Petersen not ready to call Broncos No. 5 team in nation, despite ranking

Petersen not convinced Boise St is fifth-best

BOISE, Idaho — Boise State coach Chris Petersen isn’t convinced his Broncos are the fifth best team in the country, no matter what the polls say.

Petersen says the Broncos have “a long way to go to get to be the team that we want to be.”

He says he fears his players will put too much pressure on themselves trying to live up to unrealistic expectations created by being ranked No. 5 in the country, behind only Florida, Texas, Alabama and LSU.

Boise State plays UC Davis on Saturday.

In the Broncos’ 49-14 win over Bowling Green last Saturday, they lost defensive tackle Chuck Hayes to a season-ending knee injury. A week earlier against Fresno State, running back D.J. Harper also suffered a season-ending knee injury.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects spelling of Petersen in headline.)