1978 Boise State Broncos football team

1978 Boise State Broncos football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	7–4 (3–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jim Criner (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gene Dahlquist (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Dutton (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Bronco Stadium
Seasons ←  1977 1979  →

1978 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Northern Arizona $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. T–9 Montana State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Montana	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Boise State	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Weber State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Idaho	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Idaho State	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll

The 1978 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games on campus at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Led by third-year head coach Jim Criner, the Broncos were 7–4 overall and 3–3 in conference.

This was the first season for the newly created Division I-AA, ^[1] which the Big Sky joined. It was previously a Division II conference for football, except for Division I member Idaho, which moved down to I-AA this season.

Following this season, Boise State was put on probation for a scouting violation in November prior to the NAU game; ^{[2] [3] [4]} the Broncos were ineligible for the league title or the I-AA playoffs in 1979. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	7:30 pm	Cal State Fullerton *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 42–12	19,032	[8]
September 16	7:30 pm	Long Beach State *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 19–13	19,435	[9]
September 23	7:30 pm	Northern Michigan *	No. 3	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 31–21	20,555	[10]
September 30	1:30 pm	at No. 6 Montana State	No. 3	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	ABC	L 29–31	12,850	[11]
October 7	7:30 pm	Montana	No. 8	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		L 7–15	19,580	[12]
October 14	7:30 pm	San Jose State *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 30–15	18,112	[13]
October 21	7:30 pm	Weber State		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 14–13	17,858	[14]
October 28	8:00 pm	at Idaho State		ISU Minidome Pocatello, ID		W 16–14	6,983	[15]
November 4	1:30 pm	Idaho		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)		W 48–10	20,235	[16] [17]
November 11	7:00 pm	at No. 7 Northern Arizona	No. 9	NAU Skydome Flagstaff, AZ		L 30–31	14,783	[18]
November 18		at No. 8 (D-II) Cal Poly *		Mustang Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA		L 3–7	7,430	[19]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[20]

Rankings

See also: 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Final
AP	3	3	8	—	—	—	—	9	—	—

Roster

1978 Boise State Broncos football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 7 Kevin McDonald So FL 9 Mike Grant Fr QB 16 Hoskin Hogan Jr TB 20 Cedric Minter So TB 27 Terry Zahner So FB 33 David Hughes So TB 40 Fred Goode Sr C 56 Mark Villano Sr LG 64 Martin Bernardy So RG 68 Bill Roberds Jr RT 74 Jack White Jr LT 77 Doug MacLeod Sr TE 84 Webb Spahr Jr FL 89 Lonnie Hughes Sr SE 90 Duane Dlouhy Fr OT 73 Kevin Streett Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LCB 10 Larry Morritt Sr SS 25 Sam Miller Sr RCB 30 Layne Osborne Sr FS 49 Nash Balinton Sr OLB 43 Larry Lewis So ILB 44 Bob Macauley Sr OLB 47 Larry Polowski Sr ILB 55 Willie Beamon Sr NG 71 Bob Cabrera Jr RDT 75 Doug Scott Jr LDT 81 Jeff Taylor Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 18 Tom Sarette Sr P 19 Ed Thomas Sr	Head coach Jim Criner (3rd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Gene Dahlquist (OC) Bill Dutton (DC/DL) Chuck Banker (LB) Dave Campo (DB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source: ^{[16] [17]}

NFL draft

Two Broncos were selected in the 1979 NFL draft, which lasted 12 rounds (330 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Larry Polowski	Linebacker	7th	169	Seattle Seahawks
Willie Beamon	Linebacker	8th	205	New York Jets

References

1. "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. (Florida). Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.
2. "Criner admits he hired football spy". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 16, 1978. p. 1C.
3. "Boise St. coach admits to scouting violation". Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. Associated Press. November 16, 1978. p. 4-B.
4. "Presidents will discuss spying by Boise's Criner". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 17, 1978. p. 5B.
5. "Big Sky's down hard on Boise". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. December 17, 1978. p. B1.
6. "Probation slapped on Boise State football". Ellensburg Daily Record. Washington. UPI. December 18, 1978. p. 7.
7. Killen, John (October 13, 1979). "Idaho: possibility looms for a winning season". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1C.
8. "Broncos bombard Fullerton State 42–12". The Idaho Statesman. September 10, 1978. Retrieved September 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Long Beach Fumbles Game, 19-13". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 17, 1978. p. III-18. Retrieved March 31, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Boise sophomore sets rush records". The Billings Gazette. September 24, 1978. Retrieved September 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Montana State shocks Boise". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 1, 1978. p. 3B.
12. "Kerr, Grizzlies stun Boise State, 15–7". Great Falls Tribune. October 8, 1978. Retrieved September 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Boise State runs past San Jose State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 15, 1978. p. 4B.
14. "Broncos escape Weber's clutches". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 22, 1978. p. 4B.
15. "Last-second field goal saves BSU". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 29, 1978. p. 4B.
16. Barrows, Bob (November 4, 1978). "Vandals hope emotion can buck Broncos". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 3B.
17. Barrows, Bob (November 5, 1978). "A punter's nightmare". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
18. "NAU tops Boise for title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 12, 1978. p. 3B.
19. "Broncos lose as late drive falls short". The Idaho Statesman. November 19, 1978. Retrieved September 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
20. "Record book (football)" (PDF). Boise State University Athletics. 2016. p. 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

External links

• BSU Arbiter – student newspaper – 1978 editions