Presented by FRANZ WITTE NURSERY.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014.
Some fans looked upon the blue turf last Saturday and wondered why the Boise State defensive line wasn’t down and ready to go when Louisiana-Lafayette was calling signals. After all, the Broncos looked like they were standing around. True, the D-linemen often didn’t get down in three-point stances, but there was a method to the madness. Most of the time it was when there were four ends in the game—no defensive tackles. “You put some speed on the field and hope to pressure the quarterback,” said coach Bryan Harsin. And while Boise State did record only two sacks, it chased Terrance Broadway around enough to force him into a bad night.
Harsin said he likes the concept, and the defensive line obviously does, too. “Sometimes those kinds of things take a life of their own,” said Harsin, pointing out that players embraced the funkiness of it all and improvised a bit. You’d see sophomore Gabe Perez 2½ yards off the ball at the time of the snap—he had a running start when he chose the right gap. There may not be an encore at Air Force Saturday, though. “Those are game-type packages—we may shelve it for awhile and bring it back later,” Harsin said.
Special teams are having their ups and downs at Boise State. Let’s start with the ups. Since the injury to Bryan Douglas against Colorado State, the Broncos have tried a few deep guys to go with semi-deep guy Charles Bertoli on kickoff returns. Versus Louisiana-Lafayette it was Dallas Burroughs’ turn. Proving he still has the speed that made him a state 5A 100-meter champion at Rocky Mountain High, Burroughs peeled off the Broncos’ longest kickoff return of the year, a 47-yarder that led to a Dan Goodale field goal on the first possession of the second half. Burroughs also had a nice 27-yard runback in the game. He may have that job for awhile.
There have been some downs in the kicking game. Boise State left some points on the field in the win over the Ragin’ Cajuns, six of them on missed field goals by Goodale. After making nine in a row, Goodale pushed right on attempts of 44 and 32 yards (he was true from 40 and 33 yards). He also came up short of a first down while running on a fake field goal attempt, but you have to give the Broncos credit for trying. For punter Sean Wale, it’s been a season of pop-ups and line drives. Wale is averaging just 39.7 yards per punt this season. One rope that was devoid of hang time was returned 26 yards to the Bronco 24 (although the Ragin’ Cajuns would turn the ball over on downs).
Idaho is hanging its hat on national offensive rankings right now. Despite an 0-3 record, the Vandals have made big strides through the emergence of quarterback Matt Linehan. The redshirt freshman leads the Sun Belt and is sixth nationally in passing yards per game at 346.3. His big-play target, Josh McCain, leads the conference and is seventh in the country in receiving yards per game at 123.7. McCain also has five touchdown catches, tops in the Sun Belt and third in the nation. What holds the offense back a bit is its overall efficiency through the air. Linehan is 66th in the country in pass efficiency rating at 131.2. The middling mark is a function of his completion percentage of 60.1 percent and his six interceptions in three games. The Vandals host South Alabama Saturday in their annual Dad’s Weekend game.
The College of Idaho’s 37-year football hiatus may not have made any difference in this historical stat. The 485 yards passing put up by Southern Oregon last Saturday were the most ever allowed by the Coyotes—anytime, any era—as the Raiders beat the Owls, 56-28. The defense wasn’t helped by the Yotes offense, which turned the ball over four times. C of I coach Mike Moroski is staying even-keeled, though. “To be honest with you, things couldn’t have gone better for us,” said Moroski of the Yotes’ chances to stay in the game in the fourth quarter against one of NAIA’s top 10 teams. Is the freshman-laden defense down after allowing 661 total yards? “I think they’re smart enough to know they’re gaining great experience,” said Moroski. Game 4 is in Simplot Stadium Saturday when the Coyotes host Montana Tech.
This time Dan Hawkins is following in the footsteps of his son Cody. The former Boise State coach has been named to head the U.S. team at the World Football Championships next July in Stockholm, Sweden. Cody Hawkins, his former quarterback at Colorado and the one-time Bishop Kelly Knight, led the Americans to the last world championship in 2011 in Vienna, Austria. Former Bronco Richie Brockel was also on that team after being cut at the end of training camp the previous year by San Diego. Brockel performed well enough to earn another NFL shot with Carolina, and he remains a Panther today.
The Boise Hawks meshed their new ownership group, Agon Sports and Entertainment, with their new parent club, the Colorado Rockies, and rolled ‘em out together yesterday. The issue that had long been back-burnered, a new stadium for the Hawks, instantly returned to the forefront. “We have a baseball stadium problem in this town, and it does need to be resolved,” said Agon president Jeff Eiseman. “You have a venue out in Garden City that is not a long-term solution.” You get the feeling Eiseman wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think a new ballpark was a reachable goal. It’ll all depend on whose money will pay for it. Consideration for the future: if the Hawks build a stadium at, say, Eagle Road and Fairview (just throwing that out there), do not rename the team. If the San Francisco 49ers can play in Santa Clara, the Boise Hawks can play in Meridian.
The Rockies indicated yesterday there weren’t any “new stadium” strings attached in their new affiliation with the Hawks. They’re just trying to develop players and get the best ones to Coors Field. The bottom line for fans is: there’s still going to be great raw talent on the field in Boise. Hopefully the Hawks will get the luck of the draw from the Rockies like they did from the Cubs and see first-rounders in the mold of Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber come through. Save for that, it will be like it always has been—you’ll never know who you’re seeing. A top performer in Boise may never make the majors, while a guy who looks very average here could end up in a big league uniform.
The Idaho Steelheads continue to accumulate a lot of AHL experience. In fact, there are now seven players with AHL resumes on board, as forward James Livingston has agreed to terms with the Steelheads. The 24-year-old Livingston has spent his entire 202-game pro career at the top level of minor league hockey and split time last season between the Worcester Sharks and Manchester Monarchs. Late last season he was a teammate of fellow new Steelies signee Steve Quailer at Manchester. In fact, Livingston and Quailer were both third-round draft picks in the 2008 NHL Draft—Livingston with the St. Louis Blues and Quailer with the Montreal Canadiens. Steelheads training camp begins October 6.
Props today for Capital High cross country coach John Doherty for his sixth annual Elementary XC Invite. Held last Friday on the Eagles’ campus, the free event welcomes kids from all the elementary schools that feed into Capital. Every child gets a medal and a T-shirt designed by a Capital High student. Doherty used to produce the meet out-of-pocket, but volunteers and sponsors have since rallied to cover costs. This year’s Elementary XC Invite drew a record 650 participants.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
September 24, 2004, 10 years ago today: Boise State and BYU play on the blue turf, and it goes down to the final seconds. The scoring started with an Andy Avalos safety on Cougar quarterback John Beck in the first quarter. The Broncos went on to build a 16-0 lead, but BYU clawed back to take a 27-22 lead late in the third quarter. It was with 3:42 left that Jared Zabransky hit T.J. Acree with a 44-yard touchdown pass to give Boise State the lead back. Then the Broncos had to endure a 38-yard field goal attempt by the Cougars’ Matt Payne with 19 seconds remaining. Payne missed, and the Broncos won it, 28-27.
(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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