Presented by WESTERN SIDING.
Friday, November 14, 2014.
The past two San Diego State games have produced epic pain for Boise State. The first one dropped the Broncos into tie for the Mountain West championship—the second elimninated them from title contention altogether. The memories of the key plays in each contest are vivid. The Aztecs’ 21-19 win in 2012 began with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Colin Lockett. Man did that cast a pall over the blue turf. Last year there were three difference-making plays in the fourth quarter of SDSU’s overtime win: an 18-yard pick-six by San Diego State’s J.J. Whitaker, a 41-yard punt return for a touchdown by the Aztecs’ Tom Vizzi, and the missed 43-yard field goal by Boise State’s Dan Goodale on the final play of regulation. If the Broncos had been able to prevent the first two, Goodale’s kick wouldn’t have mattered.
The Boise State offense had off-nights versus San Diego State the last two years. Way off. The Broncos mustered only 276 yards in their own house in 2012, including just 164 yards passing. They managed just 292 in the 34-31 overtime loss last year at Qualcomm Stadium, as quarterback Grant Hedrick completed only 60 percent of his passes, threw two interceptions (including the pick-six), was sacked four times, and rushed for minus-15 yards. Of course, that’s 180 degrees from the game Hedrick turned in last week at New Mexico. Idaho quarterback Chad Chalich gave San Diego State some trouble with his running ability last week, which could bode well for Hedrick tomorrow night.
Which Boise State rush defense will show up? That could determine the outcome of the game. Will it be the one that was gashed for 505 yards at New Mexico, or the one that allowed just 63 yards versus BYU? You have to like the Broncos’ chances if it’s closer to the latter. And despite going up against Mountain West rushing leader D.J. Pumphrey, it’s possible. The two losses to San Diego State weren’t the Boise State defense’s fault. Last year the Aztecs were held to 61 yards rushing and 1.4 yards per carry. Pumphrey, backing up Adam Muema, gained only 24 yards on 12 attempts in that game.
San Diego State quarterback Quinn Kaehler has tossed a lot of floaters since returning to the lineup from a shoulder injury. The trick for the Boise State defense is to decide whether it’s a touch pass with a purpose or just a bad throw. Kaehler is completing just 58 percent of his tosses and his pass efficiency rating is only 122.2, seventh in the Mountain West. The former walk-on is a good game manager, though, and he managed the Aztecs past the Broncos a year ago, throwing the game-ending touchdown to Lockett in overtime.
The crowd count tomorrow night at Albertsons Stadium is anyone’s guess. The Treasure Valley has been blindsided by this instant winter. KTVB’s Rick Lantz said last night the temperature at kickoff should be 21 degrees. There’s never even been a Famous Idaho Potato/Humanitarian Bowl that cold. But that conjures up memories of the TV commercial I did with Boise State coach Pokey Allen the week of the playoff game against Marshall 20 years ago—the one in which he promised to ride a horse down Broadway if enough fans came out. The opening line was, “They do it in Green Bay, they do it in Buffalo, you can do it here.” It happened then, and it can happen now. "The time has come for you guys to come out and show out against San Diego State," says Jay Ajayi in a video Boise State posted to YouTube. “This game is real personal to us.”
Idaho sends out 19 seniors tomorrow when it hosts Troy in the 2014 Kibbie Dome finale. Nine have been at Idaho throughout their college careers. One of them is fifth-year safety Tom Hennessey, son of the Vandal great by the same name. The Mountain Home High grad has started two of the last four games since the abrupt departure of safety Chris Edwards, and he played extensively in the other two. Hennessey has recorded 28 of his 31 tackles this season during that stretch and recovered a fumble two weeks ago against Arkansas State. Idaho has high hopes of getting out of the one-win rut tomorrow. The Vandals are favored by 5½ points over the Trojans.
