Minutes after arriving in Phoenix, the national spotlight of an appearance on college football’s brightest stage drawing closer, Maddux Madsen smirked. He had forgotten something.
The Boise State quarterback was speaking in front of a crowd that had just greeted his team after landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for the Fiesta Bowl. Broncos defensive end Ahmed Hassanein sat next to him with a black shirt with blue words that read, “please count us out.”
When the pair were asked about those shirts, Madsen unzipped his jacket to reveal he was also wearing a shirt with the same words.
It’s a message Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson had delivered for weeks. And the Broncos’ signal caller has embodied that mentality.
“Personally, I’ve dealt with this my whole life, so to kind of have the team, obviously getting the three seed and a bye is where it initially started. A lot of people didn’t feel like we deserved it. But really what did we do to not?” Madsen said. “I know this team is going to take on this underdog mentality. That’s what Boise State is built on. You heard that all week. But these shirts, it was kind of cool to get this, just because it’s the truth. Everyone is counting us out.”
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Fiesta Bowl Time, Date & TV Channel
Penn State (12-2) will play Boise State (12-1) in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
The game, which is one of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchups, will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
And even if Madsen isn’t the focal point of Boise State’s game plan, Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Tom Allen said Madsen is the most underrated part of the Broncos’ offense.
“He doesn’t get a lot of press, but he’s a tough, gritty kid that is accurate with what they ask him to do,” Allen said. “He’s very, very effective. That’s a testament to the scheme that they put together. Coach (Dirk) Koetter has done a tremendous job with that, and just putting him in conflicts so you can’t gang up on him and trying to stop the run game. I think he distributes the ball well, and he can throw on the move.
“The movement throws they use with him, he’s very good at. He’s also got the ability to run the ball. He made some tough runs and some big runs at some critical times. I always look for that when I’m watching an offense, and just to be able to see, can he make something out of nothing? Can he take tough situations and be able to extend plays and get key first downs and make the right throws at the right time? That, to me, is a big deal.”
Maddux Madsen Stats
Maddux Madsen is the only quarterback in the country with at least 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns passing as well as three or fewer interceptions.
“That’s one of the reasons he’s our starting quarterback. He takes care of the football,” Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. “He doesn’t beat us. He doesn’t get us beat. Any player, but a quarterback touches it every play. Quarterback doesn’t always need to win the game, but he also can’t lose the game for you.”
The 5-foot-10, 201-pound quarterback from American Fork, Utah, has thrown for 2,714 yards, 22 touchdowns, and three interceptions on a 62% completion rate this year. He’s also rushed for 224 yards and five touchdowns on 50 carries.
After appearing in nine games last season, he’s totaled 3,948 yards, 31 touchdowns, and six interceptions while completing 308 of 497 throws (62%) and rushing for 345 yards and seven scores.
“Maddux has gotten better week in and week out. He’s an elite competitor. He has complete and total control of our offense, and he’s continually gotten better every single week, and I think he’s put together a great redshirt sophomore campaign,” Danielson said. “His touchdown-interception ratio, he takes care of the football. He makes the big-time throws. … I trust Maddux through the roof. Our team trusts Maddux through the roof. And I think his best football is even in front of him. But I’m so proud of the year he’s had to date, and I know he’s prepping and how he’s getting ready. He’s gonna have a really good Fiesta Bowl.”
Maddux Madsen’s Boise State Career
Madsen’s path to starting in a Fiesta Bowl wasn’t easy. The path to becoming the starter at all at Boise State wasn’t easy.
A three-star recruit while playing at American Fork High School in Utah, Madsen’s only FBS offers were from Boise State and New Mexico.
He played in one game during his redshirt season in 2022. But in 2023, he began to see playing time.
He appeared in nine games but made only one start. He saw sporadic playing time while Taylen Green, the 2022 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, started most of Boise State’s contests last year.
