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Wednesday, January 7, 2015.
It’s been just a week—not too late for some Fiesta Bowl footnotes. Looking ahead on defense, with all those defensive starters back, Boise State should be able to build on what happened in Glendale. The Broncos allowed 492 yards to Arizona, which is up there—but not as up there as some people think. It took the Wildcats a whopping 106 plays to do it. They averaged a pedestrian 4.6 yards per play (the Broncos averaged 6.8 on their 471 yards and 69 plays). Arizona netted 157 yards on the ground but managed just 2.8 yards per carry. Eight sacks by Boise State helped, as did its two interceptions, one of them the crucial pick-six by Donte Deayon. And the Wildcats' completion percentage for the game was only 56 percent (Grant Hedrick was at his normal 70).
The inquiring mind of KTVB’s Jay Tust wanted to know, so he asked the NCAA. And yes, it turns out Boise State’s Jay Ajayi is the first FBS player in history to record 1,800 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in a single season. It was Tust, by the way, who got the memorable on-field interview immediately after the Fiesta Bowl with Antoine Turner, with whom he did the May story from Fullerton, CA, that told the world of Turner’s journey from homelessness to a Bronco defensive tackle with a scholarship. Now he’s a Fiesta Bowl champion. “This surpasses my wildest dreams,” Turner told Tust. “Everything Boise State ever promised to me—it happened. …This is what you want to be. And I’m eatin’, so I feel great. I feel great.” What a ride it’s been for Turner the past eight months.
Catching up on some coaching movement from the holidays. New Colorado State coach Mike Bobo, the former offensive coordinator at Georgia, is filling out his staff as CSU seeks to stay in the Mountain West’s upper echelon. Bobo’s key hire has been defensive coordinator Tyson Summers, who held the same spot at Central Florida this past season. The Knights were No. 7 nationally in total defense this season, holding opponents to 298.5 yards a game. UCF was also top 10 in rushing defense and scoring defense. Bobo has retained three coaches from Jim McElwain’s staff.
It's official at Florida—former Idaho quarterback Doug Nussmeier is the new offensive coordinator of the Gators. Nussmeier, part of the recent shuttling of Brady Hoke’s staff at Michigan, had gone to Ann Arbor from Alabama, where he ironically replaced McElwain, his new boss with Florida. Nussmeier, the Vandals’ all-time passing leader and winner of the 1993 Walter Payton Award as Division I-AA’s top player, got his first O-coordinator’s job at Fresno State in 2008. He then directed the offense at Washington for three years before being hired by Nick Saban.
Utah State coach Matt Wells has lost both coordinators with yesterday’s departure of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando to Houston. Orlando was with the Aggies for two years, leading them this season to the No. 12 scoring defense in the country at 19.7 points per game—even after the 50-19 loss on the blue turf in the regular season finale. Wells was already looking for a new offensive coordinator after former USU coach Gary Andersen lured Kevin McGiven to Oregon State as quarterbacks coach.
Danny Langsdorf is settling in with old boss Mike Riley at Nebraska after spending this season as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. Langsdorf was O-coordinator under Riley at Oregon State from 2005-13. Langsdorf was a backup quarterback for Boise State in Skip Hall’s final year, 1992, and began the season as the Broncos starter in Pokey Allen’s first year, 1993. Langsdorf was relegated to the No. 2 spot when Allen burned Tony Hilde’s redshirt year in the fifth game of the ’93 season. When it became clear that Hilde was going to be the guy the next four years, Langsdorf elected to transfer to Linfield and play for his dad, Ed.
Playing time in last Saturday’s loss to Utah State would indicate that Boise State coach Leon Rice has settled on his new starting five. Derrick Marks, Mikey Thompson, Igor Hadziomerovic, James Webb III and Nick Duncan were first on the floor against the Aggies. And all five played at least 27 minutes in the game. Off the bench, Rob Heyer logged 12 minutes and Dez Trent 10. Sure, there will be situational things that dictate different personnel as the winter continues, but that gap in floor time is striking. Rice may have to even things out a touch Saturday night, as the Broncos play at 7,200 feet at Wyoming.
The nightmare is over for now. The Idaho Stampede won their first game since Thanksgiving weekend last night, ending a 13-game skid with a 102-96 victory over Oklahoma City at CenturyLink Arena. John Jenkins, an NBA assignee from the Atlanta Hawks, led the Stampede with 23 points and hit two clinching free throws with 16 seconds left. Conspicuous by his absence is the Stamps’ leading scorer, Kevin Murphy. This one snuck by me, but apparently Murphy left the team last week and signed with the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. The transaction wire at the NBA D-League’s website hasn’t been updated since November. That site is not user-friendly at all—hard to find information and very difficult to navigate. Try looking up stats sometime.
Back-to-back shutouts of a franchise that had never suffered that fate have earned the Idaho Steelheads’ Olivier Roy ECHL Goaltender of the Week honors. It’s the fourth time in his career that Roy has won the weekly award, but his first time with the Steelheads (although he did take ECHL Goaltender of the Month kudos in October). The Colorado Eagles had never been blanked on consecutive nights until Roy pulled off the feat in Loveland last weekend. It was also the first time Idaho has posted back-to-back shutouts since Steve Silverthorn blanked Las Vegas and Alaska in successive games during the 2007 playoffs—the Steelies went on to win the Kelly Cup championship that spring. Roy and the Steelheads are back in action against Alaska this weekend in CenturyLink Arena.
The deal has closed. Agon Sports & Entertainment has officially acquired the Boise Hawks from Minor League Holdings, LLC. Agon president Jeff Eiseman’s message to the community is the same as when the pending deal was announced 3½ months ago. “Our first step is to speak to our fans and sponsors and see what’s working and what isn’t,” said Eiseman in a press release. “We are going to be more active this off-season than I imagine the club has in a long time and our fans will notice that difference instantly. I promise we’ll make you proud of your Hawks and see a renewed spirit and commitment. 2015 is just the first step.” The Hawks begin a new affiliation with the Colorado Rockies when their 29th season begins in June.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
January 7, 2010, five years ago today: Boise State’s “Decade of Dominance” is capped with a final ranking of No. 4 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll following a 14-0 season. Alabama was crowned national champion after beating runnerup Texas in the BCS title game earlier that night. The Longhorns, Florida and Boise State were tightly-bunched in the second, third and fourth spot in the polls. Most of the attention, however, was already focused on what might happen the following season, as the Broncos were set to return all but one starter from their 17-10 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl win over TCU.
(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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