Tez Johnson is among the oldest Ducks, and he was 6 years old when Oregon lost to Boise State in Autzen Stadium in 2008. Dan Lanning was just starting his coaching career, 22, fresh out of William Jewell college, the first-year defensive backs, special teams and receivers coach at Park Hill South High School in Kansas City, Missouri.
So to bring up the history of the Boise State-Oregon rivalry is to misdirect from the realities and challenges of this game, other than to note that each time these teams have met, in 2008, in 2009 in Boise, then 2017 in the Las Vegas Bowl, the Ducks came in flat and disorganized while the Broncos were disciplined, well-coached and punched them in the mouth, figuratively, between the whistles.
Oregon is 0-3 lifetime against Boise State.
So the first key to the game this Saturday night in Eugene (a 7:00 PST kick in Autzen Stadium on the Peacock Network, a streaming service of NBCUniversal, 7.99 a month, no free trial) is to take the opponent seriously and let your play do the talking.