Film Room: How Boise State's Offense Attacks
Boise State is one of the best programs in the nation. For almost two decades they have been consistently winning under head coaches Dan Hawkins, Chris Peterson, and now Bryan Harsin. The Broncos have made their mark over all this time with outstanding player development, schemes, and talent evaluation. In this article we will be looking at how well has the 2016 Bronco team performed and how does Boise attack teams.
Offensive Statistics
Offensively the Broncos average 41 yards per drive and score roughly 79% of the potential points they could have scored in the red zone. Below is a game by game breakdown of Boise's yards per drive average in each game compared to their opponent's regular season average per drive with every game being above the 32 yards per drive that is close to the national median. However they also have not faced a defense that has allowed less than 29 yards per drive in the regular season and that is with only three power five opponents if you count BYU.
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In terms of how they fare in particular statistics here is how they stack up against what their opponents averaged against other FBS opponents in the regular season.
| Statistic | BSU vs | Opp Avg |
| Pass Completion % | 62% | 59% |
| Yards Per Non-Sack Carry | 5.22 | 5.20 |
| Yards Per Pass Play (Includes Sacks) | 9.4 | 6.74 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 1.25 | 1.42 |
| Yards Per Play | 7.11 | 5.89 |
| Sack % | 4.05% | 6.29% |
| Interception % | 1.6% | 2.52% |
| 3rd Down Conv % | 48.3% | 41.75% |
| Red Zone % Of Points Scored | 79.17% | 73.39% |
Scheme
Boise is an offense that throws everything at you to accomplish one thing- gain an advantage in numbers, spacing, or leverage at the point of attack. The Broncos use spread concepts, pro concepts, motion, and every formation they can think of. They will attack a defense by using motion and formations to target the weak points a defense's alignment and their adjustments to motion.Sometimes all that motion tests whether or not a defense can keep their assignments straight. A great example is this touchdown in their Hawaii game. Boise opens up with two tight ends to the left. This creates five gaps to the left with the possible addition of the fullback (offset to the other side) or wide receiver. Then they move one tight end across the formation to create four gaps on each side. Add a fake wide receiver sweep motion to account for and they catch Hawaii out of position for an easy touchdown.
Another example from that game of using motion to their advantage is more mundane. Here they recognize Hawaii likes to use three deep zones and have studied how Hawaii reacts to motion. On this play Hawaii is using a single deep safety coverage which is mostly cover three but one corner is covering a receiver man to man instead of playing the deep third zone. Boise simply puts a slot receiver in motion to change which side of the formation is the passing strength. Hawaii predictably moves their safety defending the flat into the deep middle zone. The result is that UH is left with one deep defender out of position to defend anything short. Their new Curl/Flat assignment defender is lined up almost 20 lateral yards away. This results in practically having no underneath help on this easy pitch and catch. They used motion away from their intended attack point to open things up.
Sometimes they use very little motion and simply predict what a defense will run and exploit it. On this play they recognize that BYU likes to use split safety coverages. (Cover 2, Cover 4, etc) and set up the Cougars for a big play on third down. Rather than try this from an empty set with five receivers where BYU might adjust their coverages, they run this with the tailback as the intended receiver while using "Smash" patterns with outside hitches and slot corners to draw the other defenders out of position. BYU's split safety look reacts exactly as expected. Their corners sit on the hitches and the safeties widen to cover the corner routes. They do a good job but Boise is able to get an explosive tailback one on one with a slow linebacker.
Overall Boise isn't a team that features a base offense, their offense is tailored to who they play and they attack the details. They develop versatile tailbacks, tight ends, and receivers who can do multiple things and the end result is an offense that has the versatility of a swiss army knife.
Offensive Standouts
The man who makes everything go is Quarterback #3 Brett Rypien. The 6-2, 195 pound Sophomore isn't the biggest guy but his arm strength, accuracy, and ability to read defenses is very good. He's not a very dangerous runner but he is in command of this offense and will be a big challenge.
