Presented by BLAZ’N DIAGNOSTICS.
Tuesday, October 7, 2104.
Has Boise State found a new Aaron Baltazar? Jeremy McNichols burned his redshirt year Saturday night and did a good impression of Baltazar, the erstwhile true freshman who left the Broncos just before Chris Petersen did last December. McNichols, the 5-9, 195-pounder from Long Beach, was in on Boise State’s first possession of the 51-46 win at Nevada and went 13 yards the first time he touched the ball on a pass from Grant Hedrick. Before the first quarter was over he had his first official rushing attempt and gained 28 yards on a fly sweep. McNichols added three more catches for 41 yards in the game.
Will McNichols have a role similar to the one Baltazar had before his season was ended with a knee injury in the fifth game of the season last year? We’ll have to wait 10 more days to find out. Baltazar was an excellent changeup to Jay Ajayi out of the gate. He rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns—both in the wild 41-40 loss to Fresno State after Ajayi had been benched for a fumble—in those five games last season. The indication is McNichols will play both running back and wide receiver the rest of this fall. Right there you’re talking about a bigger role than Baltazar.
Speaking of roles, that of Devan Demas becomes interesting now. The sophomore running back had two carries against Louisiana-Lafayette, with one going for a five-yard touchdown and the other for a 73-yard gain. At that point coaches said Demas had earned more opportunities in the running game. Then he had one attempt for a loss of a yard at Air Force, and one more for minus-2 at Nevada. The activation of McNichols has to affect Demas (and Jack Fields even moreso).
Little-known fact: Boise State’s win over Louisiana-Lafayette last month was its 400th as a four-year school. Some counts had it as No. 399, but BroncoCountry.com’s Rocketman5000, whose research I never doubt, had it at exactly 400. Maybe the forfeit by Cal State Northridge in 1997 got in the way—that game is included as a victory. So even if Boise State goes winless the rest of this fall, it has averaged 8.5 wins per season in 47 seasons at the four-year level. That’s pretty good. Littler-known fact, according to Rocketman, the victory at Nevada was the Broncos’ 600th all-time, including the Boise Junior College days (they had 199 wins as a JC).
The Boise State secondary was in survival mode Saturday night, despite the fact the group had three of the Broncos’ four interceptions. Cleshawn Page, Donte Deayon and Darian Thompson were back from injuries (Jeremy Ioane was not). Thompson had two picks and almost nabbed a third at the end of the game. Deayon made another acrobatic interception but came down hard on the play and had to leave the game. Page made some big plays but gave some up, too. And Nevada had to have watched the Ole Miss tape, as the Pack attacked Jonathan Moxey with 6-5 Hasaan Henderson. But the key is, the secondary did survive with a strong finish at Mackay Stadium, and now it has a bye week to scotch-tape itself back together.
The Mountain West race only gets more interesting. Can Utah State win without Chuckie Keeton? The answer is an unequivocable yes, as the Aggies went into Provo last Friday night and came out with a 35-20 win over No. 18 BYU. Darrell Garretson was no slouch, going 19-of-25 for 321 yards and three touchdowns. USU had taken control of the game well before Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill was lost with a broken leg. Now BYU has to find out if it can win—at least win like it has been—without Hill. The Cougars will play at Central Florida Thursday night and will be on the blue turf October 24. As for the Aggies, they play the Game of the Week in the Mountain West Saturday, hosting Air Force in Logan.
Former Boise Hawk John Lackey made the occasionally-debated St. Louis trade with Boston look good last night, getting the win in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Divisional Series. Lackey went seven innings and allowed one run on five hits while striking out eight. Among other Boise alums in the postseason, Ryan Flaherty is set for the American League Championship Series against Kansas City after going 2-for-9 with one RBI and two runs scored for Baltimore during the ALDS. Jerry Blevins was part of the historic Washington-San Francisco game Saturday night, pitching a perfect 12th in the Nationals’ 18-inning loss to the Giants. And Al Alburquerque did not get in during the Tigers’ three-game sweep at the hands of the Orioles.
Boise State’s Australians have been in the spotlight as Bronco basketball preseason practice moves into its first full week, what with coach Leon Rice’s recent trip Down Under and his desire to keep that pipeline going. But the US-Australia thing is reciprocal. A recent story in the Sydney Morning Herald points out that more NBA-quality “imports” are signing to play in Australia’s NBL, made up of professional teams in Australia and New Zealand.
Scottie Wilbekin, the former Florida Gator, did not get a contract offer out of the NBA summer league and chose to go to Cairns, Australia, rather than stay stateside and play in the D-League where the pay is much lower. Wilbekin thinks he can still catch the eyes of NBA scouts despite the distance. "I wanted to get paid immediately, start playing somewhere and try again next year or at the end of the NBL season," Wilbekin said. Also on NBL rosters are former Boise State standout Daequon Montreal (Adelaide) and former Idaho Stampede point guard Cedric Jackson (New Zealand).
As Idaho Steelheads training camp opened yesterday, coach Brad Ralph unveiled his initial camp roster, including 14 forwards, eight defensemen and one goaltender. The goalie, of course, is Olivier Roy, he of the high expectations. It’s a familiar contingent, with nine players having played for the Steelheads last season: Charlie Dodero, Eamonn McDermott, Patrick Cullity, Brett Robinson, David deKastrozza, Gaelen Patterson, Jason Bast, Luke Judson and Rob Linsmayer. A tenth, Matt Case, returns to the Steelies after playing for the organization from 2011-13.
Followup on my Paul Revere story yesterday. Services for the Idaho music icon will be held next Monday at 1 p.m. at Cathedral of the Rockies. And, since Revere was a graduate of Caldwell High School, the College of Idaho plans to honor him at the Yotes’ game Saturday against Montana State-Northern at Simplot Stadium. The pregame tribute will include a montage on the stadium’s video board with a selected Paul Revere and The Raiders song (I vote for “Good Thing”).
This Day In Sports…brought to you by GROUND FX…the Treasure Valley mulch experts!
October 7, 1984, 30 years ago today: The late Walter Payton becomes the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. Payton rushes for 154 yards in the Chicago Bears’ 20-7 win over New Orleans to surpass Jim Brown’s career mark. “Sweetness” ended up with 16,726 yards in 13 seasons; Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith eventually broke Payton’s record. Not all roses for Chicago that day, though, as the San Diego Padres beat the Cubs in the final game of the National League Championship Series to extend the Cubbies’ World Series-less streak to 39 years.
(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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