Coaches No. 6 2011 record 12–1 (7–1 MW) | AP No. 8 Offensive coordinator Brent Pease (1st year) | |
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Conference Mountain West Conference Head coach Chris Petersen (6th year) | ||
The 2011 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Broncos were led by head coach Chris Petersen, winner of the 2010 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, and played their home games at Bronco Stadium. This season was Boise State's first in the Mountain West Conference after spending the previous ten years in the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–1, 6–1 Mountain West play to finish in second place. They were invited the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas for the second consecutive year where they defeated Arizona State 56–24.
Contents
- Previous season
- Award watch lists
- Mountain West media days
- Media poll
- All blue uniform ban
- Preseason polls
- Schedule
- NFL Draft
- References
Between 2008 and 2011, the Broncos went 50–3 to become the first team in FBS history to win 50 games in four years. With the 50–3 record, quarterback Kellen Moore set a new record for the most wins by a starting quarterback in FBS history, passing former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (45 wins).
Previous season
The Broncos opened the season ranked #3 and #5 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively, by far the highest season starting ranking in school history and the highest starting position for a non-BCS team. They opened the season against #6/#10 Virginia Tech at FedExField in one of the nation's premier games of the opening weekend. They defeated the eventual ACC champions 33–30 on a game winning touchdown drive with less than two minutes to play. The Broncos would win their next nine games and climbed to #2 in the coaches, AP and Harris polls and #3 in the BCS poll for their highest ranking ever in all four polls. On November 26, #3 Boise State lost to their rival #19 Nevada in overtime after two missed field goals by Kyle Brotzman. The Broncos would repeat as conference champions, shared with Nevada and Hawaii with a 7–1 conference record. The conference title was the Broncos third straight and eighth in their ten-year history in the WAC. They were invited to the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas where they defeated Utah 26–3 to finish the season 12–1 and ranked #7/#9 in the coaches/AP polls.
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released.
Maxwell Award – Sr. QB Kellen Moore, Sr. RB Doug Martin.
Chuck Bednarik Award – Sr. DT Billy Winn.
John Mackey Award – Sr. TE Kyle Efaw.
Fred Biletnikoff Award – Sr. WR Tyler Shoemaker.
Bronko Nagurski Trophy – Sr. DT Billy Winn.
Outland Trophy – Sr. DT Billy Winn, Sr. OT Nate Potter.
Jim Thorpe Award – Sr. S George Iloka
Lombardi Award – Sr. C Thomas Byrd, Sr. DE Shae McClellin, Sr. OT Nate Potter, Sr. DT Billy Winn.
Rimington Trophy – Sr. C Thomas Byrd.
Davey O'Brien Award – Sr. QB Kellen Moore.
Doak Walker Award – Sr. RB Doug Martin.
Walter Camp Award – Sr. QB Kellen Moore.
Ted Hendricks Award – Sr. DE Shea McClellin.
Manning Award – Sr. QB Kellen Moore.
Kellen Moore also won the Anson Mount Scholar/Athlete award on the Playboy Preseason All-America Team. Playboy also ranked Boise State #2 to start the season.
Mountain West media days
During the Mountain West media days held on July 26–27 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Boise State was picked as the overwhelming favorite to win the conference, garnering 28 of 31 first place votes. Sr. QB Kellen Moore was selected as the preseason offensive player of the year and thus was the QB on the preseason All–Conference team. Joining him on the All–Conference team were Sr. RB Doug Martin, Sr. OL Thomas Bryd, Sr. OL Nate Potter, Sr. DL Billy Winn, Sr. DL Shea McClellin, and Sr. S George Iloka.
Media poll
- Boise State – 236 (28)
- TCU – 208 (3)
- Air Force – 176
- San Diego State – 160
- Colorado State – 104
- Wyoming – 80
- UNLV – 77
- New Mexico – 39
All-blue uniform ban
Boise State was banned by the Mountain West Conference from wearing their traditional all-blue uniforms during conference home games. MW commissioner Craig Thompson's reason for the rule was that coaches had stated that the Broncos received a "competitive advantage" when wearing all blue on the blue turf of Bronco Stadium. Boise State head coach Chris Petersen was quoted that he thought the ban was "ridiculous".
Preseason polls
On August 3, Boise State was ranked #7 in the preseason USA Today Coaches' Poll, receiving 1,065 points. Their season opening opponent, Georgia, will start the year ranked #22 making this the third straight season Boise State will open the year against a ranked team from a BCS conference. Boise State won the previous two (Oregon and Virginia Tech).
On August 20, Boise State was ranked #5 in the preseason AP Poll, receiving 1,200 points including 2 first place votes.
Schedule
Boise State was set to play Utah in Boise in 2011, with games in 2012 and 2013 also scheduled. However, due to their move to the Pac-12, where they will play nine conference games, and their desire to continue their rivalry with former conference member and newly independent BYU, Utah bought their way out of the series. Boise State replaced Utah with Fresno State and Nevada as both schools were also looking for another game due to having one less conference game due to Boise State's departure from the WAC. Fresno State and Nevada will become conference games again in 2012 as they will join the Mountain West.
Locations for Mountain West Conference games were announced on November 4, 2010.
Boise State was scheduled to open the 2011 season at Mississippi, however, on November 20, 2010 they announced they would open the season against Georgia in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta. Their meeting with Mississippi will be pushed back to 2014 also in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
On January 25, Boise State's conference game with TCU, which was originally scheduled to be played in Fort Worth, was moved to Boise. The move was due in part to TCU announcing they would be leaving for the Big East Conference in 2012 (they ultimately went to the Big 12 instead). To accommodate the change, the Broncos will now play San Diego State in San Diego instead of Boise.
The Mountain West released dates for conference games on March 3, 2011.
On March 21, as part of the WAC's TV contract with ESPN, it was announced that the game at Fresno State will be moved to Friday, October 7 to be broadcast on ESPN. This will be the 11th straight year the Battle for the Milk Can will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
On April 7, the Mountain West announced times and TV for all conference and home MW games.
For the first time in 40 years, Boise State will not play their in-state rival Idaho and currently have no future matchups scheduled.
NFL Draft
2011 Boise State set a team record for number of players taken in one draft with six. The previous record was held by the 2006 team that had four players taken in the 2007 NFL Draft. For the first time in school history, the Broncos had two players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. They had only had two previous players ever selected in the first round (Ryan Clady in 2008 and Kyle Wilson in 2010).
1st Round, 19th Overall Pick by the Chicago Bears—Sr. DL Shea McClellin
1st Round, 31st Overall Pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—Sr. RB Doug Martin
3rd Round, 81st Overall Pick by the Dallas Cowboys—Sr. DL Tyrone Crawford
5th Round, 167th Overall Pick by the Cincinnati Bengals—Sr. S George Iloka
6th Round, 202nd Overall Pick by the Cleveland Browns—Sr. DL Billy Winn
7th Round, 221st Overall Pick by the Arizona Cardinals—Sr. OL Nate Potter