The primary weapon on the offense is #13 Jeremy McNichols (5-9, 207 JR.) who has bulked up from a high school receiver into one of the best tailbacks in the country. He has rushed for over 1,600 yards each of the last two seasons and has over 1,000 receiving yards in his career. He fits the Boise mold in that he is a very quick, smart, and strong runner. He is possibly playing his last game for the Broncos as he may declare early for the NFL.
The Broncos feature an extremely accomplished receiver in #82 Thomas Sperbeck (6-0, 180 SR). He finished last season with 1,412 yards on 88 receptions and has 72 for 1,193 yards this season. He isn't the biggest or the fastest but he simply gets open and makes big plays. He is a similar player to what Baylor fans can recall seeing from Jordan Shipley at Texas. He is Boise's all-time leading receiver (3,522) and is a two-time all-conference player with 15 100 yard receiving games. He also will occasionally line up in the Wildcat for the Broncos and is a former High School quarterback.
The biggest size and speed matchup outside is #1 Cedrick Wilson (6-3, 184 JR) who provides a good degree of deep speed for the Broncos. He is another 1,000 yard receiver and averages over 20 yards per reception.
The offensive line is a good unit and features #73 Travis Averill (6'3, 299 SR) and #66 Mario Yakoo (6-4, 320 SR) who were all conference. This unit allows very few sacks and paves the way for an incredibly efficient offense.
Offensive Questions
Boise's offensive production looks great compared to what their opponents allow. While some opponents like Air Force and BYU are pretty good defensively, many are not. How much should we read into the statistics they put up compared to what their opponents typically allow as their opponents could be padding stats against UNLV, Fresno State, and Hawaii?
Boise State's offense is objectively good in any league. However with that said it is fair to question how much facing the bottom of the MWC impacts how good Boise's opponents are perceived. To that aim I have crunched the numbers on how their opponents fared per-drive against offenses that ranked in the top 80 of AdjustedStats.com's opponent-adjusted yards per drive statistic. The modified chart is below and shows that even with a stricter comparison it's obvious that the Broncos are a tough unit to stop.
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The Bronco opponents aren't regularly stopping decent offenses, but that doesn't mean Boise isn't usually outpacing what would be considered par for the course. Outperforming expectations against BYU who played half their schedule against power five teams like WVU, Utah, Arizona, Michigan State, UCLA and Mississippi State is impressive. Solid outings against bowl teams like New Mexico and Colorado State also stands out.
How do you think Baylor will handle the frequent motion and shifts of the Broncos?
One of the things Phil Bennett's defense is built on is the ability to be simple and sound in alignment. Like you see below they can adjust quickly to formation shifts and maintain gap integrity. I expect Boise to make plays but this is one area I worry about less than I would with other defensive structures.
What areas would you expect Boise State to attack on Baylor's defense?
Obviously Boise is going to try and establish the run but I trust Baylor to get stops there when needed. Although when they go with a three man line, the Bears will likely see Clay Johnston at the Boundary Bear position more than Patrick Levels due to the numerous tight ends Boise will likely use. I think much like some of Harsin's games at Texas against Baylor the offense will really target the opposing secondary. I could easily see plays like this against BYU be very similar to how he'll try to isolate Baylor's defenders.
How do you expect Bennett to adjust to Harsin?
I think this is much more of a fair fight than what these two saw in 2011 and 2012 when Bennett inherited a depleted defense and Harsin inherited an offense with several promising weapons that was one year removed from playing for a national title. With that said I think Boise's offense holds the advantage here. Bennett will likely use more of the conservative split safety coverages he used against West Virginia but will pick and choose some spots to bring more pressure which has been his usual tactic. If Boise uses tighter formations it will present Baylor with a look they normally don't see in run defense but typically Bennett's units have been good in that regard over his tenure. The tighter formations may cut both ways as the formations and alignments may let Phil disguise what pressures and coverages he wants to use a little more. In Big 12 play it's tough to really disguise much of what you do as everyone is always very spread out.
How much should Baylor be looking for trick plays?
Baylor absolutely needs to be ready. There is a reason Alabama requested an absurd amount of tape for their game against former Boise coach Chris Peterson. Even if you have the game mostly won they can run a trick play or two and beat you...
Will be continued in Part Two...
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