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College Football Rankings 2018: Alabama, Clemson top way-too-early Top 25

By Nicholas Ian Allen

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01: Damien Harris (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 01: Damien Harris (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 16: Quarterback Brett Rypien (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 16: Quarterback Brett Rypien (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

Arguably the toughest test for Oklahoma State until an Oct. 27 matchup with Texas in Stillwater will be the Sept. 15 home game against Boise State. After a sluggish start to the 2017 season in which they missed an opportunity to upset Washington State and were blown out by Virginia, the Broncos finally reclaimed the Mountain West title and took care of business in a 38-28 win over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Back on track, the Broncos are again one of the top contenders for a New Year’s Six bowl slot.

Strengths:

Despite entering the 2017 season with two years of starting experience, which included two All-Mountain West First Team appearances, quarterback Brett Rypien struggled with effectiveness (as well as injury) early in the season and lost some playing time to backup and red zone specialist Montell Cozart.

Rypien regained form to lead the Broncos to a dominant 31-14 upset victory over San Diego State and was the driving force behind a stretch that included nine wins in the final 10 games of the season. With Cozart out of eligibility, the 6-foot-2, 208-pound rising senior should take every meaningful snap again next season.

In addition to solid quarterback play, we can expect Boise State to be solid on defense. Head coach Bryan Harsin must find a replacement for leading tackler Leighton Vander Esch, who left school early for the NFL Draft, but there should be plenty of options to choose from as 19 of the team’s next 20 players on the leaderboard return.

Weaknesses:

Rypien must find a new favorite target. Cedrick Wilson, who caught 83 passes for 1,531 yards and seven touchdowns (while being targeted 136 times) last season, is out of eligibility. The 6-foot-3 wideout caught 18 touchdown passes in four seasons with the Broncos.

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