BOISE — There is no quarterback controversy with the Boise State football team. But with what Chase Cord did against Portland State last Saturday, it may have moved things a bit closer to one.

Cord came off the bench and accounted for three touchdowns, one in the first quarter on a 7-yard run while entering for one play and two more in the second half while getting his first extended playing time of the year with the Broncos holding a big lead.

“I think Chase, he went out there and he made us better, right?” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said Monday. “He went out there and made plays and looked really good. He was poised. It was good to see. He’s a guy that, you know, we can get on the field.”

But Harsin went out of his way after Saturday’s game to say that nothing had changed with the pecking order at quarterback. True freshman Hank Bachmeier is still the starter, he said, but that the team wanted to get Cord into the game as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered last year.

“It’s not for any reason other than we wanted to play him and he’s feeling good,” Harsin reiterated Monday.

But what Cord did Saturday was hard to ignore. He led the Broncos to points on three of his four drives, and had the short touchdown run while coming in for one play in the first quarter. He also made a perfect deep throw to CT Thomas for a 33-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

“He took about one of the best five step drops I’ve ever seen from our quarterbacks here and laid a dime up to CT,” Harsin said. “It was as good as I’ve seen. Chase has that pro style body and he’s got the ability to run, but he can drop back and fire it. I think for him he deserved it, but it gave him great confidence.”

Bachmeier passed for 238 yards and two touchdowns against Portland State but also threw an interception and was sacked three times. He’s already been sacked 10 times in three games and has struggled when pressured.

Harsin said Bachmeier was “perfectly fine” after Saturday’s game, saying the decision to play Cord had nothing to do with his true freshman quarterback’s performance so far.

Cord and Bachmeier had a heated battle for the starting spot during fall camp. Cord was the backup to Brett Rypien last year and likely would have been the starter had he not suffered the torn ACL last October that kept him out of spring ball.

But his injury opened the door for the true freshman, and Bachmeier won the spot with an impressive fall camp. He’s averaging 309 passing yards per game and has started and won all three games so far, including leading an impressive second-half comeback at Florida State in the opener.

He’s exceeded all expectations so far for a true freshman quarterback, but has struggled some with pocket awareness. Injuries to Boise State’s offensive line has played a big reason, but Bachmeier has been under duress plenty and seems unwilling to throw the ball away to escape pressure.

The result is a stat from ESPN during the broadcast of the Portland State game that said Bachmeier had been hit more times than any quarterback in the country through two games. Harsin called the amount of hits he’s taking “concerning” after the game.

While Bachmeier is certainly not a statue in the pocket, one thing Cord brings to the table is his ability to escape pressure and run. Cord had a 29-yard run against Portland State, and also scored on the 7-yard run. He had a 44-yard touchdown run last year against Troy.

Cord would seem to be a better option to avoid sacks and pressure if the offensive line continues to struggle and he showed no limitations from the injury Saturday.

“This ACL deal, it’s a long recovery and that’s something that is hard to explain to everybody just how long it really takes,” Harsin said. “You saw Chase take off, he got loose, had a big run, got in the open field and made a cut like he did (when he suffered the injury) in practice, and he got hit and got up and it was like, ‘OK, that might be it. Maybe it’s that one thing where I needed that as a player’ and he certainly played like that.”

Boise State had a somewhat similar situation in 2017 when graduate transfer Montel Cozart did enough to earn playing time alongside All-Mountain West starter Brett Rypien. Cozart entered the season opener against Troy because the offensive line was struggling and he was a better option to run, and he ended up leading the team on the game-clinching drive in the fourth quarter.

When Rypien got hurt against Washington State the following week, Cozart finished the game and played the entire next game against New Mexico. Once Rypien returned from his concussion two weeks later, Cozart continued to get playing time in certain packages as a mobile option.

Harsin said Monday the situation with Bachmeier and Cord is “different” than what they had with Rypien and Cozart two years ago, but hinted that Cord could see more playing time moving forward based on his health and his success last week.

“Having him on the field, however we utilize him, I don’t know if we go back and forth like we did with Montel and Brett. That was really that season. I wouldn’t say we’re in that same mode right now,” Harsin said. “But I do feel good about Chase being in there and playing. I feel good about Jaylon Henderson getting in there and playing. We have three quarterbacks that can go in there and operate.”

Bachmeier remains the starter, but it wouldn’t be crazy to think Cord could get a series or two at some point Friday night against Air Force. Heck the Broncos could even draw up a package like they did in 2017 in which both Bachmeier and Cord could be on the field together at the same time.

Cord proved Saturday, he deserves to play more. How much more, remains the question.

“I was excited for him because I know how much work he’s put in and I know how much he deserves it,” Harsin said. “So if he’s in these game plans moving forward, he’ll play well and we’ll be able to use him however we need to use him, but at the same time, his leadership and what he provides off the field is equally as important to our success.”