The Boise State Broncos have been cooling their cleats for a while, waiting for another chance to prove they’re worthy of national title talk.
The Broncos’ big win over Virginia Tech in the season opener was somewhat smudged by the Hokies’ stunning loss to lower division James Madison last week. Although the idle Broncos (1-0) held onto their No. 3 ranking, they lost seven of their eight first- place votes from the week before.
Not that they’re really dwelling on that. The team refuses to get caught up in the debate over whether they are valid championship contenders.
All the Broncos can control is what happens on the field, starting again tonight at Wyoming (1-1). They know a win isn’t enough in the eyes of so many; they must win soundly. They can’t just look good; they have to look great.
“We’re just trying to win — if that means by one point, that’s one point. We’re just trying to do our best,” said Broncos coach Chris Petersen, whose team has won 15 straight. “It’ll never be to impress anybody else other than our staff, the players and our teammates.”
The Broncos will receive a taste of Mountain West Conference competitino when they face Wyoming in what could be the start of a burgeoning rivalry once Boise State joins the league after this season.
“That’s one thing that’s great about the new conference. Proximity can breed some of those natural rivalries,” Petersen said. “Do you want another rival? Not really. But they probably will be.”
An intangible in the game could be the lung-searing altitude at War Memorial Stadium. As Cowboys coach Dave Christensen is fond of pointing out, it’s at “7,200 feet, where the oxygen is a lot thinner.”
“We’ve got a huge mountain inside,” Petersen cracked when asked about training for the altitude. “You can’t do anything different. . . . If the team’s in good shape, I think that works.”
