Boise State Football: Grading Every New Starter's Week 1 Performance

It was a painful night for the Boise State Broncos and their fans.

Never before has a Chris Petersen team been dominated like Saturday night in Seattle. As the game rolled on, it was clear that Washington had come to play. The Huskies beat the Broncos in every area of the game, and they sent Boise State back to Idaho, and back to the drawing board.

Still, you have to think that head coach Chris Petersen will look closely at his team's performance, or lack thereof, and find a way to regroup and be ready for a Mountain West Conference schedule that will be demanding.

Of course, before that starts, the team will have to deal with Tennessee-Martin at home next week. A game that, in hindsight, doesn't seem like such a bad scheduling option after all.

There were only a few bright spots for the Broncos in the 38-6 thumping they took.

With 14 new starters in 2013, it may have been expected that a Washington team with 20 returning starters would dominate. However, that just hasn't been the history of Boise under Petersen.

Let's look at those 14 starters and see how they did Saturday night in Seattle.

One of the bright spots for Boise State was Jay Ajayi.

Ajayi powered his way to 93 net yards on 23 carries. He was also responsible for the longest play of the night for the Broncos with an 18-yard scamper.

Overall, it wasn't incredible, but it was decent.

Game Grade: B

Geraldo Boldewijn was another bright spot, even if it was not a dominating performance by the senior.

On the night, Boldewijn caught eight passes for 62 yards. However, his longest gain was just 16 yards, and that isn't what Boise State needs from the speedster who is supposed to help stretch the field.

Game Grade: B-

Tight end Gabe Linehan didn't really get into the action much on Saturday. He caught one pass for five yards.

You can probably blame that on the vanilla play-calling. As the game progressed the Boise State offense just didn't look like a Boise State offense.

It was predictable and bland. Coach Petersen will need to spice it up soon, or it could be a very long season.

Game Grade: C-

The line was a mixed bag. They opened up running lanes at times, but quarterback Joe Southwick was harassed more than usual.

Still, overall, the line looked decent. The three new starters held their own, but they will need to get better.

Game Grade: C

The defensive line struggled Saturday night. They did not get pressure on Husky quarterback Keith Price, and Washington running back Bishop Sankey found space in the middle.

This group will need to step up in a big way as the season rolls on. The Broncos face the option of Air Force and excellent passing attack of Fresno State in the next few weeks.

If the defensive line doesn't step up, the Broncos are going to have a hard time shutting those teams down.

Game Grade: D

The Boise State linebackers struggled as well. However, the entire defense was on the field too long.

Not to second guess anyone, but it might have been better to utilize the old offense to allow the defense to rest.

Matching no-huddle, hurry-up offense with the same didn't go well for the Broncos. With limited success, the inevitable result was an exhausted defense that held its own early but was wore out late.

The linebackers were all over the field, but ineffective. It was partly the circumstances out their control, but nevertheless, they get a subpar grade.

Tyler Gray finished with just five tackles, Blake Renaud had seven and Jonathan Brown had to leave the game with an injury in the second quarter.

Brown will be out for around six weeks. Corey Bell will be his replacement, and Bell finished the game with eight tackles, which led the team.

Game Grade: D

The young corners were challenged early and often.

At first it looked like they would answer the call in a big way when Donte Deayon picked off a Keith Price pass early in the first quarter.

However, that would be the last of the highlight reel for the cornerbacks of Boise State.

The corners will certainly need some work. The stage looked too big for them Saturday night, and if the Broncos don't get this fixed, Fresno State will light them up even worse than Keith Price did.

Game Grade: D-

Another bright spot for Boise State is its field-goal kicker.

Although his first kick was blocked, Dan Goodale connected with two field goals on the night. In fact, he was the entire scoring offense for the Broncos.

He connected on kicks of 37 and 20 yards, respectively. Goodale also did a great job on kickoffs. He had a touchback, and he averaged 60 yards per kick.

Game Grade: B