Presented by MOUNTAIN WEST BANK.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014.
When we first saw Jeremy McNichols officially in a Boise State uniform, most of us had “running back” on the brain. McNichols signed with the Broncos as a running back after originally committing to Utah as a wide receiver. At Nevada we assumed everything he did was coming out of the backfield, especially after he broke a 28-yard run on his first career rushing attempt. But the Boise State staff had more “wideout” on the brain, knowing what we didn’t yet know: it had to start answering for the absence of Matt Miller.
So the offense started to take a new tack in Reno with Miller’s help on the bench, as McNichols had the sidelined star “in his ear” the whole game, according to coach Bryan Harsin. McNichols made four catches for 54 yards versus the Wolf Pack. The decision to burn his redshirt year turned out to be easy. “He made a jump cut (in practice), made three guys fall down, and we decided we’d better play him at that point,” grinned Harsin.
Whatever evolution the Boise State offense undertakes will have to take root quickly as the Broncos gun for a division title in the Mountain West. One possibility is popping tight end Jake Roh outside at wide receiver through shifts and motion. Roh excelled at wideout in high school in Scottsdale, AZ, where as a junior and senior he combined for 121 catches, 1,727 yards and 30 touchdowns. He has shown the ability to stretch the field, with a long-gainer of 43 yards this year. More importantly, Roh has shown himself to be dependable on third down, a trait not to be taken lightly. KTVB’s Jay Tust found this factoid: Roh has 114 receiving yards on third down this season. Going into the weekend, that was more than any other tight end in the country.
There’ll certainly be some kind of offensive evolution next year, with Boise State sporting a new starting quarterback. Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford used the bye week to take a trip to Spokane and watch one of the candidates for the job, Shadle Park star Brett Rypien. Unlike other 2015 recruits, Harsin can openly talk about Rypien now that he has signed a financial aid agreement that allows him to enroll at Boise State in January. “He understands the game—he’s into it,” said Harsin. “His dad’s the offensive coordinator there, so they’re obviously talking football a lot.”
Here’s an appropriate question during Milk Can Week: Whatever happened to Pat Hill? The crusty but likeable coach was fired by Fresno State after a 4-9 season in 2011. Hill spent the next two seasons as offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons before last year’s injury-affected collapse saw him ushered out. Now he’s living in Fresno again, spending time with his children and grandchildren and dabbling in TV commentary for ESPN3. Hill seems to have reconciled with the Bulldogs program with the encouragement of coach Tim DeRuyter—and with athletic director Thomas Boeh now gone. Some Boise State fans despised Hill, but most appreciated the respect he always showed the Bronco program, especially when he brought Fresno State to Boise to play in what is now the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
There’s finally a Mountain West team receiving votes again in the polls. It’s not Boise State, nor…well…who else can it be this year? Try Colorado State, which has won three straight since its 37-24 loss to the Broncos on the blue turf September 6. The Rams garnered three points in the AP Poll and five on the Coaches List. East Carolina still leads the race for the non-power five berth in the access bowls, ranked 16th in the Coaches Poll and 18th in AP. Marshall is the other non-power representative in the Top 25, ranked 24th and 25th in the two polls. Despite a 6-0 record, the Thundering Herd gets marked down for its soft schedule.
The most talked-about NFL game of the weekend was Dallas’ 30-23 win over Seattle at Qwest Field Sunday, quieting the decibel-hungry 12th man for the Seahawks. Boise State product Orlando Scandrick had five tackles for the Cowboys, including one for loss, and Tyrone Crawford logged three tackles and added two quarterback hits. Kam Chancellor ended up able to go at safety for the ‘Hawks, so Jeron Johnson didn’t get the start. Johnson made one special teams tackle.
Elsewhere, former Boise State star Doug Martin had 11 carries for 45 yards for Tampa Bay Sunday, the first time this season he’s averaged four yards per carry. But the Buccaneers abandoned the running game once they fell behind Baltimore, rushing only 18 times in their 48-17 loss to the Ravens. George Iloka had only two tackles in Cincinnati’s 37-37 tie with Carolina, but he added a pass deflection and a quarterback hit. Left guard Daryn Colledge had to make two tackles in Miami’s 27-24 loss to Green Bay, one on an interception and the other on a fumble return. Colledge has started all five games for the Dolphins since coming over from Arizona. And Austin Pettis made three catches for 15 yards last night in the Rams' 31-17 loss to the 49ers.
The ECHL released its revamped schedule yesterday after absorbing seven teams from the now-defunct Central Hockey League. As expected, there were no changes to the Idaho Steelheads’ slate, so they won’t be facing Sun Valley’s Joey Sides during the regular season. Sides has been acquired by one of the refugee franchises, the Rapid City Rush, after sitting out last season. Sides, entering his fifth pro season, played the previous two years with the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles and totaled 40 points in only 44 games in 2012-13.
Former Boise Hawk John Lackey is right at home, pitching in October. Today it’s actually on the road, as Lackey gets the start for St. Louis in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series in San Francisco. Lackey, who 12 years ago became the first rookie in 93 years to win a Game 7 in a World Series—against the Giants—has thrown more playoff innings than any other active pitcher. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 of his 17 career postseason starts, and over his past three starts, he has gone 21 1/3 innings and has yielded just four earned runs and 16 hits with 21 strikeouts.
Finally today, I’d like to thank Sydney Revere, her close friend Valerie Crowe, and the Revere family for the honor of serving as master of ceremony yesterday at Paul Revere’s funeral. There was so much more to the man than the music and pure entertainment he provided through Paul Revere and the Raiders. We’ve all attended funerals where the speakers went longer than their allotted time. That happened yesterday—and happily so. Brigadier Generals Alan Gayhart and Bill Shawver, former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, close friend Larry Leasure, longtime manager Roger Hart, and former bandmates Phil Volk and Keith Allison were thoroughly engaging in their stories and tributes. And the voices of former Righteous Brother Bill Medley and his daughter McKenna were exquisite. From Gen. Gayhart: “God bless you, Paul, and thank you for all you have given us.”
This Day In Sports…brought to you by HANDYMAN CONNECTION…trusted home improvements.
October 14, 1964, 50 years ago today: Billy Mills, now enshrined in the World Sports Humanitarian Hall Of Fame in Boise, pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. Mills was a virtual unknown who had finished second at the U.S. Olympic trials, but he passed most of the field in the final lap to claim the 10,000-meter gold medal at the Summer Games in Tokyo. As a member of the Sioux tribe, Mills was—and still is—only the second Native American to win an Olympic gold medal, joining Jim Thorpe.
(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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