What Boise State’s Spencer Danielson said ahead of San Diego State showdown

Boise State limped into its second bye week of the season after suffering a 30-7 home loss to Fresno State.

“It’s hard going into the bye week coming off a really bad game,” Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson said on Monday. “And that’s on us — starting with me — to kind of look and see why that happened and how we can be better.”

Boise State (6-3, 4-1) will get a chance to bounce right back on Saturday with a road Mountain West game against San Diego State (7-2, 4-1). The Broncos and Aztecs sit atop the MWC standings.

Boise State starting quarterback Maddux Madsen will not be available for Saturday’s game.

Here are the highlights from Danielson’s press conference.

On Fresno State loss

“We got booed off the field. Yeah, there’s frustration I think in this entire state after that game, I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, you’ve got to have real-life conversations. And we haven’t been in that situation as a program. We’ve had some hard moments; it hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies. But that was a hard one, one of the harder ones for me as a coach. And I’ll never forget it.

“I was asked before, ‘Well, (the fans) booed.’ Yeah, I would’ve booed me, too. So yeah, we didn’t run from it.”

On establishing a running game, more touches for Dylan Riley

“We have to be able to run the football efficiently. That’s a DNA part of our team. We have to be able to do that, and we didn’t do that (against Fresno State).

“Dylan Riley touching the ball six times can’t happen, and that’s on me as a head coach. We’ve got to have a plan to make sure he touches the ball more than that. And that won’t happen again.”

On San Diego State, head coach Sean Lewis

“Huge game, huge opportunity this weekend. Sean Lewis, the job he’s done this year, hats off to him. He’s absolutely a guy that will be in the coach of the year conversation.

“They’re one of the top defenses in the country. … Their players play really, really hard. They’ve got really good schematic switch-ups. They put the quarterback in conflict consistently. They do a great job with their front. They tackle well. They do a great job creating interceptions and taking the ball away … and they don’t give up yards easy on defense. You get a first down, that’s a big deal. They’re a very, very stingy defense, and they play really, really hard.”