8 things you should know about Boise State – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS – The UND football program will play Boise State for the first time at 11 a.m. Saturday in Idaho.

Here are eight things you need to know about Boise State.

Boise State kicker Jonah Dalmas tied a school record last weekend with a 56-yard field goal against Central Florida.

The 56-yard field goal is the second-longest field goal in the country this year. It is the third longest in Mountain West Conference history.

It’s the fourth time in Dalmas’ career he’s hit from 50 yards or more.

Boise State comes into the UND game off a rare home loss.

The Broncos have a .890 winning percentage on the blue turf since 2000 (130-16).

That winning percentage is third-best in the country, trailing only Oklahoma (.908) and Ohio State (.895).

Boise State leads the nation in opponent false starts since 2018. The Broncos’ opponents are averaging 3.14 false starts per game, the second-best mark behind North Carolina State, which has 2.54 false starts of opponents per game.

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty will be helpful for UND.

A week after recording 153 all-purpose yards against Washington in Week 1, Jeanty had a career-high 212 all-purpose yards against UCF.

The sophomore carried 24 times for 115 yards and caught five balls for 97 yards. He had five gains of 15 or more yards, including a 38-yard touchdown reception.

Jeanty’s average of 182.5 all-purpose yards ranks third in the country and first in the Mountain West.

Boise State defensive lineman Ahmed Hassanein, who grew up in Cairo, is the first player from Egypt to play Division I college football.

Hassanein didn’t speak English until five years ago.

Across Division I, 53 Egyptians made rosters during the 2021-22 NCAA athletics season, according to Boise State.

The Mountain West Conference has been very busy against the FCS this season with Idaho beating Nevada 33-6 and Eastern Washington taking Fresno State to overtime.

But Boise State has 18 straight wins over the FCS.

The Broncos have only been scared by the FCS a couple of times since 2000. Boise State beat UC Davis 34-16 in 2009 and Portland State 21-14 in 2005.

Boise State cornerbacks/special teams coach Demario Warren was the head coach at Southern Utah from 2016-2021.

Warren was in Grand Forks when UND beat Southern Utah 36-18 in 2019.

In that game, UND running back Luke Skokna played his fifth game as a true freshman, taking his redshirt.

Skokna had two touchdowns in that game. Skokna is now a senior for the Fighting Hawks and made his 2023 debut last week against Northern Arizona.

Boise State co-defensive coordinator Kane Ioane was defensive coordinator at Montana State in 2015. That season, UND beat Montana State in Grand Forks 44-38. John Santiago rushed 30 times for 230 yards, while Brady Oliveira, now a CFL star with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, rushed 12 times for 167 yards. UND ran for 426 yards as a team.

Boise State offensive line coach Tim Keane was the offensive line coach at UC Davis in 2019 when UND beat the then-12th-ranked Aggies 38-36 in Grand Forks.

Brady Leach kicked a 46-yard field goal to win the game with 57 seconds left.

The first blue turf was installed in 1986, 16 years after Bronco Stadium, now Albertsons Stadium, was built.

Boise State was the first school to have a non-green football field. UND, when a member of the Big Sky Conference, played annually at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington, the Eastern Washington red turf installed in 2010.

EWU’s athletic director at the time was now UND athletic director Bill Chaves.

The blue turf idea is credited to former Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier.

UND’s Jake Saltonstall, a graduate transfer defensive lineman from New Mexico, had a big game against Boise State as a junior in 2021.

Saltonstall had 1.5 sacks against Boise State. The Lobos lost that game 37-0 in Boise.

Saltonstall has two tackles this season, a quarterback rush and recovered a fumble last week against Northern Arizona.