College Football Game Lines – Boise State Returns To An Unfriendly Stadium

The Boise State Broncos regularly win in San Jose’s Spartan Stadium, but they haven’t flourished there in recent years.  They are a 41-point favorite according to the college football games lines this week.

Boise State Broncos @ San Jose State Spartans

Saturday, October 16th – 8:05 PM ET 
Spartan Stadium, San Jose, CA 
Broadcast: KTVB 

College Football Game Lines: Boise State -41, San Jose State +41 
Total: 56

Are the Boise State Broncos in danger of losing this Saturday’s game against the San Jose State Spartans? Probably not. Yet, if you’ve followed the history of this WAC rivalry when it’s played in Silicon Valley, you might want to see how the first one and a half quarters play out at Spartan Stadium. 
 
Boise State’s been the dominant team in the WAC over the past decade, but even a brief overview of the Boise-San Jose series indicates that when the Broncos go to San Jose, interesting and weird things happen. 

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On two straight occasions, the Broncos visited Spartan Stadium when San Jose State nearly derailed BSU’s bids for undefeated regular seasons. In 2004, the Broncos needed two overtimes before escaping with a very tenuous 56-49 victory. Four years ago, in 2006, they scored 10 points in the final six minutes to shrug off a seven-point deficit against one of Dick Tomey’s very best San Jose squads. Boise State managed to win, 23-20, on kicker Anthony Montgomery’s 37-yard field goal on the last play of the game. Boise State went on to the Fiesta Bowl that season with its memorable and historic win over Oklahoma. 
 
Then, in 2008, things got easier for Boise State in San Jose… but not to the extent one might have expected at the time. Boise State didn’t exactly pound San Jose State into submission; the Broncos were once again knocked off course by San Jose State’s defense in Tomey’s final season at the helm with the Spartans. SJSU kept the game close through three quarters and trailed by only one score – 23-16 – entering the final stanza. Boise State’s defense held the Spartans in check, though, and as time of possession began to accumulate in BSU’s favor, the Broncos’ offensive front began to wear down San Jose. Boise posted 10 fourth-quarter points to sledgehammer its way to a 33-16 victory that was closer than the final score suggested. The Broncos have regularly won this game, but they haven’t operated on all cylinders – or anything close to such a level – whenever they’ve played in San Jose since 2004. 

College Football Game Lines: What Boise State Has To Do To Win

The Broncos need to be focused, because they haven’t been all that passionate in the first halves of their three most recent trips to San Jose. Boise State is a deserved 39.5-point favorite, but the Broncos simply need to act the part on the road.

College Football Game Lines: What San Jose State Has To Do To Win

San Jose State didn’t beat Nevada last week, but the Spartans actually looked like a somewhat decent team, a team that was much better than the San Jose squad which lost at home to an FCS team (UC Davis) earlier this season. SJSU needs to continue to play hard on defense and find ways of stopping Boise State in the red zone. With a few big plays on offense, SJSU could mess with Boise’s mind and create a tense second half, just as it’s been able to do the last three times when it has hosted the Broncos in California.

College Football Game Lines: Outlook & Pick 

San Jose covered a 39.5-point spread last week against Nevada, but this Boise State team is a lot better than Nevada and also wants to prove itself to the nation each and every week. The Broncos are better than they’ve ever been and have 21 returning starters this season. They’ll bring the hammer to San Jose State and cover the number this time at Spartan Stadium. 

College Football Game Lines Pick: Boise State -41