Six Boise State players, including starting quarterback Maddux Madsen, ruled out for Utah State game

Boise State starting quarterback Maddux Madsen will be out again this week, Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson confirmed on Wednesday.

Madsen suffered an unspecified lower leg injury in a Nov. 1 home loss to Fresno State. Backup quarterback Max Cutforth relieved Madsen against the Bulldogs and started the next two games against San Diego State and Colorado State.

Cutforth will make his third career start on Friday when the Broncos (7-4, 5-2) close the Mountain West regular season at Utah State (6-5, 4-3). Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain time.

“Maddux isn’t going to play this week, but he’s going to do a great job leading,” Danielson said on Wednesday. “He’s getting better. He was able to throw a little bit on Monday, not quite there yet. Don’t want to ever put him in harm’s way, want to set him up for success. But he’s getting closer.”

Five other Broncos were given the official designation of ‘out’ in the first edition of Boise State’s Week 14 player availability report, which was released on Wednesday.

Edge rusher Sterling Lane II, linebacker Chase Martin and offensive tackle Hall Schmidt will all miss Friday’s game. Starters Ben Ford (wide receiver) and A’Marion McCoy are out for the remainder of the season.

Defensive lineman Dion Washington is listed as questionable to play.

Leading receiver Chris Marshall and starting left guard Jason Steele will both play against the Aggies, Danielson confirmed. Starting receiver Latrell Caples is good-to-go after leaving last week’s victory over Colorado State with an unspecified upper body injury.

Marshall, who hasn’t played since an Oct. 24 victory over Nevada, has 24 catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns. Caples has 40 catches for 463 yards and three scores.

Ford, who suffered a season-ending lower leg injury against UNLV, still leads the team with five receiving touchdowns and ranks third in receiving yards at 325.

McCoy is tied with Jeremiah Earby for the team lead in interceptions with four. McCoy returned two of those interceptions to the end zone.

The MWC implemented a player availability report policy for all conference games this season.

Two days before a game, teams are required to list which players are questionable to play or will be unavailable. The designations are updated three hours prior to kickoff.

The reports only include a player’s name and availability. No specific injury details are listed in the report.

Schools are only required to submit availability reports for conference games. All available reports are posted on TheMW.com.

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