Boise State coaches could phone a friend in prep for Memphis; safety leaves team

The Boise State football coaching staff might get a little extra scouting help this week, but head coach Andy Avalos isn’t saying for sure.

The Broncos (2-2) face Memphis (3-1) of the American Athletic Conference at 2 p.m. Mountain time Saturday at Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

The Tigers are coming off their first loss of the season — a 34-27 defeat at the hands of Missouri. Mizzou happens to be coached by former Boise State offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz, and former Boise State wide receiver Kirby Moore is the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Did Avalos reach out to Drinkwitz for some insight on playing Memphis?

“You know how this goes in this coaching world. I will leave it at that,” Avalos said during Monday’s news conference. “As we all know, this isn’t an easy profession and you have enough friends and people that you know from within your coaching trees and stuff like that. Whether it’s the offseason, during season, whether it’s a text to say, ‘Hey, good job man’ or to show support to help lean on each other and grow. We’re always talking to our buddies that are in the profession.”

Before Memphis’ loss to Missouri, the Tigers ranked No. 1 in the nation in pass defense, but they have since dropped to No. 18, limiting opponents to 169.8 yards per game.

But what has stood out most to Avalos on film is Memphis’ defensive front. Memphis ranks No. 28 in the country with 7.0 tackles for loss a game.

“(They have) a defense that has been very aggressive at the line of scrimmage,” Avalos said. “Their defensive front and their defense all around creating a lot of TFLs, creating havoc on the line of scrimmage. This will be one of the best defensive fronts that we play against this year.”

Memphis also enters this week’s matchup ranking third nationally in third-down conversion defense (22.64%) and 12th nationally in fourth-down conversion defense (25%).

Safety no longer on BSU roster

Redshirt senior safety Titus Toler, a transfer from Wisconsin, is no longer a member of the Boise State football team.

Toler left the team to focus on academics and graduation, according to a Boise State spokesperson.

The 5-foot-11, 197-pounder from Long Beach, California, had not appeared in a game for the Broncos this season.

Jeanty receives league honor

Boise State sophomore running back Ashton Jeanty was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following the Broncos’ win over San Diego State.

Jeanty rushed for a career-high 205 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, becoming the first Mountain West player to eclipse 200 rushing yards since 2018. His 254 all-purpose yards is the highest single-game total by a conference player this season. He also accounted for 12 of the Broncos’ 19 first downs and caught four passes for 49 yards.

Jeanty leads the nation this season with an average of 173.0 all-purpose yards per game.

BOISE STATE AT MEMPHIS

When: 2 p.m. Mountain time Saturday

Where: Liberty Stadium (58,325, AstroTurf), Memphis, Tennessee

TV: ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, Stormy Buonantony)

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 2-2, 1-0 MW; Memphis 3-1, 1-0 AAC

Series: This is the first meeting between the two programs

Vegas line: Memphis by 3.5

Weather: High of 91 degrees, 3% chance of rain, 7 mph wind