Boise State’s New Years Six and Mountain West Conference title hopes took a big hit on Sunday. Starting quarterback Ryan Finley will probably miss the next eight weeks after breaking his ankle in Friday night’s game against lowly Idaho State.
Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin announced the injury status on Sunday, saying Finley broke a bone in his ankle, but he was unsure what the treatment process will be. That should become more clear on Monday.
With Finley on the sideline rehabbing his ankle, Harsin says both backup quarterbacks -- freshman Brett Rypien and sophomore Thomas Stuart -- should be expected to play. The two have combined to throw 22 pass attempts this season, completing 17 of those for 196 yards and a touchdown.
Boise State’s next eight weeks consist of six Mountain West Conference games, one game against Virginia and a bye week. If Finley is out for eight weeks he would miss Boise State’s road games at Virginia, Colorado State, Utah State and UNLV and home games against Hawaii, Wyoming and possibly New Mexico. Finley could return to play Air Force in Boise on November 20 if he only has to be out for eight weeks and can return after that, but that stretch of eight games is a tough one with Virginia, Utah State and Colorado State all being played on the road.
Boise State has already lost once and now may have little margin for error in the race to the New Years Six, if not just the Mountain West Conference.