This Boise State safety is heading to the Senior Bowl. Two more Broncos transfer

Ron Counts
·4 min read

Boise State safety JL Skinner will head to Mobile, Alabama, in late January for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The annual all-star game announced Monday on Twitter that Skinner accepted his invitation. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior has been on the radar of Senior Bowl scouts since the Broncos’ 2021 season opener at UCF.

Skinner will be in Mobile in late January for a week of practice, and the game is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2023.

“You see bigger guys usually play closer to the line of scrimmage, but you see him play on the hash and do some things in the deep part of the field that you don’t see a lot of big safeties do,” Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said.

The Senior Bowl has been a springboard to the NFL for Boise State players in recent years.

Custom-made suits and a mother’s love sparked this Boise State safety’s love of football

Wide receiver Khalil Shakir turned heads during practice last year, but an injury prevented him from playing in the game. He was picked by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of this year’s draft. Two years ago, tight end John Bates was taken by the Washington Commanders in the fourth round after an impressive showing in Mobile.

Skinner was named first-team All-Mountain West last week. After the regular season and the conference championship game, which the Broncos lost to Fresno State, he leads Boise State with four interceptions and ranks No. 2 on the team with 63 tackles.

Skinner has one game left in his Boise State career: The Broncos will face North Texas in the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 17 (7:15 p.m. Mountain time, ESPN).

A quick look at North Texas, Boise State’s bowl opponent. UTEP was a common foe

Two more players transfer

Three Boise State players have announced they will transfer since the Mountain West championship game.

Edge rusher Deven Wright and kicker Will Ferrin entered the portal on Monday. Tight end Tyneil Hopper announced on Sunday that he’ll spend his final year of eligibility elsewhere.

Wright, a junior, joined the Broncos in January after transferring from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. An illness kept him off the field in the spring and depth at edge made it tough for him to see playing time early in the season.

He has at least two years of eligibility remaining.

Wright’s snaps increased in the latter half of the season because of attrition at the position. Weber State transfer George Tarlas suffered a season-ending hip injury at Air Force, and Demitri Washington suffered a shoulder injury against BYU that kept him out until the conference title game. Boise State also lost pass rusher Isaiah Bagnah to the transfer portal in November.

Wright recorded the only sack of his Boise State career in the Broncos’ 41-3 win at Nevada.

Ferrin, a redshirt freshman, opened this season as the Broncos’ kickoff specialist. He also handled a few punts in Boise State’s regular-season win over Fresno State, but the last time he appeared in a game was a win at Air Force on Oct. 22. He missed the rest of the season for undisclosed reasons.

Despite title game loss, QB Taylen Green the ‘spark’ behind Boise State’s turnaround

Mean Green fire coach

Boise State’s opponent in the Frisco Bowl is in the market for a new head coach.

North Texas fired coach Seth Littrell on Sunday, just two days after his team fell to UTSA in the Conference USA championship game. Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett will serve as interim head coach in the Frisco Bowl, and North Texas President Neal Smatresk said the search for a new coach will begin immediately.

“We will be looking for a leader with the vision, energy, commitment, and organizational skills to elevate our program to a championship level,” Smatresk said in a statement.

Littrell went 44-44 in seven seasons at North Texas, and he led the team to a bowl game in all but one season.

BOISE STATE VS. NORTH TEXAS

When: Dec. 17, 7:15 p.m. MT

Where: Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

TV: ESPN

Records: Boise State 9-4, 8-1 MW; North Texas 7-6, 6-3 C-USA

Series: Boise State is 3-3 all-time against North Texas, but the programs haven’t played since 2000.

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