Execution or scheme? Boise State’s Danielson defends coordinator amid struggles

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Boise State football team’s defense has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks as it has continued to ship points at an alarming rate, but head coach Spencer Danielson is in no rush to make any wholesale changes.

In the Broncos’ last four games in Pac-12 play, the defense has allowed 15 total touchdowns and an average of 383 yards and 31 points per game — but Boise State won all four games.

Across the season, out of 138 FBS teams, the Broncos’ defense ranks 72nd in points allowed (25.2), 87th in yards allowed (377.2), 129th in passing yards allowed (265.8), 132nd in missed tackle rate (17.9%) and dead last in forced fumble recoveries (1). However, they do rank a respectable 25th in rushing yards allowed (111.4).

“In college football. … I think at the sign of anything going sideways, it’s, ‘Fire, fire, fire, fire! Make a change,’” Danielson said Monday. “There are times for that; I’m not running from that. That is not even kind of where we’re at,” Danielson continued. “We’ve got a phenomenal staff. We have to be better, and it has to show up.”

The Boise State defense has been led for the past three seasons by defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, who took over from Danielson when the latter was promoted to head coach at the end of the 2023 season.

Danielson said on Monday that the defensive issues stem more from execution on the field than from defensive play calling.

“When I watch the game, it’s not because there are bad play calls by Coach Chinander. We’ve gotta execute better,” Danielson said. “… But we’re not sitting here saying, ‘Oh, just got to execute.’ We’ve got to get to work. We have to have answers for our players from practice to what we do so they can execute at a higher level.”

Chinander addressed the media shortly after Danielson, and agreed that it’s more about execution than play calling, but still took the blame for the defensive struggles.

“It’s on me regardless of its execution or the play call, but I think there are both,” Chinander said. “Could you do things differently schematically? Yes, absolutely. Could a player or a group of players or whoever execute better? Absolutely.”

One of the major issues Boise State has faced in 2026 is allowing explosive plays — passes of 10-plus yards or running plays of 15-plus yards. This past weekend against Colorado State, Boise State defenders missed a season-high 23 tackles for a 28% missed-tackle rate and allowed 12 explosive plays; a week earlier against Texas State, the Bronco defense allowed seven explosive plays, including touchdown passes of 44, 67 and 72 yards.

But it’s also the explosive play rate that makes Chinander believe his defense is only a handful of plays away from being vastly improved. Chinander said on Monday that he sends film to coaches who “know more football than all of us combined in this room.” He said the feedback he gets indicates the play calling is fine; the issue is allowing 15- or 20-yard plays to turn into 70-yard plays.

“I know there are a lot of people that are gonna watch the interview and say, ‘This guy, he’s full of s—. Yeah, that’s fine,” Chinander said. “I know where it’s at, but I also know I’ve got to fix it, that is on me,” Chinander continued. “And so if it doesn’t get fixed, then that’s on me too, and I’ve got to cross that bridge.”

No. 25 Boise State vs. Oregon State

When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Albertsons Stadium (34,423, Turf)
TV: USA Sports (Nate Gatter, Ryan Leaf, Lauren Green)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM and KBOI 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 84 (Bob Behler, Michael Callahan)
Records: Boise State 8-1, 5-0 Pac-12; Oregon State 5-4, 3-2
Series: Oregon State leads the series 6-5
Vegas line: Boise State by 13.5 points
Weather: High of 55, low of 45, humidity 62%, partly sunny, 30% chance of rain