Everything Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said after losing to Notre Dame football

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson spoke to the media for just under 13 minutes following his team’s 28-7 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement

“Appreciate your guys’ time. Obviously after a game like that, that hurts. We got to find a way to win those games. But first and foremost, always for me, thank you Jesus for an opportunity to coach this team. I’m so confident in this team. Love this team. Had every opportunity to win. And that’s what everybody says after they lose a game, but I really did feel that way.

“I’m proud of how our guys battled tonight. I feel way different than after we lost game one of the season to South Florida where I felt like we didn’t at times. Tonight, I felt like we really battled. Our team never quit. Obviously some self-inflicted stuff happened in regards to penalties or mistakes on our end that we got to fix. But I’m proud of our guys or battling. Proud of them for never quitting. Even on the sideline, there was no pointing fingers. Didn’t see anybody start quitting. They glued together. I believe there is unity. God commands a blessing. We got to stay close. We just have to find a way to execute better.

“In a game when you have four turnovers, I don’t care who you’re playing — especially a top 10 team like Notre Dame — you’re not going to win. So we have to protect the football. We moved the football really well offensively today. We had our moments. But we can’t have penalties that put us behind the sticks. We got to find a way to get open in man coverage more consistently. We got to make sure we don’t turn the ball over.

“Defensively, we gave up too many explosive runs. And it came down to tackling. Sometimes we were off, sometimes out defensive line got reached and linebackers weren’t fast enough to fit. We got to get off blocks at linebacker. And we had to do a better job tackling. There were times in the game we did a good job. We knew these two tailbacks were really good. But we got to tackle better. I know we talk about that a lot. We got to continue to find ways to get ball carriers on the ground. There were a couple critical third downs on defense when we got to get off the field. Especially with an explosive offense. I mean, that’s one of the top offenses in the country. And we were doing a good job. We got to get off the field on third down.

“A lot of things, as a coach, frustrate me just in regards to how a play ended if it’s either a lack of fundamentals, a lack of technique. But I am proud of how our team battled. And at Boise State, we have to find a way to win these games. Period. End of story. And we haven’t. And that’s on me. I got to look at it to see what’s missing. How can we coach it better? How can we teach it better? We got to be problem solvers. We got to find ways to win these games. You don’t come out here for a trip. We don’t come out here to enjoy the scenery. We come out here to win. And we didn’t. And we had every right to, and we didn’t.

“Hats off to Notre Dame. Very well coached. Coach Freeman has done a phenomenal job with his team. I know they’re going to be really good and always will be really good because they got the right guy at the helm. Proud of how our guys battled. We didn’t do enough to win tonight, and that’s on me. It’s on our staff to find a way to get it fixed.”

On Boise State’s turnovers and missed tackles

“Yeah, we had a couple of self-inflicted penalties today. Some of the holdings, and we had an offensive PI those are bang-bang plays. I gotta look at the film to see what we’re missing, maybe teaching-wise, but I can live in that space. We gotta find a way to not have those happen. But I think we were even in penalties, both sides. I think Notre Dame had theirs, we had ours.

“But what hurts you is false start penalties, get you behind the sticks. Some procedure penalties that can’t happen. And on the flip side, I mean, we put ourself in tough situations. That’s where a lot of these turnovers came up, right? We gotta find a way to win in man coverage. We have to. In teams that got a really good secondary, like Notre Dame does, we gotta find a way to win in man coverage, and we gotta be consistent with running the football. And we didn’t tonight. And that’s what happened.

“So you can get yards, but if you turn the ball over, and you shoot yourself in the foot with penalties, you’re not gonna be able to score points. And against a really good team like Notre Dame, we gotta use every possession.”

