Andy Kotelnicki describes what he sees in Boise State's defense
Throughout the 2024 season, the national focus on the Boise State Broncos has been on their offense. Specifically, the focus has been on running back and Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty. However, for Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki the Broncos’ defense poses a unique challenge too.
Ahead of their game in the College Football Playoff, Kotelnicki praised the Boise State defense. In particular, he shared that the Broncos play team defense and create chaos that is difficult for offenses to manage.
“First of all, they play great team defense,” Andy Kotelnicki said. “They’re one of the top teams in the country in terms of sacks and disruption up front. So, they have some talented players on their defensive line for sure. But they play great complementary team defense. They have a nice pressure package that complements what their base defense is. They’ve played really good football throughout the course of the year. But certainly up front, as we talk every week, that’s going to be the battle. When you’re in Playoff football, this time of year playing football, you need to be good up front on both sides of the ball.”
Boise State enters the game against Penn State 32nd in the country in scoring defense, giving up 21.9 points per game. On top of that, the Broncos are 61st in total defense, giving up 361.9 yards per game. To Andy Kotelnicki’s point about the chaos that Boise State creates up front, the Broncos are fifth in tackles for a loss, snagging 8.0 tackles for loss per game. They’re also second in sacks in the country, snagging 3.92 per game. Those are plays that can kill otherwise promising drives.
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Penn State will look to counter that front seven with its own depth of offensive talent. That group has clearly been able to succeed in the trenches too, with the Nittany Lions ranked 18th in tackles for loss allowed, only giving up 3.71 per game. Penn State was also 18th in sacks allowed, giving up 1.07 sacks per game.
“What you see from them is you see a very disruptive defensive line,” Kotelnicki said. “You see a defense that’s making opponents have to earn their touchdowns and their points and they’re not really giving up things, which is what you would expect this time of year for a team that’s playing in the national Playoffs.”
The Boise State defense is led by defensive coordinator Erik Chinander. He had been the team’s defensive line coach in 2023 and was previously the defensive coordinator at UCF and Nebraska. Meanwhile, head coach Spencer Danielson worked his way up as a defensive assistant, including as the coordinator at Boise State.