For the first 31 seasons of

Boise State football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on ...

, the Broncos competed at the two-year

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

level. From 1933 to 1964, the school was known as Boise Junior College, then from 1965 to 1967 it was known as Boise College. Boise Junior College football started in 1933, one year after the school's establishment. The team initially competed at Public School Field before moving to the on-campus College Field (also known as Chaffee Field) in 1940. Under head coaches

Dusty Kline Morris William "Dusty" Kline (January 18, 1898 – September 12, 1966) was an American football player and coach. He served as the first head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University—coaching one season in 1933 and co ...

, Max Eiden, and Harry Jacoby, the Broncos only saw modest results. In the early 1940s, the program was disrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

—in 1941, coach Jacoby was called into

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

service, forcing George "Stub" Allison to fill in for the remainder of that season. In 1942, the program was forced to go on hiatus due to depleted male enrollment at the college. In 1946, with the war over, the program returned under Jacoby, and in 1947 first-year assistant

Lyle Smith Lyle Hilton Smith (March 17, 1916 – July 26, 2017) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University&mdas ...

was promoted to head coach. Boise saw tremendous success under Smith, who won his first 37 games as a head coach (interrupted by a period in 1950 and 1951 in which he was recalled into

Naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

service in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

George Blankley George C. Blankley (October 7, 1918 – December 29, 2016) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University—from 1948 ...

took over as head coach and also saw success). The program moved into a new stadium,

Bronco Stadium Albertsons Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the Western United States, located on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is the home of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Known as Bronco Stadium f ...

, in 1950. Success for the Broncos continued throughout the 1950s under Smith, culminating in a

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in 1958. That success continued well into the 1960s, with the Broncos ultimately earning 13

Intermountain Collegiate Athletic Conference The Intermountain Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) was an junior college athletic conference composed of member schools located in the states of Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. The league was part of the National Junior College Athletic Associatio ...

football titles, by far the most in that conference's history. By the mid-1960s, in response to tremendous growth, the school began the transition into a four-year institution. In 1965, the school began offering

baccalaureate degrees A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (de ...

and changed its name to Boise College. 1967 was the final year for Boise at the two-year level as they moved to the NAIA as an independent. It was also Smith's final year as a coach, as he moved full-time into the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

role at Boise. Smith did not suffer a losing record in any of his twenty seasons as head coach. In

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, Boise College became Boise State College, and the football program began four-year competition under new head coach

Tony Knap Anthony Joseph Knap (December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University from 1963 to 1966, Boise State University from 1968 to 1975, and the University of Nevada ...

, Smith's teammate (in the late 1930s) at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

1930s

1933
Head coach:

Record: 1–2–1 1934
Head coach: Max Eiden
Record: 4–3 1935
Head coach: Max Eiden
Record: 4–4 1936
Head coach: Max Eiden
Record: 3–4 1937
Head coach: Max Eiden
Record: 0–6–1 1938
Head coach: Harry Jacoby
Record: 2–4 1939
Head coach: Harry Jacoby
Record: 4–2 ^ The Boise All-Stars were a team of former college players.

1940s

1940
Head coach: Harry Jacoby
Record: 4–2 Boise was ranked at No. 598 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940. 1941
Head coaches: Harry Jacoby (first 4 games), George "Stub" Allison (last 3 games)
Record: 3–4 ''Boise Junior College fielded no varsity team from 1942 to 1945 due to

.'' 1946
Head coach: Harry Jacoby
Record: 3–4–2 1947
Head coach:

Record: 9–0 In the final

Litkenhous Ratings The Litkenhous Difference by Score Ratings system was a mathematical system used to rank football and basketball teams. The Litrating system was developed by Vanderbilt University professor Edward E. Litkenhous (1907 – December 22, 1984) and his ...

released in mid-December, Boise Junior College was ranked at No. 393 out of 500 college football teams. 1948
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–0^ ^Boise State was undefeated in ICAC league play, but did not play enough conference opponents to be eligible for the conference championship. 1949
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 10–0
ICAC champion
Potato Bowl champion (

Bakersfield, CA Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

)

1950s

1950
Head coaches: Lyle Smith (first three games),

(last seven games)
Record: 9–1
ICAC champions 1951
Head coach: George Blankley
Record: 9–1
ICAC champions
Potato Bowl champions 1952
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 8–1
ICAC champion 1953
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 8–1
ICAC champion
Bronco Bowl champion 1954
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–1–1
ICAC champion 1955
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 7–2
ICAC champion 1956
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 8–0–1
ICAC co-champion 1957
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–1
ICAC champion 1958
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 10–0
ICAC champions
NJCAA National Champion 1959
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 7–2–1

1960s

1960
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 8–2
ICAC champion 1961
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–1
ICAC champion 1962
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 5–2–2 1963
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 5–3–1 1964
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 8–2 1965
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–2
ICAC champion 1966
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 9–1
ICAC champion 1967
Head coach: Lyle Smith
Record: 6–4

References

{{Boise State Broncos football navbox

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...