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Monday, October 13, 2014.
We knew Matt Miller was going to be out “a while” after seeing the injury at Air Force, followed by the Bronco warmup suit and the booted ankle on the sideline at Nevada. But nobody imagined Miller’s storied Boise State career could be over. “Unless he’s an incredible healer, he’ll be out for the rest of the season,” said coach Bryan Harsin yesterday while announcing that Miller will undergo surgery today “to fix a ligament in his ankle.” I call him the “quintessential Bronco” because he was as humble—if not moreso—than Kellen Moore. It has always been about team and never about self. Miller’s touchdown celebration was subdued to the point that he didn’t have one. He’s quiet and reserved. Miller never relished the leadership role, but he embraced it when it was thrust upon him. I mean, how can Matt Miller not be a leader?
As a redshirt freshman in 2011, Miller instantly established himself as a Kellen go-to guy, making the first catch of his college career a touchdown (the 100th TD pass of Moore’s career). At that time I said Miller bore a striking resemblance to Austin Pettis in his No. 2 jersey as he pulled in five catches for 57 yards in Boise State’s 35-21 season-opening win over Georgia in Atlanta. He always had his biggest games on the biggest stages. His season-high as a freshman was the nine catches he had in the one-point loss to TCU. Miller threw his first touchdown pass in the Las Vegas Bowl win over Arizona State. He had his first 100-yard game in 2012 at Nevada in the win that clinched a tie for the Mountain West title. He had his only 200-yard game—and a career-long 85-yard touchdown—in the Hawaii Bowl versus Oregon State last December.
You can’t talk about Matt Miller without the numbers. He’s the leading receiver in Boise State history with 244 catches. He needed just 15 yards to become the school’s career leader in receiving yards, finishing with 3,049. Miller also hauled in 29 career touchdown catches. Last season be broke the Broncos’ single-season mark with 88 receptions. This season he had become a vertical threat, making 28 grabs for 461 yards, a 16.5-yard average. His three touchdowns this year covered 44, 35 and nine yards, the latter a classic Miller catch in traffic that clinched the win at UConn.
As for Miller’s immediate future, the target would be having him full strength in time for the NFL Combine in February. “The best thing we can do for him is love him up and get him healthy,” said Harsin. “And then hopefully he has a chance to go onto the next level, because quite frankly he’s a guy who can play at that level.” Miller will still be involved in practice—helping the wide receivers the same way he did at Nevada. Harsin said in particular he was a huge help to true freshman Jeremy McNichols, who burned his redshirt year during the 51-46 victory. Whether Miller goes with the Broncos on their final two road trips will depend on travel roster limits. “If we can take him, we’ll take him,” Harsin said. “He can’t play, but he can continue to help this team.
So close, yet so far. Idaho is not experiencing the complete blowouts it endured the past two seasons, but it's still 0-6 following a 47-24 loss at Georgia Southern Saturday night. The Vandals got within 11 points on the final play of the third quarter when massive running back Elijah Penny scored his second touchdown in just over three minutes—and his third of the night. But Matt Linehan threw a pick-six on Idaho's next possession to turn the game in the Eagles' favor for good. Penny rushed for 75 yards on 21 carries, but the rest of the Vandals netted only 19 yards on the ground. Linehan was 19-of-31 for 230 yards, while Chad Chalich threw his first pass of the season, completing it for a 41-yard gain.
There's that old adage in team sports, "know how to win." A team that, until September, had not played a football game in 37 years wouldn't seem to have that knowledge. But the College of Idaho gutted out a dramatic 35-31 win over Montana State-Northern Saturday, using a three-yard touchdown run by Ryan Texeira with 43 seconds left and a dramatic goal-line stop by Josh Lopez on the final play of the game to win their fourth game of the season. Of course, it could have easily been a case of "don't know how to win yet" when the Coyotes blew a 28-0 halftime lead and had to rally in the final five minutes. Texeira, who didn't have a single carry coming into the game, rushed for 153 yards on 24 attempts in place of Zach Garzoli.
Whether it's a win—or on those rare occasions, a loss—Chris Petersen has always been able to move on quickly from the previous week's game. But today feels better coming off a victory. And that's significant, because today is Petersen's 50th birthday. Washington worked over Cal 31-7 Saturday to up the Huskies’ record to 5-1 in Petersen’s first season. The Bears, who had scored 55, 45, 59 and 60 points in their last four games, were held to a touchdown by the UW defense. How will the former Boise State coach celebrate today? “I’m going to definitely let it fly by, like I do all the birthdays,” he told the Seattle Times before the season started. “Fifty’s weird. That just sounds old.” It may feel old after Washington’s next game; Petersen will take the Huskies into Autzen Stadium this Saturday to face Oregon.
Some second-hand snippets from Boise State’s public basketball scrimmage Saturday night. Sounds like the crowd was impressed despite Anthony Drmic, Derrick Marks and College of Southern Idaho transfer Montigo Alford being held out. Reviews almost unanimously praised the solid fundamentals of true freshman forward David Wacker and the athleticism of North Idaho College transfer James Webb III (who redshirted last season). Next up for the Broncos is the first of their two exhibition games November 1 against La Verne.
They hope to—and expect to be—better when the games count. The Idaho Steelheads’ “season ticket holders only” game Friday night resulted in a 3-1 exhibition loss to Utah in CenturyLink Arena. The brief preseason wrapped up Saturday night with the Steelheads falling 4-3 to the Grizzlies in a shootout in Logan. There was a lot of attention paid to happenings between the pipes, as the Steelies’ Olivier Roy stopped 16 of 18 shots he faced Friday. On Saturday, Maxime Lagace came on in relief midway through the second period after Idaho starter Henrik Kiviaho had allowed three Utah goals. Legace took the loss despite stopping all 13 shots he faced in live action. The same two teams open the season for real this week, in West Valley City, UT, Friday and in Boise Saturday.
Sometimes the back nine bites you in the final round. It did that to Graham DeLaet yesterday at the Frys.com Open in Napa, CA. DeLaet had a chance at a top 25 finish in the PGA Tour’s season opener before three bogeys over the final seven holes left him in a tie for 39th. Still, the former Boise State star pocketed $23,400—a serviceable start. Fellow former Bronco Troy Merritt missed the cut last Friday after shooting a three-over 75 at Silverado.
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October 13, 2012: An intense (albeit one-sided) 12-year rivalry appears to come to an end as Boise State beats Fresno State 20-10 behind a stifling defense and 122 yards from sixth-year senior running back D.J. Harper in Bronco Stadium. The Broncos were set to move to what was then the Big East the next year, but that never happened. At that point Boise State had won 11 of the 12 games against the Bulldogs in the WAC and Mountain West, and the Milk Can trophy that goes to the winner was temporarily retired in the Allen Noble Hall of Fame Gallery. This Friday’s Milk Can winner will hang onto it until 2017 as the series goes on a two-year hiatus.
(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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