‘You never know until that ball gets put down;’ Boise State’s Spencer Danielson on prepping for South Florida

Broncos open 2025 season on Thursday in Tampa, Florida

Boise State Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Head coach Spencer Danielson feels good about No. 25 Boise State’s preparation level entering Thursday’s 3:30 p.m. Mountain time opener at South Florida.

Danielson is eager to see how the Broncos perform at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. 

“I think as a coach, you’re really curious,” Danielson said on Tuesday. “And I mean that in the way of we’re going to do everything we can to prep them, to talk through things, situations, training them. But you never know until that ball gets put down. So I’m just excited to see how our guys go play.”

Here are the highlights from Danielson’s media availability.

On beginning 2025 season ranked, opening on ESPN

“It’s huge, man. Thank you, Jesus, just for an opportunity to play in these games and be a team that … Boise State should be ranked, should be in these conversations. Should means nothing, though. At the end of the day, there are teams that are going to start ranked, lose a game, not be ranked. There are teams that are unranked that are going to climb. 

“I’m proud of where our program is at right now, but we’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve still got a lot of growth that needs to happen. There’s young guys that have stepped up that need to get better from Week 1 to Week 2. There’s veterans that are going to play a certain way on Thursday that I know there will be a lot of things for us to clean up. But I’m proud of where we’re at as a program, and excited where we’re going. This is a big step for our program on Thursday night.” 

On starting strong

“Winning Game 1 creates so much momentum for the season. There’s a lot of years, prior to last season, where we didn’t win Game 1 and in Game 2, we’re trying to get (moving). For me with our team at this point, I just want our guys to go play free and trust their training.” 

On facing uptempo South Florida offense

“This is the fastest team in the country from all the research we’ve done, everyone we’ve talked to. … I’ve been open about their quarterback. I think (Byrum) Brown is one of the best football players we’ll see all season long. They’ve got some really talented players on defense, and they’re really well-coached. I think Alex Golesh has done a really good job there. Back-to-back bowl wins, seeing the wins they’ve had over the years. 

South Florida Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“It’s a huge test. This is one of those college football games that — as a fan — you should be excited to watch.”