NCAAF Game Preview - Boise State at San Jose State

Sat Nov 2, 2019 10:30 PM EDT

No. 21 Boise State lost its last game, then had a bye week to dissect the defeat.

The Broncos (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) look to rebound from their Oct. 19 loss to BYU and get back on the winning track when they return to the field for a visit to San Jose State on Saturday night.

Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said the collective attitude inside the program remained high despite the run at an unbeaten season being sidetracked in mid-October.

"We didn't sulk. We didn't sit there and pout about what happened," Harsin said at a press conference. "We just used the week to our advantage and tried to look at all the things we need to improve at and get better."

The Broncos normally don't discuss injuries unless they are season-ending, so Harsin revealed nothing about whether true freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier (hip) would play against the Spartans.

Bachmeier sustained the injury in an Oct. 12 win over Hawaii, interrupting a strong campaign in which he has passed for 1,547 yards and nine touchdowns with three interceptions.

The offense wasn't nearly as efficient in the 28-25 loss to BYU that represented sophomore quarterback Chase Cord's first career start. Cord passed for 185 yards and two touchdowns and also was intercepted twice.

The Broncos will be without one of their two top running backs in junior Robert Mahone, who sustained a lower-leg injury against BYU. Harsin said the injury isn't season-ending but otherwise declined to elaborate.

The absence of Mahone (389 rushing yards, five scores) should increase the workload of true freshman George Holani, who has rushed for 463 yards and one touchdown.

San Jose State (4-4, 1-3) will be looking to post a program-boosting upset. However, the Spartans are 0-13 all-time against the Broncos.

San Jose State is much improved over the last two seasons, when it was a combined 3-22. The Spartans haven't won six games in a season since 2015 (6-7) and haven't had a winning season since 2012 (11-2).

San Jose State reached the .500 mark last Saturday with a 34-29 victory at Army. The Spartans, who average 28.4 points, are 4-1 when they score 30 or more.

Senior quarterback Josh Love passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns against Army, but he wasn't satisfied with the offense settling for four field goals.

"Obviously, we could've probably scored a couple of touchdowns in there where we kicked some field goals, but we were putting up points and the defense did their job, and we had to help them," Love told reporters.

Love has been a big factor in San Jose State's improvement. He has passed for 2,355 yards and 15 touchdowns while being intercepted just three times in 293 attempts.

"He is just outstanding," Spartans coach Brent Brennan told reporters. "His ability to distribute the ball to different people on the field makes our offense go."

The Spartans' defense has intercepted 13 passes, second nationally behind Oregon's 14. Sophomore cornerback Nehemiah Shelton, senior corner Brandon Ezell and junior safety Bobby Brown II share the team lead of three.

"San Jose is around the ball," an impressed Harsin said of the interception prowess. "They catch the balls thrown to them, and I think they put teams in tough situations where they have to make some difficult throws."

San Jose senior linebacker Ethan Aguayo has a team-best 69 tackles despite missing three games due to an injury.

Boise State's defense is led by elite junior pass rusher Curtis Weaver, who has 9.5 sacks this season and ranks third in school history with 30. He is two behind second-place Chris Wing (1994-96).

--Field Level Media