Notre Dame will look to once again compete for a national championship in 2025, but to get there the Irish will need to go through a challenging schedule. Over the next couple of weeks Irish Breakdown will take a first glance look at the upcoming Irish opponents.
Let’s take a look at Notre Dame’s fifth opponent of the season, the Boise State Broncos that they host on October 4 for the first time in program history.
2024 SCHEDULE: 12-2; Won Mountain West Championship; Lost to Penn State 31-14 in the Fiesta Bowl
Boise State had one of their best seasons in program history in 2024. The Broncos went 11-1 in the regular season with their only loss being to Oregon who would eventually move on the be the No. 1 seed throughout the season. They went 7-0 in conference play and beat UNLV in a rematch in the Mountain West Championship and received a round one bye in the first 12 team College Football Playoff. Their season ended in a loss to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl in a game that was closer than what the final score indicated. Ashton Jeanty had a historic season finishing second place in Heismna voting behind Travis Hunter and ended his career with the Broncos No. 1 in all time rushing yards and No. 2 in all time rushing touchdowns.
2025 BOISE STATE SCHEDULE
HEAD COACH – Spencer Danielson (3rd season)
Record at Boise State: 15-3
Similar to Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, Coach Danielson began his career as a defensive coordinator with Boise State from 2021-2023. He was elected interim head coach to finish the 2023 season when he went 3-1. In December of 2023, he was named the 12th head coach of the Boise State Broncos which proved to be a smart move. In 18 games as a head coach, he has 15 wins, a bid in the first ever 12 team College Football Playoffs, won their conference in 2024, and finished No. 8 in the final AP Top 25 rankings. Danielson is in a position to continue Boise State’s dominance at the group of five level and push for another at large bid, potentially even another first round bye, in the 2025 playoffs.
BOISE STATE OFFENSE
Offensive Coordinator: Nate Potter (1st season)
Starters Lost: RB Ashton Jeanty, WR Prince Strachan, WR Cameron Camper, LG Ben Dooley
Starters Returning: QB Maddux Madsen, WR Latrell Caples, TE Matt Lauter, LT Kage Casey, C Zach Holmes, RG Tyler Keinath, RT Hall Schmidt
Boise State will have some key pieces to replace from their 2024 offense, some of it will be harder to replace than others. For starters they replaced their offensive coordinator from 2024 with Nate Potter, who was the tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2024 when Dirk Koetter moved on. Potter played offensive line for the Broncos as a player, and has done a fantastic job of coaching up their tight ends during their historic run last season.
The most obvious and most difficult replacement will be the loss of star running back Ashton Jeanty. Replacing 2,601 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns will be a group effort, not something that will be the sole responsibility of one player. Players like Sire Gaines and Jambres Dubar will tag team the role left vacant with Jeanty leaving. Having starting quarterback Maddux Madsen returning is another huge bonus. He was the team’s second leading rushing from a yards and and touchdown perspective. He also passed for over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2024. They lost their top receiving target in Cameron Camper, but stud tight end Matt Lauter is returning in 2025 as well as third leading receiver Latrell Caples.
The Broncos will have to replace only one starter along the offensive line with the departure of Ben Dooley who is out of eligibility after this past season. They return their left tackle, center, right guard, and right tackle. Returning all but one of your offensive lineman, your starting quarterback, and two of your three top receiving targets from 2024 will bode well for a first year offensive coordinator.
BOISE STATE DEFENSE
Defensive Coordinator: Erik Chinander (2nd season)
Starters Lost: DE Ahmed Hassanein, NT Herbert Gums, SS Alexander Teubner, NB Seyi Oladipo
Starters Returning: DT Braxton Fely, DE Jayden Virgin-Morgan, LB Marco Notarainni, LB Andrew Simpson, CB A’Marion McCoy, CB Jeremiah Earby, FS Ty Benefield
Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander retains seven of their 11 starters from the 2024 season, most of which comes along the defensive line. Replacing Ahmed Hassanein will not be an easy task. He tallied 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss. Nose tackle Herbert Gums also accounted for 2.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks. However, they return team sack leader Jayden Virgin-Morgan who had 10.0 sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss in 2024 as well as defensive tackle Braxton Fely who tallied 5.5 sacks and 9.0 tackles for a loss last year.
They return both of their starting linebackers, Andrew Simpson and Marco Notarainni, who combined for 105 tackles last year. Their leadership and production should both take a jump in 2025. Losing starting strong safety Alexander Teubner will be another task this offseason but Zion Washington is the likely candidate who will step up into that role. Washington was third on the team in tackles this season with 67. Returning free safety Ty Benefield was the team’s leading tackler with 82 and he also returns for 2025.
Boise State also returns their interception leaders from this past season. Benefield, Simpson, Banks, and cornerback Jeremiah Earby also return. Earby joins fellow returning cornerback A’Marion McCoy in the defensive backfield this upcoming year. Overall, despite some of their big name losses on offense and defense, the Broncos return 14 of their 22 starters on offense and defense.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
Rushing: QB Maddux Madsen – 57 att., 221 yards, 3.9 YPC, 5 TD; RB Sire Gaines – 20 att., 156 yards, 7.8 YPC, 1 TD; RB Jambres Dubar – 25 att., 99 yards, 4.0 YPC, 2 TD
Passing: QB Maddux Madsen – 247-396, 62.4%, 3,018 yards, 7.6 YPA, 23 TD, 6 INT, 142.5 Rating
Receiving: TE Matt Lauter – 47 rec., 619 yards, 13.2 YPC, 7 TD; WR Latrell Caples – 38 rec., 473 yards, 12.4 YPC, 5 TD; WR Austin Bolt – 16 rec., 196 yards, 12.3 YPC, 4 TD; WR Chase Penry – 14 rec., 164 yards, 11.7 YPC; TE Matt Wagner – 10 rec., 108 yards, 10.8 YPC
Tackles: FS Ty Benefield – 82; SS Zion Washington – 67; CB A’Marion McCoy – 60; LB Marco Notarainni – 60; LB Andrew Simpson – 45; DE Jayden Virgin-Morgan – 40; CB Jeremiah Earby – 34
Tackles For Loss: DE Jayden Virgin-Morgan – 15.5; LB Andrew Simpson – 11.0; DT Braxton Fely – 9.0; LB Marco Notarainni – 7.5; FS Ty Benefield – 5.0
Interceptions: FS Ty Benefield – 2; LB Andrew Simpson – 1; CB A’Marion McCoy – 1