Presented by HANDYMAN CONNNECTION.
Wednesday-Thursday, August 24-25, 2016.
On the one hand, Brett Rypien seems a natural choice as a season captain for Boise State football, joining Thomas Sperbeck, Ben Weaver and Sam McCaskill. Rypien is becoming the face of the program, after all. But the kid is just a sophomore. Two years ago right now he was entering his senior year at Shadle Park High in Spokane. But Rypien graduated early from high school for a reason: he wanted to immerse himself in the Bronco program. That he was named a captain six weeks after his 20th birthday speaks volumes. Rypien’s bound to put up gaudy numbers as he moves into year No. 2, but that’s not what will get Boise State to where it wants to go. It’s leadership.
There are two ways to look at the Senior Bowl watch list. There is not just one winner, there are 100 who’ll be named to play in the game in Mobile, AL, in January. But the watch list is more than 400 names long. Sill, it’s an honor. Three Boise State Broncos are on the docket, Sperbeck, Weaver and linebacker Tanner Vallejo. Fifteen other Mountain West players made the list.
You hope it’s significant. We won’t know for some time. But Boise State coach Bryan Harsin identified six true freshmen Tuesday who are candidates to play this season. It might be one of those “including, but not limited to” lists. On defense, Harsin tabbed defensive tackles Emmanuel Fesili and Chase Hatada, cornerbacks DeAndre Pierce and Reid Harrison-Ducros, safety Kekoa Nawahine, and on offense it was wide receiver Bubba Ogbebor. Fesili and Pierce hail from Southern California powerhouse Long Beach Poly, and Nawahine comes from Rocky Mountain in Meridian. The most interesting one is Ogbebor. With the wideout position rather stacked, the Broncos must have some plans for Ogbebor (and he must have really impressed in fall camp).
I still believe that it’ll be Tanner Mangum trotting out at quarterback when BYU takes the field for its first offensive series on the blue turf October 20. But new BYU coach Kalani Sitake announced Tuesday that Taysom Hill, the popular fifth-year senior from Pocatello who turned 26 that day, has won the Cougars’ starting quarterback job over Eagle’s Tanner Mangum. Hill, of course, saw his 2015 season end in the opener at Nebraska with a Lisfranc foot injury. Mangum came on to hit a game-winning Hail Mary in that game—and in the next one against Boise State. Mangum ended up with a record-setting true freshman year just months after returning from a two-year LDS mission.
BYU says its plan is to still use Mangum in 2016 and not redshirt him. Maybe that’s a safety valve move, because Hill has seen three previous seasons end early due to injury. But with Mangum holding a redshirt year in his pocket, it must be tempting for the Cougars to get him game-ready every week—and see if they can keep from playing him. He could travel to every road game and be the first man up in an emergency, but if BYU needs a QB for mopup time, it could use Beau Hoge or Koy Detmer Jr. in that case.
Quarterback notes abound. Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth has named former LSU QB Anthony Jennings as his starter for the Boise State game a week from Saturday. Jennings started for the Tigers as a sophomore, throwing for 1,611 yards and 11 touchdowns against seven interceptions, but he was the backup to Brandon Harris last year. And North Carolina State has named former Bronco quarterback Ryan Finley the “co-starter” for the Wolfpack. Finley has also been granted a medical redshirt for his injury-shortened 2015 season, giving him a sixth year of eligibility. Finley is a graduate transfer—and a sophomore in eligibility. I don’t know if there’s ever been one of those before.
It’s a “Davis guy” thing. Former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins, currently working his ESPN gig, spoke to the College of Idaho football team after practice Tuesday. Hawk’s a pretty good motivational speaker. C of I coach Mike Moroski and Hawkins go all the way back to their playing days at UC Davis. Hawkins often talked with pride about about “Davis guys” while he was coaching the Broncos, meaning the coaching tree that grew from legendary Aggies coach Jim Sochor. Gary Patterson was one. Mike Bellotti was another. And so was Chris Petersen, who helped introduce Moroski to Coyotes athletic director Marty Holly several years ago.
It was the Boise Hawks’ best series of the season. The Hawks won four of five on the road at Vancouver, capped by a 6-3 victory over the Canadians yesterday. Boise made the most of its six hits, building a 6-0 lead before coasting home. Willie Abreu knocked in another run, his 32nd RBI of the season. Despite the fact Abreu didn’t join the Hawks until July 2, that’s second on the team. Julian Fernandez finished with a scoreless ninth inning to notch his 13th save of the year. The Hawks’ Western Idaho Fair road trip wraps up with a three-game set at Hillsboro starting tonight.
It was an excruciating wait for Rich Hill, but it was worth it. The former Boise Hawk finally made his debut for the L.A. Dodgers last night, and he came away with a 1-0 victory over the reeling San Francisco Giants. Hill went six innings in Dodger Stadium and allowed just five baserunners, all via singles. He last pitched on July 17 for Oakland, when he was lifted after only five pitches due to a finger blister, an odd ailment that kept him out until last night. After earning American League Pitcher of the Month honors in May, Hill saw his season abruptly interrupted with a five-week stay on the disabled list before the blister. His combined numbers for the season now include a 10-3 record and a 2.09 ERA.
With Graham DeLaet and Troy Merritt secure on the PGA Tour next year (they’ll go off in the same group today at The Barclays, the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs), the Web.com Tour still has some drama this week. The final event of the Web.com’s regular season, the Winco Foods Portland Open tees off today at Pumpkin Ridge. Players who finish inside the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list will earn their PGA Tour cards for the 2016-17 season, to be awarded at the end of this week. Nos. 20 through 27 on the list are separated by a little more than $10,000 going into the final tournament. There’s pressure in Portland.
The Idaho Steelheads have their “iron man” back for the upcoming season. Corbin Baldwin has agreed to terms with the Steelheads after appearing in all 72 regular season games in 2015-16. The 6-5 defenseman anchored the Steelies’ top penalty-kill unit while compiling a plus/minus rating of plus-28, the sixth-best mark in the ECHL. Baldwin logged three goals, 20 points and 75 penalty minutes last season.
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August 24, 2012: An unsettling eight-month period for Boise State athletics finally ends as the Big West Conference invites the Broncos to join in non-football sports effective July 1, 2013. BSU had been searching for a home for those teams since it was announced football would head to the Big East in 2013 the previous December. The Broncos had to pony up—with travel subsidies of approximately $750,000 per year and a special entry fee of $2.5 million (they received financial help from the Big East). A little more than four months later it was all for naught, as Boise State struck a deal to remain in the Mountain West.
(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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