Broncos head to Hawaii on a mission

BOISE — A road game at Hawaii presents many different challenges for the Boise State football team than any other road trip would.

There’s the more-than six-hour flight the Broncos took Thursday to travel from Boise to Honolulu. There’s the four-hour time change they had to face upon landing.

And that’s not to mention the potential distraction of being by the beach while they are there.

But the Broncos (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West) are there for a reason: They want to go into Hawaii and leave with a victory over the Warriors (2-3, 0-1).

“The flight’s going to be long,” said defensive linemen Braxton Fely. “So, catching up on hydration, catching up on sleep on that plane, it’s going to be crucial for us. Then, obviously there’s the beach. There’s a lot of people, family members out there. So just it’s just staying focused on keeping the main thing the main thing.”

The game kicks off at 9 p.m. MDT, or 5 p.m. in Hawaii. That is roughly 48 hours after the Broncos landed in Honolulu for the game. On Monday, head coach Spencer Danielson said that the team would take the time to enjoy the beach.

But he stressed the Broncos need to remain focused on the game. All the potential pitfalls, he says, come with taking the trip to Hawaii.

“It’s a hard place to play and win,” said Danielson. “Their record at home is really good for a reason. Guys go there that are these high-flying offenses or great defenses and they struggled over there in the past. So, for me, as a coach, I am always up front and intentional about the challenge ahead. ... Part of that is in between the lines, but part of that is also the distractions, the travel, all the other things that we have to battle, which is a part of this opponent.”

How the Broncos said they planned on handling Thursday’s long plane ride differed from man to man. Fely said he planned on downloading movies on a tablet, then kill the time watching those and playing games.

Others plan to sleep or study their playbook. Danielson said he planned to watch TV copies of Hawaii’s games to try and see if he can pick up something different than he did on game film. He also had video from the Broncos’ practice on Thursday to go over.

And after that, he said, he’s a big podcast guy.

A deeply religious man, he’ll listen to podcasts from pastors. But don’t box him into just religious podcasts on the flights. Danielson also revealed this week that he’s a bit of a history buff and will often explore that category.

They sometimes even influence the way he coaches.

“I love history, so I’ll listen to history podcasts about different times of life,” Danielson said. “You can escape and learn about something new and a lot of the stories I learn from there, I can find ways to relate to football and talk to our team.”

The potential challenges will be everywhere for the Broncos this weekend. But they embrace them. And when the ball kicks off Saturday evening in Hawaii, they hope to be ready to overcome them.

“Definitely after we get our work in and we do the things we need to do there, it’s going be good for us to relax and enjoy the scenery,” said safety Rodney Robinson. “But all the while we have to stay focused on the mission.”