The 1980 Boise State Broncos football team represented

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

in the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

and played their home games at

Bronco Stadium Albertsons Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Known as Bronco S ...

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. They were led by fifth-year head coach

Jim Criner Jim Criner (born March 30, 1940) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Boise State University from 1976 to 1982 and at Iowa State University from 1983 to 1986, compiling a career record of as a college footbal ...

and the "Four Horseman" senior backfield: quarterback Joe Aliotti, fullback

David Hughes David Hughes may refer to: Arts *Dave Hughes (born 1970), Australian comedian *Dave Hughes (producer), American television producer and editor *David Hughes (illustrator), British illustrator *David Hughes (Emmerdale), fictional character in the I ...

, halfback

Cedric Minter Cedric Alwyn Minter (born November 13, 1958), is a former professional football player, an award-winning running back in the Canadian Football League. After his playing career, Minter became an educator and is currently a junior high school assis ...

, with halfback Terry Zahner in reserve. The previous season, the Broncos had a 10–1 record and were undefeated in the Big Sky, but were on probation for a scouting violation in November 1978, making them ineligible for the conference title or the 1979 I-AA playoffs.

Regular season

The Broncos finished the regular season in 1980 at 8–3 and 6–1 in conference to win their fifth Big Sky title in eleven seasons, their first since 1977. BSU defeated their two

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

opponents, but lost a road contest in November to

Cal Poly-SLO California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

, the eventual Division II national champions, whom they had routed at the end of the previous season. The Broncos easily defeated

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, then ranked ninth, for the fourth consecutive year in mid-October in Boise. During halftime of the Nevada-Reno game on November 8, BSU dedicated the playing field at Bronco Stadium to

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

and former head coach

Lyle Smith Lyle Hilton Smith (March 17, 1916 – July 26, 2017) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University&mdas ...

. The only conference setback was a one-point loss in late September at

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

, the difference was a last-minute two-point conversion.

Division I-AA playoffs

The Broncos were invited to the four-team I-AA playoffs. As Big Sky champions with a substantial stadium and fan base, BSU was chosen to host in the first round, a national semifinal on December 13, three weeks after the completion of the regular season. The opponent was Grambling State, coached by legend Eddie Robinson. The Broncos won 14–9 in sub-freezing fog and advanced to the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game the following week in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

against defending champion , coached by

Roy Kidd Roy Kidd (born December 4, 1931) is a former collegiate football league player and coach. He served as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 1964 to 2002, compiling a record of 314–124–8. Kidd's Eastern Kentucky Colonels won N ...

. In a back-and-forth contest played in the fog at Hughes Stadium in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, Boise State won 31–29 to win their only I-AA national title. The Broncos returned to the I-AA semifinals the following season and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and the title game in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

; they moved up to

Schedule

Roster

:BSU gameday program – Boise State vs. Nevada, Reno – November 8, 1980 – Probable starters, rosters, p. 21–25

NFL Draft

One Bronco senior was selected in the 1981 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds (332 selections).

References

External links

Bronco Football Stats
– 1980 {{1980 Division I-AA football playoff navbox Boise State Boise State Broncos football seasons NCAA Division I Football Champions Big Sky Conference football champion seasons

Boise State Broncos football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on ...