Spencer Danielson wants Boise State to end its ‘rollercoaster’

‘We have to have a complete game,’ Danielson said

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson. | Boise State Athletics

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson is still waiting to see his team play a complete game in 2026. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. “Played two games, learned a lot through two games. And just like we talked about last week, it’s all about how we learn and grow now from Week 2 to Week 3.

“We have to have a complete game. Oregon, we started fast, didn’t finish the second or the fourth quarter well. On the flip side, we didn’t start well against Memphis, but we finished well. How do we make it complete? How do we not live this rollercoaster?”

The Broncos (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) will attempt to play four elite quarters on Saturday against FCS South Dakota (3-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Mountain time at Albertsons Stadium. 

Here are the highlights from Danielson’s Monday press conference. 

On slow start, strong finish against Memphis

“Very proud of how our team finished. 35-3 run to finish the game was awesome. Hats off to our coaches, hats off to our players. But on the flip side, we can’t start the game and be down 17-3. I don’t care who you play, that’s not a recipe for winning football games, that’s not a recipe for championship football here. That has to get fixed, and should’ve gotten fixed a long time ago. That’s on me to make sure we start faster in these games.”

On correcting defensive issues

“We gave up too many explosive plays. Now, we shut them out in the second half, there’s some really good things in how we finished. I think we held them to 15 or 16 yards rushing in the second half. But we can’t give up nine or 10 explosive plays. You’re not going to be successful as a defense when you give up those kind of yards. Fixable things, we’ve got a plan to make sure they get fixed in practice.

“Giving up 500 yards of offense two weeks in a row is not OK. Period, end of story, end of discussion. We’ve got to get it fixed. … We’re going to put our players in a lot of situations to make sure the plays that have hit us, the situations that have hit us, we’ve got to practice them to make sure we can play them well.”

On protecting the football

“We’ve gone two games now without having a turnover on offense, which is huge. You throw a couple turnovers in these first two games and it could be very different.”

On South Dakota

“One of the best FCS teams in the country. Undefeated, they can beat anybody at any time. Got a lot of respect for (head coach Matt Vitzthum). He took over this year, was the offensive coordinator, and has done a really, really good job. 3-0, and they’re beating people pretty good.

“You can see their play-style. They run the football, they’re disciplined, they play really good defense. Got a lot of respect for them, and have for a long time. It’s an FCS playoff team. … If we don’t play our best football, South Dakota is going to come in here and beat us. I mean, that’s the reality of who they are, and we have to be ready to play our best.”