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Monday, September 15, 2014.
Joey Galloway, who I thought did a solid job of commentary on ABC Saturday, said during the game, “Boise State just does not look comfortable in this game.” The comment was directed mainly at the Bronco offense, one that did not have Jay Ajayi as a primary weapon in the 38-21 victory at UConn. Ajayi seemed tentative after a couple slips on the natural turf early in the game and wound up with only 39 yards on 18 carries. Was it the cleats? Maybe the staff will address that behind closed doors this week, or at least in time for the game on BYU’s natural grass next year. But the footing did have an effect. Through all that, the Broncos rode two defensive touchdowns and a “just-enough” offense to come home with a 17-point road win over an FBS foe. And there was no fourth-quarter defensive meltdown.
Grant Hedrick and Matt Miller had a hand in all three of Boise State’s offensive touchdowns Saturday. For Miller, it was just another day at the office—two TD receptions from Hedrick and one scoring toss to Hedrick. It was the second touchdown pass of Miller’s career. With Ajayi rendered ineffective by a Huskies defense that keyed on him all day, there was a lot on Hedrick’s shoulders. He began the game 0-of-4 but went 19-of-23 for 233 yards and two TDs after that. The fourth quarter touchdown to Miller was a thing of beauty, thrown where only the sure hands of the senior star could get it.
The Boise State defense made at least two handfuls of big plays in the victory, eight of them in the form of sacks, the most by the Broncos in 10 years. All eight were collected by the defensive line, the group that was such a concern going into the season. Mat Boesen, the converted linebacker who now lines up at defensive end, had two to go with the one he logged against Colorado State last week. Kamalei Correa had a pair of sacks as well. And defensive tackle Armand Nance played as complete a game as anyone. In the first two UConn possessions of the day, he had a shared sack and forced the fumble that Tanner Vallejo scooped up for a 31-yard touchdown.
The play of the game Saturday was easily Donte Deayon’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. And a strange interception it was. Deayon ripped the ball out of the hands of UConn’s star receiver, Geremy Davis, and headed for paydirt. What’s ironic about that is the guff Deayon takes for being one of the most diminuitive cornerbacks in FBS football. The junior cornerback stands 5-9 and weighs 152 pounds. The size advantage Davis held against the Boise State corners was much-trumpeted leading into the game. Davis is 6-3, 216 pounds, yet here was Deayon outmuscling—yes, outmuscling—the much larger Davis for the ball and making the play that put the game away. It was the eighth interception of Deayon’s Bronco career and his first touchdown.
UConn’s quarterbacks predictably picked on Jonathan Moxey all day, and they made a dent. The fourth quarter touchdown pass to Davis from Chandler Whitmer looked too easy. But Moxey proved that the Huskies went to the well once too often when he made his first career interception with 11 minutes left in the game. That set up what was effectively Boise State’s clinching touchdown. Was it the confidence-builder Moxey needed? He’ll be filling in for Cleshawn Page awhile longer, so he has a chance to build on it.
The College of Idaho knows it'll be on the other end of a heartbreaker sooner or later, but as long as the Coyotes are doling them out, what the heck? The Yotes thrilled a packed house at Simplot Stadium Saturday in the team's first home game in 37 years, edging Montana Western, 31-28. It was also the C of I's first Frontier Conference game. The massive number of Idaho players on the roster resonates with fans and has certainly contributed to these first two victories. The man in the spotlight Saturday was former Bishop Kelly standout Cory Brady with three interceptions, including one pick that set up the game-winning field goal and another with three minutes left at the Coyotes' 16-yard-line as the Bulldogs were poised to at least tie the game.
Idaho's Kibbie Dome winning streak will have to wait. The Vandal offense has made strides this season, but the defense is still lagging after Western Michigan used a slew of big plays to win in the Kibbie Dome Saturday, 45-33. The Broncos of WMU had scoring plays of 61, 31, 57 and 39 yards while rolling up 484 yards on just 59 snaps. Idaho couldn't stop Western Michigan true freshman Jarvion Franklin, who rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and quarterback Zach Terrell threw for 218 yards on only eight completions. That more than offset another productive game from Vandal QB Matt Linehan that included 362 yards passing and three touchdowns. It was just WMU's second win in its last 16 games.
Yesterday was George Iloka’s biggest day in the NFL. In Cincinnati’s 24-10 win over Atlanta, the former Boise State star had two interceptions of Matt Ryan, the second and third of his NFL career. Iloka’s first pick ended a third-quarter Falcons drive at the Bengals’ two-yard line when Atlanta still had a chance, and the second was on the second-to-last play of the game. Iloka returned the interceptions 14 and 28 yards, respectively. Elsewhere, former Bronco Doug Martin was inactive after all for Tampa Bay’s 19-17 loss to St. Louis yesterday, and his replacement had a solid outing. Bobby Rainey rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries while Martin was nursing the knee injury he suffered in Week 1.
The Boise State men’s basketball team picked up the state of Idaho’s consensus top recruit yesterday when Malek Harwell out of Century High in Pocatello committed to the Broncos. The 6-4 guard had told the Statesman he had narrowed his choices to offers from Boise State, Colorado, Wyoming, Lehigh and San Francisco. Harwell averaged 21 points per game as a junior while leading Century to the 4A state championship.
Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder, because the Boise State men’s basketball team will be absent a lot the first seven weeks of the season. There are just five non-conference games in Taco Bell Arena on the finalized schedule, and the most attractive opponent is from the Big Sky in the form of Montana. The other four foes are Adams State, Northwest Nazarene, Southern Utah and Abilene Christian. There is, of course, a big game in another part of the city, as Boise State and Idaho meet November 25 in CenturyLink Arena. Conversely, the road slate is among the most attractive in Bronco hoops history, including dates at Wisconsin, North Carolina State and Saint Mary’s.
We have some Chicago Cubs home runs to report as they pertain to former Boise Hawks. In the case of Javier Baez, that’s about all he does. Baez homered against Pittsburgh both Friday and Saturday and now has nine since being called up the first week of August. But Baez’s batting average is an anemic .177. Ex-Hawk Arismendy Alcantara, who also homered against the Pirates Friday, has been a touch more consistent, but he’s hitting just .211. Alcantara was called up in early July. And Boise alum Matt Szczur, the one-time Villanova football star, hit his first major league home run for the Cubs Saturday. Szczur has lifted his average from .194 to .267 over the past nine days.
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September 15, 1973: One of those early-season games between Boise State and Idaho—early in the Bronco-Vandal rivalry. The game was played in New Idaho Stadium, the place that would get a roof and become the Kibbie Dome two years later. The Vandals, who had beaten UTEP the week before 62-14, marched through the visitor’s locker room before the game taunting the Broncos. Boise State responded on the field with a 47-24 win behind quarterbacks Ron Autele and Jim McMillan.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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