College Football depends heavily on high school recruiting, and even that can’t always be dependable. This seems to be the case with former No. 1 ranked player Malachi Nelson, who went from being the future of USC to now being a backup at Boise State.
The Rise and Fall of Malachi Nelson
First, to be 100% clear, this is not the end of Malachi Nelson. Nelson will get plenty of opportunities to turn his career around and eventually become a star, but those plans seem to be on hold for now.
Boise State has named redshirt sophomore Maddux Madsen the starting quarterback for the first game against Georgia Southern. Madsen brings experience, having appeared in nine games last year, throwing for 1,234 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 121 yards on the ground and another two touchdowns.
So, what happened to Malachi Nelson?
Malachi Nelson entered the 2023 season as the ESPN No. 1 ranked player in the nation. He threw for 105 touchdowns and 7,988 yards in a decorated high school career at Los Alamitos High School in Southern California. Out of high school, he committed to USC; however, he only appeared for four snaps after being injured and out for the season.
Nelson may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether it was a huge NIL deal or getting to work behind Caleb Williams, Nelson signed with USC with an understanding that he would probably not start during year one. Despite this, he was injured very quickly in the season and ended up fading down the depth chart.
Once the season ended, he decided to go to Boise State, a G5 program that has a real shot at making a CFP this upcoming season. The expectation was that he would be the starter (again, only one year removed from being the No. 1 recruit in the nation), but the QB battle didn’t go his way.
USC transfer Malachi Nelson has lost the Boise State QB Battle to (RS) Sophomore Maddux Madsen.
Madsen was the 110th-ranked QB in 2022, Nelson was a 5🌟 top-5 QB in 2023.
Wow. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/MkbPyYIqet
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) August 18, 2024
Boise State Has a Difficult College Football Schedule
Boise State likely will be the best G5 team in the nation this year, but with games against Oregon, Washington State, and Oregon State, the Broncos also have the toughest schedule of any G5 schedule. What will be interesting is whether the CFP Committee would rank a 11-2 Boise State MWC champion over a 13-0 CUSA or MAC champion.
What is clear is that Boise State would certainly have any tie-breaker over other G5 champions if they had the same record.
Boise State, who is known as one of the G5 powerhouses, hasn’t been to a significant bowl game since 2014 when they beat Arizona 38-30 in the Fiesta Bowl.
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