Normally the Boise State football team has either the momentum from a bowl win to springboard them or the frustration from a loss to motivate them during the long months before the start of the next season.

The Broncos have neither.

Boise State’s 2018 season ended in historic fashion when the First Responder Bowl against Boston College was delayed and then eventually canceled last month midway through the first quarter due to severe storms and lightning.

Losing the Mountain West title game to Fresno State in overtime at home likely will serve as the driving force pushing the Broncos over the next eight months before they play Florida State in Jacksonville during Labor Day weekend to start 2019.

And that countdown officially began this week with the first official team meeting for the 2019 season on Sunday night and the start of both the spring semester and winter conditioning workouts on Monday.

Boise State has several players to replace at key positions, but should have the talent — and the schedule — to help them compete for both a conference title and the Group of Five spot in the Cotton Bowl next season.

Here’s an early look at what the Broncos lose and bring back heading into 2019:

Offense

The Broncos lose a ton on offense including record-setting quarterback Brett Rypien, running back Alexander Mattison and the top two receivers from last season in Sean Modster and A.J. Richardson.

The battle to replace Rypien will dominate the headlines during the next eight months, and for good reason. Rypien left as the all-time leading passer in Mountain West history and ranks in the top three in several Boise State career passing records including completions, attempts, touchdowns and yards. He won’t be easy to replace.

Redshirt sophomore Chase Cord likely would have been the favorite to start, but he suffered an ACL tear in practice midway through the 2018 season. He’ll definitely miss spring practices and most of the summer and his availability for the start of training camp in August could also be in jeopardy.

The Broncos signed a pair of impressive high school quarterbacks in Hank Bachmeier and Kaiden Bennett and both started classes at Boise State Monday in order to participate in spring practices and compete for the starting job right away. The headliner is Bachmeier, a top-10 pro-style quarterback that held offers from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Washington State, California, Utah, Minnesota and dozens of others.

Bachmeier, a four-star prospect and the second-highest ranked player ever to sign with Boise State, passed for 13,150 yards and 156 touchdowns while starting all four years at Murrieta Valley High School in Murrieta, California.

Bennett put up monster numbers as a dual-threat quarterback and went 30-1 for his career as the starter at Folsom High School in Folsom, California. Both will get a ton of reps this spring and will be in the mix to win the job as a true freshman in the fall.

Jaylen Henderson and Riley Smith are the two scholarship quarterbacks that return in addition to Cord and they will also be in the competition to replace Rypien.

The Broncos also have a big hole at running back after Mattison elected to skip his senior season and enter the NFL Draft following his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. Boise State is very high on backup Andrew Van Buren, but his 163 yards rushing last season as a freshman were the lowest for the second-leading rusher on the team in more than a decade.

Danny Smith redshirted last season and the Broncos signed a pair of running backs last month in George Holani of Bellflower, California, and Keegan Duncan of Declo. The most experienced running back still on the roster is Robert Mahone, but he was ineligible for the bowl game due to academics and his status moving forward is not known.

There’s plenty of talent at running back, but very little proven production. Helping the group will be the return of all five starters along the offensive line in left tackle Ezra Cleveland, left guard John Molchon, center Garrett Larsen, right guard Eric Quevedo and right tackle John Ojukwu. The group got better as the season went on and should be a big strength for the Broncos during their time of transition at the skill position spots.

At wide receiver, the Broncos lose their top two leaders in both yards and receptions, but return plenty of talent in CT Thomas, Khalil Shakir and Akilian Butler. Octavius Evans should be healthy after an ankle injury rendered him a non-factor and could become the No. 1 receiver the Broncos expected him to be. John Hightower was impressive as both a pass catcher and rusher, but was ruled ineligible for the bowl game and his status is unknown for 2019.

Boise State loses Chase Blakley at tight end, but returns John Bates, Garrett Collingham and Matt Pistone and also adds the No. 1 ranked junior college tight end in the country in Austin Griffin.

Defense

The Broncos must replace key players on defense as well with corner Tyler Horton, STUD Jabril Frazier and defensive end Durrant Miles all graduating. Linebacker Tyson Maeva, the team’s second-leading tackler, also is gone after being kicked off the team following an incident at the bowl game.

Safety DeAndre Pierce, defensive tackle David Moa and linebacker Riley Whimpey should all return after suffering season-ending injuries in 2018, which will provide a nice boost. Corner Avery Williams, safety Kekoa Nawahine, nickel Kekaula Kaniho, STUD Curtis Weaver and defensive tackle Sonatane Lui also are back to anchor what should still be a solid defense in 2019.

Expectations might not be as high for the defense with the four key departures, but the Broncos have plenty of talent returning and should be solid again on that side of the ball.

Special teams

Special teams will be worth watching during the offseason as the Broncos try to improve upon one of their worst seasons in more than a decade in both field goal kicking and punting. Kicker Haden Hoggarth and punter Quinn Skillin both graduated, which could be a good thing for the Broncos based on their disappointing 2018 seasons.

Joel Velazquez is back and will compete at both spots during the offseason, while the Broncos also hope to sign a scholarship kicker to be in the mix for field goals in 2019.

Williams, Shakir and Butler are all back to anchor the return game, which should be a strength for the Broncos next season.

Overview

The Broncos are dealing with as many holes at key positions as they’ve had in several years heading into an offseason, but appear to have viable candidates ready to step in and replace them. The schedule also helps as the Broncos don’t play Fresno State, San Diego State or Nevada from the West division and instead will face San Jose State, Hawaii and UNLV. Aside from the opener at Florida State and a road game at BYU, the non-conference schedule doesn’t appear to be overly daunting either. Another 10-win season is attainable, but the Broncos will need answers at several positions — particularly at quarterback and running back.