Presented by BBSI BOISE.
This Day In Sports…August 28, 2014:
The earliest game in Boise State history (until today at South Florida—now it’s a tie) results in the earliest loss, a 35-13 defeat at the hands of Ole Miss in the debut of new Broncos coach Bryan Harsin at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta. The score would point to a defensive debacle, but 212 of the Rebels’ 456 yards came in the fourth quarter. Ole Miss was clinging to a 7-6 lead at the end of the third before exploding for four touchdowns in the fourth. That was after defensive tackle Tyler Horn had departed the game with a knee injury and star cornerback Donte Deayon was on the sidelines trying to shake off an injury that had him grimacing.
The focal point of the offense was Jay Ajayi, who logged 12 receptions, the most ever by a Broncos running back. Ajayi also rushed for 86 yards. Quarterback Grant Hedrick completed 36 passes, second-most in school history, but he also threw four interceptions. And despite the high number of completions, they went to only four receivers. Shane Williams-Rhodes had 14 catches, tied for third on the Boise State single-season list, but they covered only 53 yards as Boise State’s offense had trouble going vertical. (Not that the Broncos didn’t try.)
The opener gave us no indication what was in store for the rest of the season. Same can be said for the whole month of September. Boise State followed the loss to Ole Miss with wins at home over Colorado State and Louisiana and a road victory at UConn. Then the Broncos turned the ball over seven times—five on interceptions—in a deflating 28-14 loss at Air Force. It was one of those times that had legions of people declaring that Boise State’s Golden Era was over. The Broncos followed by running the table the rest of the way, including a 38-30 win over Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl, and finishing 12-2.
The rest of Ajayi’s season belied what we saw in Atlanta as well. He was good against Ole Miss, but he was spectacular for the balance of the campaign. Ajayi set season records with 1,823 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns (both broken last year by Ashton Jeanty). He had 134 yards and three TDs in the Fiesta Bowl, opening the scoring with a 56-yard run. Ajayi’s third touchdown came on a patented Boise State Statue of Liberty.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
