning the at-large bid. There is no good faith argument that the Broncos don’t qualify for the playoffs or have a chance to compete for a national title.
This team demonstrated a larger-scale approach that the sport has desperately lacked for decades. The same praise and criticism that elevated Boise also applies to Arizona State, the No. 4 seed in the Big 12. The state is ranked No. 12 in the final CFP rankings and will face No. 3 and fifth-seeded Texas on Wednesday in Peach Bow. But the Broncos had the first crack at proving the doubters wrong, checking out the “Please count us out” t-shirts. Instead, they’ve made it much harder to justify a system that makes a 5-seed and a 6-seed and then lose the conference championship look more advantageous than the top two spots.
Boise State has nothing to apologize for. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter acknowledged: athletic It was revealed last week that the seeding system for the playoffs will likely change as early as next season. However, the Broncos did not coordinate or utilize the system.
“We didn’t make those (farewell) rules,” Koetter said. “I’m smart enough to realize that we might not be the third-best team, but we definitely deserve to be there.”
Danielson echoed those sentiments after Tuesday’s game as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast and ushered in a new year. College football in 2025 is better off having an expanded playoffs and broadening the path to competing for a national title. Boise State went down that road this season, as did SMU, Penn State, Georgia and every other team in the field. This should not change in the future.
Although – at the same time, on the same field – Boise State’s route is bound to look a little different the next time the Broncos get there.
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‘This is jubilation’: Penn State celebrates Fiesta Bowl win as playoff rush continues
(Top photo by Ashton Jeanty: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
