Washington Huskies vs. Boise State: Keys to LA Bowl, how to watch and prediction
Washington (8-4) vs. Boise State (9-4)
Kickoff: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.
TV: ABC
Latest line (via ESPN Bet): Washington -9.5, Total 52.5
All-time series: Washington leads 4-2; Most recent meeting: 56-19 UW win on Sept. 2, 2023
UW key players
QB Demond Williams Jr.: 70.0% completions, 2,850 pass yards, 231 completions, 330 attempts, 21 pass TD, 8 INT, 131 carries, 595 rush yards, 6 rush TD; WR Denzel Boston: 11 games played, 56 catches, 755 receiving yards, 10 receiving TD; S Alex McLaughlin: 90 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT, 6 PBU, 1 fumble recovery; EDGE Zach Durfee: 10 games played, 32 tackles, 4 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 PBU, 1 forced fumble.
BSU key players
QB Maddux Madsen: 10 games played, 59.1% completions, 2,283 pass yards, 169 completions, 286 attempts, 18 pass TD, 7 INT; RB Dylan Riley: 185 carries, 1,091 rush yards, 10 rush TD, 15 catches, 149 receiving yards, 2 receiving TD; S Ty Benefield: 100 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 2 INT, 2 PBU, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery; CB Jeremiah Earby: 55 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 4 INT, 9 PBU, 1 fumble recovery
LA Bowl history: The LA Bowl has only been played four times since being established in 2021. It hasn’t been kind to Pac-12 legacy schools.
The Mountain West is 3-1 in the LA Bowl since the game took over the tie-ins that formerly belonged to the Las Vegas Bowl. Utah State beat Oregon State, 24-13, during the inaugural game in 2021. Fresno State demolished Washington State 29-6 in 2022, and a ranked UNLV team defeated California 24-13 in 2024.
The only former Pac-12 school to win the LA Bowl was Chip Kelly’s UCLA. The Bruins scored 21 points in the third quarter after UCLA trailed 16-7 at halftime to win 35-22 against Boise State. It was Spencer Danielson’s first official game as Bronco coach. He’d been named interim coach after Boise State fired Andy Avalos midseason, and was officially promoted after guiding the Broncos to the 2023 Mountain West championship weeks earlier.
Boise State will become the first team to appear in the LA Bowl multiple times Saturday.
Of course, Washington enters the LA Bowl with more wins than any of the previous Pac-12 legacy teams that have played in the game. Oregon State, Washington State and UCLA were all seven-win teams. Cal was just 6-6 when it faced UNLV.
UW has participated in this specific tie-in twice at the Las Vegas Bowl. Both times, the Huskies faced the Broncos. In 2012, Washington – led by coach Steve Sarkisian and featuring Bishop Sankey, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Kasen Williams, Desmond Trufant, Danny Shelton and Marcus Peters – lost 28-26 after a last-minute field goal by No. 20 Boise State, coached by Chris Petersen. Sankey won the game’s MVP award after totaling 205 yards rushing in the losing effort.
The Huskies and Broncos met again at the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl, the final edition of the game with the Mountain West and Pac-12 tie-ins moved to the LA Bowl. Petersen, coaching Washington, defeated No. 19 Boise State in his final game as a college football coach after announcing his resignation before the game. The Huskies cruised to a 38-7 win. Defensive back Elijah Molden was named the game’s MVP after making nine tackles, forcing a fumble and intercepting Bronco quarterback Hank Bachmeier.
Madsen under center: Boise State lost two of its final four regular-season games. Starting quarterback Maddux Madsen was missing for three of them.
Madsen, who helped the Broncos reach the College Football Playoff in 2024, suffered a lower leg injury early during Boise State’s 30-7 defeat against Fresno State Nov. 1. He was absent for Boise State’s 17-7 loss against San Diego State two weeks later, though Danielson’s team beat Colorado State – the only common opponent UW and Boise State shared in 2025 – 49-21, and Utah State, 25-24, without Madsen.
The junior quarterback returned for the Mountain West championship game against UNLV Dec. 5 and didn’t appear to miss a beat. He was 17-for-31 passing for 289 yards. Madsen scored four total touchdowns, three passing and one rushing, on his way to earning the Mountain West championship game MVP. UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said Madsen’s efficiency stood out in particular.
“He’s won a lot of games,” UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said Tuesday. “Both in college and in high school. He does a good job getting the ball out on time. He’s accurate. Reads coverage well.”
Will the Broncos bring the blitz? Boise State likes to send the blitz. It’s one of the first traits UW coach Jedd Fisch said he noticed about the Broncos and Danielson, a former defensive coordinator.
“They run to the ball really well,” Fisch said Monday. “They like to bring their outside linebackers. They like to jump into different fronts.”
Against UNLV in the Mountain West championship game, Boise State blitzed during 54.5% of Rebel quarterback Anthony Colandrea’s dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. He completed just seven of his 18 pass attempts against the blitz.
Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr., however, has generally handled the blitz well this season. He’s completed 65% of his attempts when teams send extra pressure, totaling 991 yards passing and 10 touchdowns against just two interceptions in 2025. And that doesn’t factor in Williams’ ability to escape the pocket and produce yards with his legs.
Yet it’s also noteworthy that Boise State avoided bringing extra pressure against Notre Dame, its only opponent this season that might be considered a Power 4 program by talent. The Broncos blitzed CJ Carr only eight times, and the Fighting Irish quarterback completed six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Boise State similarly avoided blitzing against South Florida’s Byrum Brown, a mobile quarterback like Williams, who tallied 210 yards passing, 43 yards rushing and two touchdowns during USF’s season-opening 34-7 blowout against Boise State Aug. 28.
Andy Yamashita’s prediction: Boise State has been one of the preeminent Group of Six teams in the country during the past two decades. The Broncos are always well coached, well prepared and outperform their talent. It’s why they’ve been the gold standard in the Mountain West for years.
But Washington has generally taken care of business against outmatched teams all season. It discarded challenges from Colorado State and Washington State early in the season. Wisconsin, obviously, gave UW fits. But it seems unlikely the Broncos defense can match the Badgers. And if UW’s top talent plays Saturday – and Fisch and Walters have given every indication that they will – then a Husky win to end the season seems likely.
Prediction: Huskies 34, Broncos 21