Danielson: Broncos will name starting QB 'prior to game week'

BOISE — The race is on.

The Boise State football team officially kicks off fall camp on Wednesday, and while Bronco coach Spencer Danielson said there are a lot of different position battles he’s excited about in fall camp, there’s one in particular on the forefront of most Boise State fans’ minds: The race for starting quarterback.

Malachi Nelson and Maddux Madsen, who was limited in spring practice recovering from a knee injury, will battle against one another for the first time in camp. It’s a battle that Danielson aims to have finished by the time the Broncos begin game week preparation for the Aug. 31 opener at Georgia Southern.

“I will name a starter prior to game week, that’s our goal,” Danielson said Monday at his preseason press conference. “Maddux and Malachi will compete in everything they do. Maddux is full go, Malachi is as well, so let the completion begin.”

That timeline gives both quarterbacks three-plus weeks to go out and win the job. To start practice, Madsen will be given the “blue reps,” or first-team reps, while Nelson will be second-team, or “orange reps.”

“That will be moved around through fall camp,” Danielson said. “I want to see Malachi with some of the blues and see Maddux with the oranges. There’s going to be some transition, me and (offensive coordinator) Dirk (Koetter) are going to be working hand and hand through fall camp to make sure competition is through the roof.”

It’s a competition that has been debated ever since Nelson transferred to Boise State from USC back in January. Nelson, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, redshirted for the Trojans last season, which brings a lot of attention.

But for Koetter, that’s all that is — attention.

“Every media person has brought up this higher ceiling,” Koetter said. “What is a higher ceiling? That’s why we have all those practices, that’s why we go through all these scenarios and that’s why we have two-minute periods, red zone periods and short-yardage periods. A high ceiling, you can say that for guys at every position. Are we going to go out there and play guys with a high ceiling or are you going to play with the guys that give you the best chance to win?”

Of course, Madsen has already shown the Broncos what he can do on the field. He started the 2023 season winning the backup quarterback job in a battle with CJ Tiller, before eventually overtaking Taylen Green for the starting job. But his season ended with a PCL and MCL tear in a November game against New Mexico.

Green and Tiller have both since transferred out, but Madsen once again finds himself in a battle for the starting job. When asked if that put a bit of a chip on the quarterback’s shoulder, Koetter replied, “I can guarantee you that’s the case.”

Appearing in nine games last season, Madsen threw for 1,191 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for 120 more yards and two more scores.

“Maddux Madsen has a lot of equity with this team,” Danielson said. “You talk a lot about a guy that is humble and hungry, low-ego and high output, that’s Maddux Madsen. That’s who he is not only when I’m around him, that’s how his teammates see him and that’s what he was able to do last season before getting hurt.”

With Maddux limited by injuries in spring, Nelson battled with Tiller, who didn’t transfer out until after the spring. All throughout the spring, though, coaches praised Nelson’s ability to learn the Boise State playbook and understand the terminology of the Boise State offense, which was completely different from the terminology used at USC.

That growth continued throughout the summer.

“It’s been awesome to see him continue to take those strides,” Danielson said. “You got spring ball, then summer installs and now the third cycle is fall camp. Now there’s that confidence for him, too. There’s obviously little intricacies that you got to continue to learn in meetings and walkthroughs and everything you do. But now, he’s going to be able to go into fall camp practice one with a lot more confidence.”