Boise State coach Spencer Danielson says AP ranking, CFP buzz ‘does not stinking matter’

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson is well aware of the buzz surrounding the program as the Broncos enter Pac-12 play on a three-game winning streak.

A heavy favorite to win the Pac-12 and represent the Group of Six in the College Football Playoff, Boise State entered Sunday’s AP Poll at No. 22.

“We talked earlier. I said ‘Guys, congrats. You guys are ranked.’ But I’m also a truth-teller, and I said ‘The only rankings that matter are the rankings at the end of the season,’” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. “And I told them ‘The last time we were ranked, which was last season, did not go well. Let’s not get that twisted.’”

The Broncos checked in at No. 25 in last year’s preseason AP Poll and promptly suffered a 34-7 road loss at South Florida. Boise State fell out of the poll and remained unranked the remainder of the season.

Danielson does not want a repeat of last year as the Broncos (3-1, 0-0) are set to open Pac-12 play on Saturday against visiting Utah State (1-3, 0-0).

“There’s a lot of outside noise, and it does not stinking matter,” Danielson said. “How do we work? How do we practice? How do we prep? And especially, we go into Pac-12 play now, man. We’ve got a great Utah State team coming to town.”

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

On defensive effort against Western Michigan

“Switched it up a lot on defense. Really good job by our players executing, playing hard, playing physical, playing confident. We knew going into that game what we had to get done as a defense—especially who we were playing at quarterback, who they had at tailback—and our guys did a good job. We only gave up five explosive plays, which is a good number as a defense. That’s something that we have to continue to grow in as a defense, but proud of the trend that we’re on.”

On Boise State’s running game

“We were able to really establish a run game, especially in the first half. But honestly, didn’t do a great job in the second half of running football. Some things we looked at that we’ve got to improve on and grow in to be efficient running the football at all times.

“Dylan (Riley) ran really, really hard. With Sire Gaines out, we knew that his load was going to be even more, and he did a great job. Ran physical, caught the ball out of the backfield, good in protection.”

On the passing game

“One of our better days. Our play-action game has improved. (Quarterback Maddux Madsen) did some really good things. What I’m proud of Maddux, too: four games, no interceptions. One throw on the corner route to Cam (Bates) he missed, but throughout the rest of that (game), he was throwing darts, wasn’t short-arming anything. I thought Mad Dog had a really good day.

We’re going to hold Mad Dog to very high standards, as we should. But he’s a relentless competitor, he makes the throws, he leads our team. He had two big-time scrambles on third down to move the chains, and winning those games, you need every bit of those.”

On Utah State, head coach Bronco Mendenhall

“Bronco Mendenhall, I think, is one of the best football coaches in all of college football. His team will be ready. They’ve got talent, they’ve got great coaches. They’ve played a tough schedule to date, had a big-time win at home against Troy, who is a really good team that took Missouri to the end of it. Utah State dang near beat Washington in Washington. We’ve played those guys, we know how good they are. So got a lot of respect for Bronco.

“I honestly wish we didn’t play each other because I’d be picking his brain more because I just think the world of him as a football coach, as a leader, as a mentor.”

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