On why Boise State has a penalty problem

“Yeah, obviously it’s something we’re missing as coaches. It’s something we gotta continue to look at. And just like anything, if we were to win this game, which I believe coming into this, we were, I’m gonna give Jesus all the glory, give our coaches, our players. When we lose, it’s on me. It’s on me, and I don’t say that lightly. I don’t say it as like, that’s the nice thing to say. I believe that. Obviously for me, and how we practice, how we teach, that’s what we control as coaches. By the time you get to the game, we’re not gonna over-coach them. It’s time to go cut it loose because you’re gonna be who you are in the game. And so we gotta see in practice, and what we’re teaching, obviously it’s too many penalties.

“We lost the game tonight because we turned the ball over and we didn’t get off the field on some critical third downs. And that’s why we lost the game. Penalties are big. Now, penalties turned into turnovers because we’re now on fourth downs and third longs and that’s where you start being careless with the football a little bit. And that’s what can clean that up.”

On Notre Dame’s secondary

“Yeah, they did a really good job in their man coverage. Even with some shifts, some motions, they did a good job locking on. We didn’t have a lot of guys running free, and hats off to their defensive scheme. They did a good job. And we were able to move the ball a little bit, and then by the time we got open in man coverage, their front was able to get home. Great plan by Coach Ash, Coach Freeman. I mean, they did a really good job.”

On Notre Dame having 4 sacks

“Yeah, I mean, they had their switch-ups for us, which every good team will, and they did a good job of their defensive plan. But it’s a trickle-down effect, right? If no one’s open downfield, that’s going to give time for the rush to get home. And they worked really well together as a defense.”

On Maddux Madsen throwing 4 interceptions

“Yeah, I got to look at it, BJ. I mean, obviously, the easy answer is he’s got to make the right throw, but without watching the film, me, different than our coordinators, I don’t get time to get on the iPad and see what’s going on. The second one side of the ball is off the field, I’m right onto the next side of the ball, so I’m going to have to watch the film, BJ. Obviously, I know there’s some throws that Maddux missed tonight, there’s some turnovers that we can’t have, but we’re also, we’re not in good situations, right? And that’s holistic Coaching, players, we can’t be in third long all the time, right? That’s hats off to Notre Dame’s defense and us not executing when we need to on first and second down. So got to watch the film to really evaluate it.

“I know Maddux is a competitor. He’s hard on himself. I know he’s beating himself up, but this is a team. I mean, we didn’t lose the game tonight because Maddux Madsen had some interceptions. We lost the game because we lost as a team, and there’s going to be things in all three phases. I mean, you look at the first punt of the game, we’re running down on punt, and we get a fair catch, and we start to slow down a gunner, and that ball falls on the ground. Those are plays we got to find a way to win. We didn’t tonight.

So, long-winded answer, BJ. We got to look at the film, and, obviously, where there’s interceptions in the game, the first finger is going to be pointed at the starting quarterback. We got to watch the film. But either way, we got to find a way to take care of the football, and we just got to be more efficient on first and second down.”

On a Boise State penalty early in the second half that set the Broncos’ offense back

“Yeah, from my vantage point, didn’t look like a foul. Obviously, they called it the way they need to, and that’s a good officiating crew, so we’ll look at the film. It is what it is. I mean, obviously, those are huge moments, momentum swings, but as a team, good teams find a way to overcome those, and we didn’t tonight.”

On Madsen

“He’s a competitor. I mean, that’s the thing about, however a game goes, the first finger gets pointed at the head coach, as it should, and then usually, people try and nitpick the starting quarterback, right? I don’t care where you’re at, who you are, that’s football in general. Maddux Madsen’s a warrior. I will go to war with Maddux Madsen any day of the week, and there’s not a quarterback in the country that I would like to be the quarterback of our team than Maddux Madsen, period, end of story. We’ll watch the film, and find ways for him to continue to grow.”

On the Boise State passing game suffering because the running game was ineffective

“It’s both sides, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s much easier to throw the football when you’re able to run efficiently, right? When you’re stopping the run, you’re playing second and 10, third and 10, then it’s time for the question about the pass rush. Then it’s time for Notre Dame to pin their ears back and go get the quarterback, right? And then that gives time for the rush to get home, and then we got to win in man coverage. So it’s a trickle-down effect. If I can’t win first down, if we can’t establish a run game, which we really did in tonight, it’s gonna be hard for us to win in the pass game. We are built to run the football. We are built to wear a defense down, and then pick our shots. We weren’t able to pick our shots tonight, and that’s hats off to Notre Dame.”

