The second week of the college football season has a very anticipated matchup with Alabama taking on Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M and while that game should be thrilling, another solid one is coming in on Friday on ESPN, as the Mountain West Conference game with Boise State and Air Force could be an entertaining matchup.
The Broncos are not the same team they were a few years ago when they were knocking down the door of the BCS, but after losing losing their opening game, they looked much better last week in their win over Tennessee-Martin and are now 1-1 as they prepare to play the Falcons, who are also 1-1. The game will be at Bronco Stadium in Boise and the matchup puts two coaches head to head that have been at their respective schools for quite some time in Chris Petersen and Troy Calhoun and the Falcons are hoping to rebound from a losing season in 2012.
Click here for the watch ESPN Boise State and Air Force live stream.
The two teams played back in 2011 and the Broncos won that game by 11 points and Friday's game is expected to be a high scoring affair on both sides. Joe Southwick will be the primary focus for the Air Force defense and he comes in after having a great game last week, passing for 234 yards and five touchdowns without any turnovers. The Broncos have always prided themselves on being good at protecting the football and after throwing an interception with no touchdowns in the opening loss to Washington, Southwick looked much better and could have a big game against a weak Falcons secondary.
The Broncos are one of the favorites to win the Mountain West this year and winning their first game in the conference would be a nice way to start that run off. The team scored 63 points last week and after playing Air Force, they will play their next road game on ESPN next Friday at Fresno State, always a tough place to play for any opponent. Southern Miss is next on the schedule before Utah State, who just defeated Air Force, while two tough games against Nevada and BYU follow.
The Broncos have a strong running game and will have tough games to finish the season on the road against BYU, Colorado State and San Diego State before finishing the schedule at home against New Mexico. So far through two games this season, the Broncos rank 74th in passing yards per game with over 213 and are 48th in rushing with nearly 200 yards per game. The offense has been strong while averaging over 34 points, while the defense is allowing an average of 26.
The last time the two teams played, Boise State was ranked number five in the nation with Kellen Davis at quarterback, but that feels like ages ago now as the Broncos try to get themselves back in the national spotlight. The team will feed Jay Ajayi the ball as much as they can and the Falcons likely will do the same, as they have averaged near 300 yards per game on the ground, which is the traditional norm for the school. The team won its opening game before losing to Utah State and now they will try to avoid going 0-2 in the MWC to start the season.
The Broncos know the Falcons aren't much of a passing team and Boise State looks like they will be ready to take this game. The matchup starts at 8 pm on ESPN and can be watched on the Watch ESPN website.