‘It’s my offense to run,’ Boise State quarterback on new-look attack

Quarterback Maddux Madsen played a supporting role in Boise State’s offense last season as Ashton Jeanty ran wild.

Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns en route to a runner-up finish in the Heisman Trophy voting. 

With Jeanty receiving extra attention from defenses, Madsen put together a strong sophomore season for the Broncos. The 5-foot-10, 201-pound quarterback completed 247 of 396 passes for 3,018 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Entering his junior season, Madsen is ready to move into a starring role for the Boise State offense. He was voted Mountain West preseason offensive player of the year and is one of the Broncos’ four captains for the 2025 season. 

“Maddux, he’s one of the biggest growths I’ve ever seen this offseason in terms of how hard he’s worked both off the field and on the field,” left tackle Kage Casey said after Monday’s opening practice of fall camp. “He’s going to be taking a huge step up this year.” 

Madsen said his biggest areas of growth in the offseason were accuracy, leadership and downfield passing. 

“The fine details of accuracy, and then obviously kind of a whole operation thing,” Madsen said. “I feel like I’ve wanted to take a huge step in that, realizing it’s my offense to run, so that was a big emphasis for sure. 

“Throwing the ball down the field, taking shots, has been another one. That’s something I feel like I’ve worked on a lot. … I know that’s an emphasis in our offense, especially to create a play-action game where we can throw the ball down the field.” 

Madsen was also effective as a runner last season, recording 57 carries for 221 yards and five touchdowns. He has seven rushing TDs as a Bronco.

Boise State lacks experience in the quarterback room behind Madsen with backups Kaleb Annett (zero career snaps) and Max Cutforth (two career passes), but Madsen doesn’t plan to scale back his running in 2025. 

“There’s a time and a place to run the football,” Madsen said. “I think a lot of it will fall on me on when I get down, and I can say I’m not the greatest at that. (Former offensive coordinator Dirk) Koetter was always on me about that last year. Going forward, something I have to (emphasize is) protecting my body a little bit, but I want to run the ball. I think it’s an 11 on 11 game, so let’s make it that way.”