On Notre Dame taking the lead back right before halftime

“Huge. I mean, they won the middle eight. They won the middle eight, and that’s a huge, huge stat in college football, right? And we gotta find a way to make sure that doesn’t happen. We get the momentum back, up one point, great job by our team, find a way to claw back, getting ready to go into halftime, and they moved down the field effortlessly, right? Missed tackles, there was a big third and long that we missed too. Like, you can’t lose those downs, and we did tonight.

“So we gotta look at it and see, okay, what are we missing? Is it lack of fundamentals and technique? I know tackling is gonna show up in a major way, and that’s something, guys, we’re gonna continue to work and continue to find better ways to do it. And I know I’m gonna probably get asked on Monday’s conference, you keep bringing up tackling, and I’m gonna bring it up again because we gotta continue to find ways to do it better. And I know we practice it, but we gotta find a way, what are we missing? I don’t know, we’re gonna look at it and find a way. We’re problem solvers, and I’m excited to get to work on it.”

On if injuries led to Boise State struggling to run the ball

“Yeah, we had some guys banged up in the interior line. We had to kind of rotate. But I believe in our offensive front, I believe in our schemes to run the football. Like, that’s a mentality for us. We’re never gonna go into a game and be like, yeah, this is not a game we need to run the football in. That is a mentality of Boise State football, and we couldn’t do it tonight, right? And is there some things schematically, play call? No question, right? We’ll look at that and see kind of where we’re missing it. But we gotta find a way to make sure we run the football so it’s not second 11, right? That’s a hard spot to be in offensively.

“Once again, hats off to Notre Dame, we’ll look at the film, but we have to establish a run game to be successful. And that’s not different at Boise State than anywhere else. Notre Dame established a run game, right? They established a run game early on in the game, and then that’s hard as a defensive play caller to stop because now you’re second guessing yourself.”

On this being a non-conference loss

“Yeah, BJ, I mean, obviously it’s always the next game, no matter if we won this game, it’d still be, our focus would be on New Mexico, which is a huge league opponent, and they’ve played really, really well. But this one hurts. I mean, like I said, I don’t run from the fact that we have to find a way to win these football games, and I believe we will. We didn’t this year, we didn’t last year, and that’s on me. And I don’t— there’s no excuse. And I’ve heard all the excuses. Well, no. There’s 11 dudes on the field, we got 11 guys, we gotta find a way to win, and we didn’t, and that’s on me.

“And I’m excited to find a way to get it fixed because we gotta find a way to win these football games. Bronco Nation traveled so well. I mean, I got pictures of the Boise airport yesterday, packed, coming to see the Broncos in South Bend. They didn’t come out here just for us to try. They came out here to see us win, and we didn’t. Once again, hats off to Notre Dame, it’s a really good football team, but we gotta be better. Jay, last one.

On Notre Dame’s resource advantage and that making it tougher for Bpise State to win this type of game

“Yeah, Jay, good question. I mean, there’s absolutely a reality of that. So I’m not running from that. And we have the best athletic director in the country in Jeremiah Dickey. I believe in our support, and we need to continue to grow our resources. Have to, no question about it. But right now, this season, 2025, we have enough. There’s no scoreboard where it shows Notre Dame’s money, Boise State’s money. There’s only one scoreboard, and we lost that scoreboard tonight, and that’s on me as the head coach, that’s on us to get it fixed.

“So, we have enough. I knew going into this season we had enough to win every single game we played in, and we’ve lost two, and that’s on me to get it fixed. Not running from the fact that I know in the future, we gotta find a way to continue to push forward, and raise resources, and continue to pour into our team and what we’re doing, and I know we will. I know we will. I believe in our administration. I believe what God is doing with our team. But we have enough, and we didn’t get it done.”