If Eagle High grad Marcus Lenhardt can keep his hands thawed tomorrow, he has a shot at the College of Idaho’s single-season receptions record held by the legendary R.C. Owens. Lenhardt has 41 catches going into the season finale at Carroll College, while Owens recorded 48 in 1954. But how about Owens’ yards-per-reception in an era when the forward pass was still a curiosity in college football? The San Francisco 49er-to-be covered 905 yards that year, an average of almost 19 yards per grab. Another Yote note: former Mountain View Maverick Nate Moore will be in familiar territory tomorrow in Helena. Moore transferred from Carroll to the C of I in time for “zero year” in 2013.
Idle time during Boise State's exhibition games didn't affect senior Derrick Marks much, but sophomore Dezmyn Trent has more at stake. Both were suspended for two games a couple weeks ago, with one game to go. Marks will sit out one of the first two games of the regular season this weekend and Trent the other. No word yet as to which guy will miss which game—today against San Diego and tomorrow night versus Loyola Marymount at the LMU Classic in Los Angeles. Trent averaged 2.6 points over 20 games last season. His season high was in the season opener against UT Arlington when he scored 13 points, the only double-figure game of his true freshman year. Also today, Bronco coach Leon Rice will be facing an old friend in San Diego coach Bill Grier. Rice and Grier coached together for eight seasons on the Gonzaga staff.
The Idaho Stampede’s roster is set for Opening Night tonight against the Erie BayHawks in CenturyLink Arena. Two local players in training camp have been waived by the Stampede, former NNU star Brian Barkdoll and Timberline High grad B.J. Shearry. The name that stands out on the 10-man roster is Kevin Murphy, who led the team in scoring last season after Pierre Jackson left. Murphy is, in fact, the top scorer returning to the D-League. He averaged 25.5 points per game and had outputs of 51 and 47 points during the winter. The Stamps will also have guard Toure’ Murry, who yesterday became the first NBA assignee of the club’s new affiliation with the Utah Jazz. Murry signed with Utah as a free agent after playing 51 games for the New York Knicks last season. He has not appeared in a Jazz game yet.
There’ll be an interesting scene awaiting the Idaho Steelheads in Bakersfield this weekend. Tomorrow night the Condors are holding their first "jersey off our backs" auction, and these aren’t just any jerseys. They’re “Seinfeld Puffy Shirts Jerseys.” Okay. The team awaiting the Steelheads for the two-game set starting tonight is pretty good. Bakersfield is 8-5 and is just one point behind Idaho in the ECHL Pacific Division. The Condors’ top three scorers are all rookies: Josh Winquist, Connor Jones and Kellen Jones. The Jones guys are brothers—twins, as a matter of fact. The Steelies’ Jason Bast goes into this series as the top goal-scorer in the ECHL with 10.
Other weekend doings; the Boise State wrestling team opens its 2014-15 home schedule with a tri-dual featuring Utah Valley and 13th-ranked Iowa State today and tonight in Bronco Gym. The Cyclones and Wolverines will wrestle at 3 p.m., followed by Boise State-Utah Valley at 4:30 p.m. and Boise State-Iowa State at 6 p.m. The College of Idaho men’s basketball team tries to extend its undefeated start in Lewiston in the Clearwater River Casino Invite versus Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech. NNU starts its regular season at the Chuck Randall Classic in Bellingham, WA, against Hawaii-Hilo and Notre Dame de Namur. And the Crusader men’s soccer team won its opener at the NCAA Division II Tournament, beating Simon Fraser 1-0 yesterday in Seattle. NNU advances to face the top regional seed, Seattle Pacific.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
November 14, 1964, 50 years ago today: Rookie Gus Johnson, who played his college ball at Boise Junior College and the University of Idaho, cements his status as a rising NBA star with 41 points in the Baltimore Bullets’ 127-115 win over the L.A. Lakers. After being drafted 10th overall by the Bullets in 1963, Johnson spent 10 seasons in the NBA and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Johnson still holds the Vandals’ single-season rebound record with an average of 20 per game in 1962-63.
(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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