Presented by BIG BUN DRIVE-IN.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

We’ve jotted down a lot of Andy Avalos-isms in his 2½ months at Boise State. This is one that stuck with me at the outset of spring football: “No question, we’ll have a six-deep (at wide receiver).” That’s quite a statement. That’s what Avalos remembers from his playing days, when the Broncos’ high-flyin’ offense under Dan Hawkins (and coordinated by Chris Petersen) would often shuttle in two waves of wideouts. The current situation? There’s Khalil Shakir and CT Thomas and maybe Octavius Evans in the first wave. When Avalos was asked what has surprised him the most as he’s evaluated this team, he said, “Team speed, especially at wide receiver.” That tells us there could be a second wave from the group that includes Stefan Cobbs, Billy Bowens, Shea Whiting, Davis Koetter, Mac Griffin and LaTrell Caples.

Even with all the great wideouts who have come through Boise State, a true “six-deep” at that position has been rare, at least in terms of statistical balance. Last year is hard to judge because of the COVID-reduced season, but we do know that Khalil Shakir and CT Thomas combined for 71 catches, and the rest of the wide receivers combined for just 15. There was one season in the Bryan Harsin era that did produce two waves at wideout, though. In 2018 you had Sean Modster, A.J. Richardson and Thomas combine for 163 catches, and right behind them were John Hightower, Akilian Butler and Shakir with 72 grabs combined.

TO-DO LIST: AVOID ‘EXPLOSIVES’

Bill Connelly of ESPN was on Idaho SportsTalk last Wednesday talking about his Mountain West Mountain Division preview at ESPN.com, and one thing in his piece was striking to me. Even with Connelly projecting the Broncos to be “far ahead of the field” in the division, there was one major red flag. In 2020, “big plays suddenly went against BSU. Despite the threat of Shakir and slot man CT Thomas, the Broncos still averaged only 3.3 gains of 20+ yards per game (113th in FBS), while the defense allowed 5.0 (74th). The Broncos won the efficiency battle most of the time, but big plays flip games. Can a glitchy secondary smooth out the errors, especially without top cornerback Jalen Walker?” And, “Can (offensive coordinator Tim Plough) coax out more big plays without sacrificing efficiency?”

BIG SKY KNOWS HOW TO GET NOTICED

The smoke has cleared on a wild Saturday in the Big Sky. And out of it has come Idaho getting back into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at No. 24, and former Vallivue High star Lan Larison as conference Offensive Player of the Week. Larison carried 12 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns as UC Davis rallied past Idaho State 31-27 with eight seconds remaining in the game. And finishes like that were the main storyline in the league. Three of the four Big Sky games were decided in the final eight seconds or less. The Vandals beat Southern Utah 33-32 on a touchdown pass from Nikhil Nayar to Cutrell Haywood with seven seconds left, and Weber State beat Northern Arizona 28-23 on a 50-yard Hail Mary on the final play of the game. Idaho and Idaho State meet this Saturday in Holt Arena.

THE ALSTON EVALUATION

Derrick Alston Jr. is likely headed to the NBA Draft pool now. Did Alston do enough at Boise State as a senior to be selected in July? If you rewind to February 25, the answer would probably be yes. Alston was coming off a four-game stretch during which he averaged 26 points, including 29 in Game 1 at San Diego State. Then in the final five games of the season, Alston averaged less than 12 points, shooting under 33 percent from the field and going 7-for-34 from three-point range. It was a semi-invisible ending for one of the Broncos’ all-time greats. Alston averaged 1.5 turnovers per game as a sophomore and 3.2 as a junior—then split the difference with 2.4 this season. NBA scouts, of course, don’t care much about box scores. Did they see something down the stretch that will cut Alston some slack?

MEMPHIS WAS PRETTY GOOD