Closer Look at the Boise State Broncos

Hotty Toddy! It’s just a little more than a month until the start of the 2014 Ole Miss football season.
Year three of Coach Hugh Freeze’s mission to take the Rebels to national prominence begins in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against the Boise State Broncos on Aug. 28.
Here at HottyToddy.com, we’re taking some time over the next 10 days to preview the upcoming season.
Last week in the unofficial start of the football season, Coach Freeze met with the SEC media in Hoover, Ala..
During the Media Days event, Freeze said:
“I think most fans that are close to our program realize that we’re still maybe a year or two away from looking like a total SEC team in the depth chart,” he said. “But I said on Day One that my expectations were to make Ole Miss very relevant in the SEC West. And I think this year we should be that. That’s my expectation, we should be competitive in every single game.”
For Rebel fans, just being competitive in every game may be a letdown. Expectations have grown exponentially following two bowl victories in the first two seasons of the Freeze era. The year prior to Freeze’s arrival, the Rebels only won two games.
The opener in Atlanta marks the first-ever meeting between Ole Miss and Boise State on the gridiron. With their first two contests scheduled in the Georgia Dome and at LP Field in Nashville, the Rebels open up this season in back-to-back NFL Stadiums.
When the Rebels return to the Vaught, they’ll host Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee in games that will undoubtedly determine their SEC and national ranking chances.
Here’s what you need to know about the Boise State Broncos: In the oddity department, they play all their home games on a blue turf.
The Broncos are a member of the Mountain West Conference and they’re under the direction of first year head coach Bryan Harsin.

Last season, Boise State compiled a record of 8-5 and 6-2 in conference play. They lost to the Oregon State Beavers in the Hawaii Bowl to end the season.
Boise State’s offense averaged 37.5 points per game with a total of 488 points scored on the season. Their defense allowed opponents to score 24.8 points per game giving up 324 points on the season.
A real scoring threat for the Broncos this season should be junior running back Jay Ajayi, who carried the ball 249 times for 1463 yards last year. He also scored 18 rushing touchdowns on the season. Senior quarterback Grant Hedrick is the Boise State gunslinger who threw for over 1825 yards with 16 touchdowns.
Ole Miss’ senior quarterback Bo Wallace hopes to get off to a fast start on his way to a potential record-breaking season.
Last year, Wallace threw for 3346 yards on 283 completions out of 437 attempts and 18 touchdowns. He gave up 10 interceptions.
The Ole Miss passing game, with Wallace targeting sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and tight end Evan Engram, should be augmented by a strong rushing attack featuring Jaylen Walton and I’Tavius Mathers.
Our HottyToddy.com prediction is that the returning Rebel play-makers on offense will provide Ole Miss with a slight edge in defeating the Broncos in Hotlanta.
Tomorrow we will take a preseason look at the Vanderbilt Commodores.
– Adam Brown, HottyToddy.com Sports Editor, adam.brown@hottytoddy.com