Boise State has its own questions, just further down the depth chart. All three leading receivers from last season are gone — Latrell Caples and Chase Penry used up their eligibility, and Chris Marshall transferred to Arkansas — so someone new has to emerge opposite Madsen. The Broncos also lost four starters out of last year's secondary. None of that changes the math against South Dakota specifically, but it's the backdrop for a Broncos team trying to find its identity three games into a season that started at Oregon and continues on the road at Western Michigan the following week.
This is also just the second all-time meeting between these programs, and the first at the FBS level for both. South Dakota's built its recent identity on physicality and defense, reaching the FCS quarterterfinals — er, quarterfinals — in three straight seasons under the previous staff. That pedigree buys the Coyotes some respect, but reputation doesn't fill five new starting spots on the offensive line.
Where this could get interesting is if South Dakota's new QB settles in fast and the Coyotes' portal pickups on the D-line and in the secondary give Boise some early trouble. Vitzthum inherited a program that knows how to win close games in the FCS ranks, and a defense anchored by Dixon, plus edge rushers Nathan Laperi and Nyle Dickel, isn't just there to make up the numbers.
Boise State's margin for error is basically nonexistent here in terms of public expectation — anything less than a comfortable win raises real questions about the receiver room and the new-look secondary heading into the Western Michigan trip. For South Dakota, this is about establishing what the Vitzthum era looks like against a genuinely good FBS team, not really about the scoreboard.