The Boise State–Idaho football rivalry was an intrastate

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

rivalry 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 ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

between the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

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

and

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

of the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The game was played annually 1971–2010, and with the exception of the 2001–2004 games, the rivalry was a conference game ( Big Sky 1971–1995,

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

1996–2000, and WAC 2005–2010). Boise State moved from the WAC to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and the rivalry went on hiatus, with no future games currently scheduled. The teams had played for the Governor's Trophy since 2001, won by BSU every year. In 2009, the game was televised nationally for the first time on

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remain ...

from

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 of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Known as Bronco Stadium f ...

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

. The fortieth and most recent game in the rivalry in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

was televised live in prime time on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

on Friday, November 12, from the

Kibbie Dome The P1FCU Kibbie Dome, known simply as the Kibbie Dome and formerly named the Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center, is a multi-purpose indoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It is the home of the Idaho Van ...

in Moscow.

Early games

The first meeting was in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, a season-opening night game at the year-old

on September 11. The game was originally scheduled to be played in

, but due to inclement weather in the spring, the Vandals' new stadium was a month behind schedule. Idaho rented BSU's stadium and was the "home" team, but the "visiting" Broncos built a 28–7 lead at halftime and pulled off a convincing 42–14 upset before 16,123 for an instant rivalry.

Tony Knap Anthony Joseph Knap (December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University from 1963 to 1966, Boise State University from 1968 to 1975, and the University of Nevada ...

went 10–2 in 1971 and won the Camellia Bowl, but their two losses were both in conference. Idaho went 8–3 for the best record to date in school history;

Don Robbins Donald Roy Robbinsacademics.utep.edu ...

were Big Sky champions, won eight consecutive games (a school record), and had three players selected in the

1972 NFL draft The 1972 NFL draft was the 37th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overal ...

. The second game was played at the end of the 1972 season, again in Boise before 14,516 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Vandals took a 7–0 halftime lead but Boise State responded in the third quarter with three touchdowns. Idaho returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown and the Vandal freshman back-up quarterback ran for a touchdown with three minutes remaining to pull within a point; another run on the two-point conversion gave Idaho the win and evened the series at a game each. It was the first Big Sky home loss for the Broncos, who dropped to 7–4. Idaho finished 1972 at 4–7. Bronco Stadium was expanded after the 1974 season and had the highest

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

in the Big Sky Conference. The rivalry contests with Idaho in Boise from

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

through

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

were the conferences' highest-attended games for those seasons.

Streaks

The Boise State–Idaho rivalry has been dominated by streaks. Upstart underdog Boise State College of the College Division ( Division II) easily won the initial game over University Division ( Division I) Idaho in the season opener in

; it was Boise State's first-ever game against a

University Division The NCAA University Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at the highest level of college sports. The University Division was first established as a basis ...

opponent. BSU became a university in 1974 and the Big Sky Conference moved to the new

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. BSU was 8–2–1 in the first eleven meetings with the Vandals, including five in a row (

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

– 81). Idaho immediately followed with twelve straight wins

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

– 93, and won 15 of 17 thru

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Boise State began its current 12-game winning streak in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, in which BSU has dominated the Vandals. The composite score for the most recent dozen games is 613–213, an average BSU victory margin of over 33 points per game, ranging from 14 to 58 points. Boise State has won 13 of 15 games over Idaho since both teams moved up to

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). As ...

(now FBS) in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Idaho returned to FCS (and the Big Sky) in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Governor's Trophy

When the Big West dropped football following the 2000 season, Boise State and Idaho joined different conferences. The Broncos moved up to the WAC, while Idaho joined the distant

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

as a "football only" member (and remained in the Big West for all other sports). In an effort to keep the intrastate rivalry strong, then

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Dirk Kempthorne Dirk Arthur Kempthorne (born October 29, 1951) is an American politician who served as the 49th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a ...

, a UI alumnus (1975) and former student body president, commissioned the Governor's Trophy, a traveling trophy awarded to the winning team. Since its inception in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

for the 31st game, the trophy has yet to travel, as Boise State has won all ten games. During the four seasons (2001–2004) as a non-conference game, it was played early in the season. Idaho joined the WAC in 2005 to return the rivalry to a late-season conference game. Idaho has never won the trophy; BSU has handily won all ten games played for it. Since the

game, no games have been scheduled and none are scheduled for the immediate future. A few months before the teams' most recent meeting in Moscow in 2010, BSU president

Bob Kustra Robert Walter Kustra (born March 21, 1943) is an American politician and academic administrator who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1998, President of Eastern Kentucky University from 1998 to 2001, and President of Boi ...

expressed his displeasure with the behavior of Idaho fans. He told the editorial board of the ''

Idaho Statesman The ''Idaho Statesman'' is the daily newspaper of Boise, Idaho, in the western United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History The paper was first published as the ''Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman'' on July 26, 1864, by James S. Reynold ...

'' (Boise) that he and his wife no longer attended the series games in Moscow because Idaho fans had "a culture that is nasty, inebriated and civilly doesn't give our fans the respect that any fan should expect when visiting an away team." Subsequently, a Moscow bar sold

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

s reading "Nasty, inebriated" for Idaho fans.

Accomplishments

Game results

Coaching records

Since first game in 1971

Boise State

Idaho

* Only tie was in 1975; the Big Sky enacted overtime for conference games in 1980, and all Division I games went to overtime in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boise State-Idaho football rivalry College football rivalries in the United States Boise State Broncos football Idaho Vandals football 1971 establishments in Idaho Recurring sporting events established in 1971