Boise State Broncos ON SI

Please Count Us Out: Boise State embraces underdog role ahead of Fiesta Bowl matchup with Penn State

Broncos wear T-shirts with head coach Spencer Danielson’s message 
Bob Lundeberg|
The Boise State Broncos football team arrives at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The Boise State Broncos football team arrives at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When Boise State’s team plane landed in Arizona on Saturday, many players were sporting black T-shirts with the phrase “Please Count Us Out.”

The four words came from head coach Spencer Danielson during last week’s press conference ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. No. 3 Boise State (12-1) will face heavily favored Penn State (12-2), the No. 6 seed, at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time Tuesday in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. 

“I definitely didn’t plan on it becoming a shirt, I promise you that,” Danielson said during Sunday’s media day festivities in Glendale, Arizona. “But that’s what I believe in and that’s what Boise State has been built on. The first Fiesta Bowl in 2007 where the country — me included as a high school senior watching the Boise State Broncos beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, counted out — that’s what draws people to Boise State.

“I talked to our staff and our players and I said ‘Everybody in this room, me included, has been counted out at some point in their lives. At some point in football, somebody said ‘You can’t do this,’ and you said ‘You know what, I’m going to prove you wrong.’” … That’s what our team is. You can count us out, but I promise you when you put the ball down on Tuesday night, our boys will be ready.”

The Broncos are 3-0 all-time in the Fiesta Bowl with victories in 2007, 2010 and 2014. Boise State was an underdog in all three games. 

Sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen said the Broncos were well aware of the national discourse following the College Football Playoff bracket reveal. Some people felt that Boise State was overseeded and didn’t deserve a first-round bye.

“Personally, I’ve dealt with this my whole life,” Madsen said while wearing a Please Count Us Out shirt. “Obviously getting the three seed and a bye, a lot of people didn’t feel like we deserved it. But really, what did we do to not? … I know this team is going to take on this underdog mentality. That’s what Boise State is built on. 

“Just these shirts, it’s kind of cool to get them because, I mean, it’s the truth. Everyone is counting us out, so the acceptance of ‘Let’s do it’ is a big deal.”

Junior running back Ashton Jeanty echoed Madsen’s sentiments.

“I think Boise State as a program is just counted out,” the Heisman Trophy runner-up said. “Group of 5 is counted out, so that’s why different guys were wearing the shirt. I would say we embraced it, but that’s been the story for us. We’ve been the underdogs for a long, long time. We’re just here to prove that we can compete with the best of the best.”

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Bob Lundeberg
BOB LUNDEBERG

Bob Lundeberg is a reporter for Boise State Broncos On SI. An Oregon State graduate, Bob has lived in Idaho since 2019 and is an avid hiker and golfer.

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