Ahead of the team’s Fiesta Bowl showdown with Penn State, Boise State has turned coach Spencer Danielson’s comments into a shirt.
When talking with reporters Monday, Danielson used the words “please count us out” in his message to those who are doubting his team, which is a 10.5-point underdog.
Fast forward five days, and multiple Boise State players were wearing t-shirts that said the exact same thing.
Boise State is familiar with being the underdog. It was in the Fiesta Bowl where Boise put itself on the national map, beating Oklahoma in maybe the greatest Fiesta Bowl ever played.
A win over Penn State would cause a similar amount of surprise.
Please count us out. #BleedBlue | #BuiltDifferent pic.twitter.com/SosBIC2LsW
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) December 29, 2024
EMBRACING THE DOUBT
BOISE, ID – SEPTEMBER 21: Boise State Broncos Head Football Coach Spencer Danielson during a college football game between the Portland State Vikings and the Boise State Broncos on September 21, 2024, at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, ID. (Photo by Tyler Ingham/Icon Sportswire)
Danielson isnt the t
“So all the outside noise of people counting us out,” Danielson told reporters Monday. “Awesome. We’ve been with the outside noise of everybody saying how great we are. On either side. You got to blow out the outside noise, and, I believe that, like, please count us out. I mean, that’s what Boise State Football has been built on, is, is people thinking we can’t do something, and we work our tails off to find a way to prove people wrong. And that’s I believe, in our team, wherever we I mean, and we use the phrase put the ball down, like, where it doesn’t matter the stadium doesn’t matter what fans are there, like, on the 31st put the ball down. We’re gonna be ready.”
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GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 30: Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin speaks to the crowd after the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl college football game between the Washington Huskies and the Penn State Nittany Lions on December 30, 2017, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. The Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35-28. (Photo by Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire)
So why is No. 6 Penn State a double-digit favorite over No. 3 Boise State despite being the lower seed? For one, despite being the lower seed, Penn State is the higher-ranked team in the AP Poll (No. 4 vs. No. 9). Penn State also gets more inherent respect because it’s in the Big Ten compared to Boise State’s conference, the Mountain West.
But Boise State does have maybe the best player in College Football.
Ashton Jeanty finished runner-up to Colorado’s Travis Hunter in the Heisman Trophy voting and plenty feel he should have won it.
Through 13 games, Jeanty has rushed for— you’re not about to misread this— 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. He’s 133 yards away from Barry Sanders’ single season NCAA record.
So, yeah, Penn State will have its hands full. But people are questioning if Boise State has enough behind Jeanty to stand up to a team of Penn State’s caliber.
Penn State and Boise State are scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 on ESPN New Year’s Eve Night from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
