Baylor faces Boise State on Dec. 27 in the Cactus Bowl. Here are five things for Bears fans to know about the Broncos.

1. Professional bowlers. Boise State exploded into the national consciousness in 2006 with its stunning overtime win over Oklahoma, well-remembered for the Statue of Liberty play to win the Fiesta Bowl. Since then, the Broncos have gone 4-1 in bowl games against Power Five schools, not including bowl wins against TCU and Utah before they joined the Big 12 and Pac-12, respectively. This year Boise added regular season wins over Oregon State and Washington State, so the winning ways against P5 competition did not stop when Chris Petersen left for Washington. So Baylor cannot overlook Boise and think it will bow down to a Big 12 school.

2. Rushing away. The primary weapon in the Boise State offense is junior running back Jeremy McNichols. The workhorse has rushed 295 times for 1,663 yards and 23 touchdowns. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry. At 5-foot-9 and 212 pounds, McNichols runs hard and punishes defenders. If he gets going early, he can be a handful. "Getting in a rhythm as a back is really key," McNichols told the Idaho Press. "When you start feeling it, you feel like nobody can really stop you. That should make him the primary concern for Baylor, because the Bears struggled during the season against powerful backs like Texas' D'Onta Foreman and Oklahoma's Joe Mixon.

3. The first dimension. Unlike many Big 12 opponents this season, Baylor does not need to worry about a two-dimensional quarterback against BSU. QB Brett Rypien is a solid passer, completing 61.8 percent of his passes for 3,341 yards and 23 touchdowns against six interceptions, good for a passer rating of 162.3. But the 6-foot-2 sophomore has not attempted a run all season, even to avoid a sack. This will allow the Baylor linebackers to focus entirely on pass coverage rather than looking for Rypien to run. That's especially important considering Boise has a two-headed receiving monster, with both Thomas Sperbeck and Cedrick Wilson recording 1,000-yard seasons and combining for 19 touchdowns.

4. Sack city. Baylor's freshman quarterback Zach Smith took a beating during his first three starts and will need to keep his head on a swivel again in Arizona. Boise averages 2.25 sacks per game, tied for 48th in the country. Sophomore nose tackle David Moa has 7.5 sacks this season and earned All-Mountain West First Team honors this season. He seems to step up his game against top competition, recording four of his sacks against Washington State and Oregon State. Sam McCaskil and Jabril Frazier complement Moa in the pass rush.

5. Kicking yourself. Much like Baylor, Boise State has struggled in the place kicking game this year. Tyler Rausa has made only seven of his 11 attempts this season. His long is 38 yards and he missed his only attempt from longer than that. But Boise doesn't make much use of Rausa -- the Broncos have scored 35 touchdowns in 48 trips to the red zone this year.

Twitter: @AdamGrosbard