Boise State is going to be without at three players while their eligibility is under review, according to College Football Talk. Two of the three players are starters in wide receiver Geraldo Boldewijn (technically Boldewijn is listed as a co-starter) and Cedric Febis who is listed as one of the two starting safeties, and the third is Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe who is a backup defensive tackle. None of the three players accompanied the team to Atlanta. The school did release a statement that the said it is not an "academic or violation of team rules."
Boise State was subject to NCAA violations and slapped with the lack of institutional control label so it is not out of the realm of possibility that three players are involved with that.
Matt Miller who was listed as a co-starter with Boldewijn at the X-receiver spot is taking over as the starter. Miller is only a freshman and has no FBS experience, so the depth at wide receiver is getting thinner by the moment. Redshirt freshman Jeremy Ioane is expected to fill in for Febis; Ioane has played in all 26 games over the past two seasons but has never had a start. Tjong-A-Tjoe is a back up on the defensive line but was a player who was going to be in the rotation against Georgia.
Losing three key players could potentially be a big blow for Boise State, because like most non-AQ schools the depth is not there at every position. The biggest loss has to be Boldewijn because he was expected by many to be a star this year at wide receiver.
The length of the time that the players will be sitting is unknown and who knows how long they will be under review, but as long as they are they will not be suiting up. Also, the NCAA has the worst timing all of these situations. It always seems that there are all too often last minute reviews that keep players from playing in games a day or two before. I am sure if Boise State knew about this they would have had the players who are taking over to get more snaps with the starting unit and prepare the team that not having these three players could be an option.
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