After head coach Andy Avalos was fired and Danielson was promoted mid-season, Green transferred to Arkansas, which should’ve provided a clear path for Madsen to become the starter.
Instead, five-star prospect Malachi Nelson transferred from USC, and Madsen had no choice but to continue to compete for the starting job. And that’s exactly what he did. He was named the starter before Boise State’s first game of the season, which confused and even angered some of the Broncos fan base.
But he hasn’t disappointed.
“Personally, I’ve never tried to sell myself short of hard work,” Madsen said. “That’s something that I know I can look back on. Even those times if I’m struggling with certain things, I look back to those moments in the summer for myself of what I did with certain guys to kind of get myself better. That’s where I’m proud of myself, because I know I came a long way in the way I prepare and what I do to try and put myself in a good position, not just for myself, but for the team.”
Boise State tight end Matt Lauter said he realized this summer that “Maddog” as coaches and teammates call Madsen could “operate the offense at the highest level.”
“I love the way he carries himself. I like his moxie,” Koetter said. “I like his confidence. I wish he wasn’t however tall he is. I wish he was as tall as (Penn State quarterback Drew Allar), but he’s not. Maddog maximizes his talent, and that’s all you can ask out of any player.”
Madsen noted how pivotal the knowledge and confidence of Koetter has been to his development this fall. He added the additional belief from his teammates has provided him further belief in himself.
“He’s been a baller since he stepped foot on campus,” Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty said. “From the work he’s put in, his preparation, he’s dialed every single day. Even sometimes he’s telling me to lock in. I’m a little goofy, playing around sometimes, but he’s telling me to lock in, focus up. But he’s just grown each and every single year and gotten better. Just this season alone, he’s gotten better each and every single week. He knows what it takes to win. Obviously, everybody wants to win, but he knows what it takes to win. He’s willing to put the work in to get the results.”
Koetter, who’s been a head coach in the NFL, believes the best quarterbacks are consistent, magnify their teammates’ talents, and make positive plays in critical moments.
Madsen isn’t great yet, Koetter stressed. But he’s making the right steps.
Koetter struggled to narrow down exactly how Madsen’s off-field approach has allowed him to be so successful early in his career. But he noted Madsen is excellent with his film study, and because of it, will recall opponents’ tendencies he noticed from that study and will apply that knowledge to his in-game decisions.
“I don’t want to say the guy has got a photographic memory, because I think he just got a B in science. But the guy is sharp,” Koetter said. “Being smart and being able to apply what you know in the exact moment that you need to know it, that’s what great ones have. He’s not there yet as far as being a great one, but he’s come a long way.”
Boise State QB Maddux Madsen’s Fiesta Bowl Appearance
Madsen recognized that the Fiesta Bowl is the most substantial stage he’s played on to date. But when he begins to think about the gravity of the moment, he catches himself.
He begins to hone his thoughts. He must treat it like any other game. His focus, he reminds himself, will allow him to play the way he needs to.
He saw teams in the first round of the CFP were energetic before their games and said they were “amped up to what they’re not built to be.” And he then saw those teams lose in lopsided fashion.
“I know some people might want to say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Madsen said. “But I know the guys that are in this building, and we’re just going to continue to work and get better as a program.”
Danielson emphasized the importance of taking care of the ball in the postseason. He believes the two stats which correlate most to winning in the Fiesta Bowl will be explosive plays and turnover margin.
That sentiment is especially vital against Penn State, which just defeated SMU in the first round of the CFP after returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the first half.
Madsen hasn’t given his coaches much reason to doubt him thus far, though, even if Penn State’s secondary is loaded with defensive backs who will undoubtedly make things difficult for the Broncos.
“Don’t beat yourself. Stay relentless. This is a really good football team that we are playing,” Danielson said. “It will be a heavyweight fight. We have to stay in it punch after punch.”
Madsen – or rather, Maddog – has proven he’s capable of fighting back.
