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Wednesday, December 29, 2021.

Fresno State and Boise State, the two best defensive teams in non-conference play in the Mountain West, faced off in ExtraMile Arena Tuesday night, and shots were at a premium. The Broncos trailed the Bulldogs 17-16 with seven minutes left in the first half and had put up only 10 field goal attempts. Boise State had made six of them, though, and that hot hand continued as the Broncos went on a 13-2 run and led by 10 at the break. Fresno State ate into the margin in the second half and finally regained the lead 50-48 with just over six minutes left. Then Boise State came to, ending the game on a 17-5 run and winning the Mountain West opener 65-55. The Broncos, who offset 15 turnovers by outrebounding the Bulldogs 33-20, held an opponent to 60 points or less for the 11^thtime this season.

Safe to say the Broncos wouldn’t have a seventh straight win in the bag without Marcus Shaver Jr. The senior guard put up a season-high 18 points, five of them immediately after the Bulldogs had grabbed their only lead of the second half with six minutes left. Shaver went 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-7 from three-point range while dishing out four assists and pulling down four rebounds. Since being shut out in the infamous loss to Cal State Bakersfield the night after Thanksgiving, Shaver has averaged 15.1 points per game. Up next, Mountain West reality sets in with a New Year’s Day game against Wyoming in Laramie.

THE ASSESSMENT

One of the nation’s most prominent Group of 5 writers, Chris Vannini of The Athletic, puts his spin on Boise State’s season in the wake of the Arizona Bowl cancelation. Writes Vannini: “We entered the year wondering if Boise State could continue through another coaching change with no drop-off. It didn’t happen. The Broncos’ five losses were the program’s most in a season since 1998. There were high moments, with a win at No. 10 BYU and a 40-14 beatdown at No. 23 Fresno State, but there were also losses to UCF, Oklahoma State, Nevada, Air Force and San Diego State. The talent was there, but play was inconsistent. Head coach Andy Avalos has a lot of work to do heading into Year 2.”

Well, what I saw was a team that was increasingly glued together as the season progressed and made big strides defensively. Avalos and his staff learned a lot between Game 1 and Game 12, and the fact there are only two players in transfer portal so far—the fewest in the Mountain West—shows how the team trusts the process. Plus, the program just signed a highly-regarded recruiting class, tops in the conference. It was a 7-5 season, the Broncos’ worst record since 1998. But all five of Boise State’s losses this season were by 11 points or less. The Broncos, as off-and-on as they were, beat two Top 25 teams on the road for the first time in school history. They are not that far away.

KELLEN’S FIRST HC EXPLORATION?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have requested permission to interview Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore about the head coaching position vacated by Urban Meyer. To be sure, the former Boise State great is just one of seven initial candidates listed by ESPN (one of them is Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn). I believe Moore could do wonders for the Jaguars’ struggling No. 1 overall draft pick, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and I believe the two would be a good fit. But how would Moore feel about the rest of the long-suffering Jacksonville organization?  And what would Jerry think?

MOUNTAIN WEST FINISHES 5-1

Air Force put a cherry on top of the Mountain West bowl season with a 31-28 victory over Louisville Tuesday in the First Responder Bowl. The Cardinals contained the run game pretty well, holding the Falcons to 170 yards on the ground. But one of the options in the triple option is the pass—and AF quarterback Haaziq Daniels threw for 199 yards…in the first half. Daniels had 252 for the game on just 10 attempts. Brandon Lewis accounted for 172 of the yards, including touchdown receptions of 61 and 64 yards.

HARSIN & THE SEC MEATGRINDER

Bryan Harsin’s first season at Auburn ended on a sour note. The Tigers lost 17-13 to Houston in the Birmingham Bowl and finished the season with five straight losses for the first time since 1950. For Auburn, which started 6-2, it’s the first losing season since 2012. Joseph Goodman of the Birmingham News, who’s been a periodic critic of Harsin this season, tries to cut him some slack after this one.  Goodman writes: “This was a learning year in the SEC for Harsin, who was a surprise hire out of Boise State and was dealt a bad hand when the pandemic hit. After one season, we still don’t know much about him other than that he really loves football an awful lot. In that, he’s a good fit for Auburn. The other stuff still remains a mystery.”

This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOWS…Nobody Knows Like Zamzows! 

December 29, 1957: The last time the Detroit Lions won an NFL championship. In one of the most one-sided NFL title games ever, the Lions routed the Cleveland Browns, 59-14. Detroit quarterback Tobin Rote was just 12-of-19 passing, but he threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns. The Lions and Browns are two of just four teams that have never played in a Super Bowl (the others are relatively recent expansion franchises, the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars).

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.) 

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