The Boise State Broncos will be in Eugene to take on the No. 2 Oregon Ducks on Saturday, bringing with them an offense that averaged just a shade below 30 points per game a season ago.
In this age of college football, with player movement at an unthinkable high, rosters change greatly season to season. That was no different for the Broncos, who saw two of their top leading receivers try their hand in the NFL while two others departed for the portal, making it their top four pass-catchers in 2025 leaving the program.
While Boise State added talent in the portal themselves, the strength of the entire team lies in the backfield. Aside from an experienced fifth-year senior quarterback entering his third season as the starter with College Football
Playoff and Mountain West Conference championship game experience, the Broncos have a two-headed monster in the backfield, both of whom have different styles but are elite playmakers alike.
Boise State is garnering buzz of potentially making the playoff as the Group of Six representative, with their offense as a driving force. But what will see on Saturday, in Week 1 of a long 2026 season? Let's dive into it.
What do the Boise State Broncos do well on offense?
As mentioned, it all starts in the backfield for the Broncos. In 2025, they ranked 37th in the country with 179.1 rushing yards per game while punching in 29 scores on the ground. Much of that came via a pro-style offense in which the quarterback begins the play under center with a tailback behind him — and it wasn't uncommon for the Broncos to roll out "12" personnel, with two wide receivers, two tight ends and one running back on the field.
With as strong of a rushing game as they had with Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines combining for over 1,900 yards and 18 touchdowns, defenses routinely fell for Boise State's under center play-action concepts, a patented offensive coordinator Nate Potter special. Potter worked alongside long-time NFL coordinator Dirk Koetter in 2024 at Boise State, and now implements a number of pro-style schemes.
As such, route concepts aren't very deceiving to the secondary; instead, it's the running game that serves as the deception, as the Broncos are a threat to give the ball to their star duo at any point. The ground game fuels the air attack for Boise State, not the other way around, which has become common in the modern era of football.
Who are the top players to know?
QB Maddux Madsen
A two-year starter for the Broncos, Maddux Madsen doesn't have any special talents physically, as he stands just 5-foot-10 and 207 pounds. But he makes up for it with his point guard-like abilities behind center, as he finds open receivers and distributes the ball when needed. During his career, all spent at Boise State, the fifth-year senior has completed 60.8% of his passes for 6,586 yards, 50 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, quietly putting himself in the top ten in program history in yards and touchdowns.
RB Dylan Riley
The RB1 for the Broncos in replacement of the all-time great Ashton Jeanty, Riley was excellent in 2025, carrying the ball 195 times and amassing 1,125 yards and 10 touchdowns. At 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds, Riley is dynamic with the ball in his hands and a threat to score every touch. Last season, he had runs of 77, 65 and 43 yards to go along with a 75-yard receiving score. While talented, there was some give-and-take game-to-game with Riley's production — not unexpected in a split backfield. Regardless, Riley is one of the top backs in the PAC-12 in 2026.
RB Sire Gaines
Arguably commanding just as much defensive attention as Riley is Gaines, who had 811 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Not as much of an explosive threat at 6-foot and 217 pounds, Gaines is more of a bruiser and an all-around running back, as he can catch the ball out of the backfield as well. When Riley received smaller carry counts, Gaines capitalized, combining for 214 yards and four touchdowns in the two games that he had 20 or more carries. There's no doubt that Gaines could command a bigger role elsewhere, but for now, he and Riley compliment each other very well.
Are the Oregon Ducks built to stop Boise State?
We're going to see.
On the surface, the answer should be yes, considering that the entire front four is likely to be drafted into the NFL after this season. With defensive tackles A'Mauri Washington and Bear Alexander up front, combining to weigh roughly 630 pounds, the Broncos, interior offensive line will be tested. Therefore, the running game may have difficulty even getting off the ground.
But once the Boise State backs get to the second level, we're going to see what linebackers Jerry Mixon and Devon Jackson are made of. Mixon had a strong performance against a run-heavy offense in Iowa last year, totaling a career-high 13 tackles, so he should be just fine. But we're still waiting to see if this is the year that Jackson pops.A good sign of that would be meeting the Broncos' running backs in the hole and standing them up on Saturday.
And for the passing attack, there's not quite a kind way to say this: Boise State's wide receivers simply don't match up anywhere near the talent level of the Oregon secondary.
What should we expect on Saturday?
Ground and pound. Four yards and a cloud of dust. Whatever cliche you want for running the ball in an old-school fashion, that's how the Boise State offense will try to attack the Oregon defense — right at it. Whether that works or not is a question mark, and will test the Ducks' toughness on defense right out of the gate.
Through the air, watch for Boise State to take a shot deep on the first drive in an attempt to catch the Oregon secondary sleeping. We may see a few of those throughout just to keep the linebackers and safeties back and thinking of a possible deep threat.
I'd be surprised if the Broncos completely have their way in the run game like they did in 2024 with Jeanty, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had some solid gains mixed with tackles for losses from the Ducks front four. At the end of the day, with Oregon's talent level, Boise State shouldn't crack 20 points.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: What should the Oregon Ducks expect from Boise State Broncos' offense?
