BOISE, Idaho — A still-undefeated BYU handed Boise State its first loss Friday, 51-17.
“There's a lot of lessons you can take from this, but at the end of the day, it is embarrassing,” said BSU head football coach Bryan Harsin.
“We went out there, and we didn’t play the way we wanted to," said BSU wide receiver Khalil Shakir. "Obviously, we wanted that one and they came out, and tonight they were the better team. They came out and executed on all cylinders, and it really showed."
With Hank Bachmeier still out, Jack Sears got the start.
On the Broncos first drive, Sears was pulled out after a quarterback sneak leaving the offense to freshman Cade Fennegan.
"We just need to get better and make sure guys are locked in throughout the whole week, and there’s no messing around because you never know when your number is going to get called, and tonight those guys numbers got called, and I think they played well for the first time getting that action and actually running the offense," said Shakir.
He added that there should never be a difference between starters and backups and that it comes down to every player being prepared to play.
“If we have to do extra or if we have to come in on our own time, so that the difference between the ones and the twos and threes isn't a dropoff," said Shakir. "Everybody has to be top tier because when you get thrown in, you have to be able to run the offense, or if you're a receiver, you have to be able to run the routes."
Harsin said that he wants this loss to hurt, so his players can use it as fuel to prepare for their next matchup.
“As difficult as it is to sit there and look at what happened to us at home tonight and how embarrassing that was, we have to take things home and learn from it,” said Harsin.
“We’re not going to forget it. It’s going to fuel us,” said Shakir.
Their main focus heading into next week is studying their game plan and sticking to it, something they couldn't do against BYU.
“We still have to go execute the game plan that we have in. That is the plan. That is what everyone studied. That’s what everyone spent time on. There are no excuses," said Harsin. "That is the plan, and we have to execute, and that is what we believe will help us win.”
The Broncos are back to the blue again Thursday against Colorado State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on FS1.
