Boise State, when you play USF in August, it will feel like you're in a blast furnace

Here’s a public service announcement for our friends from Boise State University.

USF announced that the season-opening football game against the Broncos will kick off at 5:30 p.m. on August 28 at Raymond James Stadium.

To give Boise folks an idea of what they’re in for, Tampa’s weather on that date and time in 2024 was 90 degrees with 81 percent humidity. The “feels like” temp was 111 degrees.

That day's high was 95 degrees with a “feels like” of 117. It kind of feels like you're stuck in a blast furnace or in one of Dante's rings.

There was also a thunderstorm earlier in the afternoon. Pro tip: If you hear thunder when you’re outside for any reason, run for cover with no hesitation. Lightning strikes are a real thing here.

At the same time in Boise, it was a comfy 75 degrees with 13 percent humidity.

You’ll probably need to play a lot of guys that night, especially on defense. USF, as you no doubt know, likes to play quickly on offense. Go, go, go, and then go some more. And since the Bulls practice in this weather every day, they're used to it.

If the Bulls are clicking that night, there’s a good chance your defense will – how should I put this – melt into a puddle of perspiration trying to keep up. Unless you plan to come to Tampa a month early to get used to the weather, there’s no way to prepare for what you’re about to face.

As we like to say here, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. Bring lots and lots and lots of water.

You can thank ESPN for this, by the way. Those guys set the kickoff time to squeeze a second game in at 9 p.m.

In full disclosure, you might look at the Bulls’ season opener in 2022. That was against BYU in Tampa on Labor Day weekend, and it was really hot then, too.

The temperature was 85 degrees at kickoff, which came at 6:37 p.m. USF fans were really pumped for that game, thinking that the Bulls were about to return to relevancy after a few terrible seasons.

The good vibe lasted 11 seconds. BYU’s Puka Nacua ran 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, and the Cougars kept going from there. They were ahead by 28 points after one quarter and left town with a 50-21 win.

I wouldn’t count on the same thing happening this time, however. For one thing, the guy who coached that for USF is selling real estate now, and, starting a year later, Alex Golesh rebuilt the Bulls from the bottom up.

They have much more depth and skill than that other team did.

We understand what a fine program you have there in Boise. As a fellow Group of 5 school, put it this way: You are the standard the Bulls are striving to be.

We’ll find out how close they are to achieving that goal when August 28 rolls around.

By the way, we get a lot of hurricanes around that time, too. I thought you’d like to know.