Boise State's Spencer Danielson on Fresno State rivalry: 'Right now it ain't back and forth'

The Broncos' head coach didn't sugarcoat his team's recent struggles against its longtime rival

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson. | Boise State Athletics

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson gave a blunt assessment of the Milk Can rivalry series ahead of Saturday’s road matchup with Fresno State. 

The Bulldogs (4-1, 1-0 Pac-12) trail the all-time series 17-10 but have won three straight games against the 23rd-ranked Broncos (4-1, 1-0), including an eye-popping 30-7 rout on The Blue last season. 

“Being here for 10 seasons, there’s been a lot of hard memories against Fresno State,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. Boise State will try to snap the three-game skid against Fresno State at 8:30 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium. 

“I hear all the time ‘Well, is this a rivalry game?’ and all that. And I’m like, well shoot, since ’22 we’ve just gotten beat. So call that what you want to call it.

“Rivalries are back and forth; right now it ain’t back and forth. It’s been a long time coming. I’m not a guy that focuses on that a ton, but … those are the facts.”

The Broncos’ last victory in the rivalry series came in October 2022 when Fresno State was without star quarterback Jake Haener. George Holani and Ashton Jeanty both had 100-yard games on the ground in a 40-20 win. 

Haener returned to the field three weeks later and guided Fresno State to a Mountain West championship game rematch with Boise State. The Bulldogs earned a smothering 28-16 victory over the Broncos and then defeated Washington State in the LA Bowl for a 10-win season.  

Fresno State survived a shootout with Boise State at Valley Children’s Stadium the following year, 37-30. The rivals didn’t play in 2024.

Prior to the three-game skid, Boise State had won four of its last five matchups with the Bulldogs. 

“We’ve been playing them for so long, there’s been so many good games for years,” Danielson said. “You look at all the players that have come out of Fresno State, all the success that’s come out of Fresno State, I’ve just got a ton of respect for them. 

“Obviously, there’s the Milk Can. I don’t even know what it looks like, we haven’t had it in years. Shoot, I’m going to have to Google Image it to find out what it even looks like.”

Fresno State head coach Matt Entz said the Milk Can trophy will be at every practice this week. 

“It’s a great rivalry,” Entz said. “I think both teams have very similar philosophies. Run-first, protect the clock, play really good defense, have really talented special teams, or special teams that can impact games. It’ll be fun, it’ll create a buzz about the game. Hopefully (the Fresno State fan base) continues to create a bigger buzz just with the energy on Saturday in the stadium.”