‘That guy is legit.’ Boise State kicker goes from walk-on to Mountain West’s best

Kicker Jonah Dalmas probably won’t get a snow plow named after him like running back Ashton Jeanty, but his successors will have a hard time replicating his career in a Boise State uniform just the same.

Dalmas made two field goals in No. 21 Boise State’s 62-30 victory over Utah State on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium to become the Mountain West’s sole leader in career field goals made, with 85.

He’s also Boise State’s all-time total points leader with 451 career points. Dalmas drilled field goals of 48 and 42 yards in the third quarter and was 8-for-8 on PATs against the Aggies. (Yes, the dynamic offense scored seven touchdowns, six of them in the first half, and special teams accounted for a kickoff return TD.)

“He’s just another testament to the culture here,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “That has nothing to do with me. That’s inbred in this place, and what it is for decades is about guys that have maybe been counted out, have a chip on their shoulder, and they want to just go earn it and prove everybody wrong.

“That’s Jonah Dalmas. He came here as a walk-on, earned the right to be on scholarship and now he’s a Mountain West record holder.”

Dalmas, a fifth-year senior out of Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, also entered Saturday’s game as the Mountain West’s career field-goal percentage leader, hitting them at a 88.3% clip.

“I’m very grateful and honored, but I wouldn’t be able to do the things that I can do unless it was for the staff and these players that are on this team,” Dalmas said. “They gave me all the motivation and confidence to go out and do what I do, so being able to accomplish this tonight is truly a blessing.”

Kickers aren’t often among the leaders of a college football team, but Dalmas has earned that right over the course of five seasons. He was the first player to reach out to quarterback Maddux Madsen before Madsen set foot on campus.

“It was cool to have Jonah be a guy I looked forward to walking in the building and be like, ‘Oh, I know that guy,’ and sit and talk to him,” Madsen said. “If you had to give a prime example of Boise State, I think Jonah’s one of those guys that can go right there. Obviously in the position that he’s in, it’s a little tough to have a whole team get behind you, but he does.

“He has our whole team’s complete, full trust. That guy is legit. He’s one of the best in the nation.”

Another Idaho native has career night

Borah graduate Austin Bolt joined Dalmas as another Gem State product to shine against the Aggies.

Bolt, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound redshirt senior, caught two touchdown receptions in the same game for the first time in his career. He finished with four catches for 24 yards, scoring both of his TDs in Boise State’s 35-point second quarter on receptions of 3 and 4 yards.

“Big-time, I’m proud of Austin,” Danielson said. “I think he had one of his better weeks of practice, and it shows. ... I’m excited for him to continue to improve, because we need him to.”

True freshman impresses on special teams

Avery Williams was a special teams player extraordinaire at Boise State, and he’s now in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. He scored his first college touchdown on an 81-yard punt return in 2017 at Albertsons Stadium.

Fans might have felt a bit of deja vu Saturday night.

True freshman Dylan Riley returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score in the second quarter, becoming the first Bronco to do so since Williams went 99 yards to the house against Hawaii in 2020. It was the second TD of Riley’s Boise State career, as he scored a rushing touchdown against Portland State.

Riley became the first player in Boise State’s FBS era (since 1996) to score a touchdown on his first career kickoff return. The last one to score on his first career return was Stefan Cobbs, who took a punt 81 yards to the end zone against UTEP on Sept. 10, 2021.

“What he did tonight, I promise you, he’s going to be doing a lot more of it,” Danielson said of Riley.