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Friday, October 3, 2014.
Look who's on top in Mountain West scoring defense right now. Yes, it's the long-maligned defense of Nevada, which hopes to turn the tide tomorrow night in a rivalry that has seen Boise State win 13 of the last 14 games. The Wolf Pack is allowing just 19.2 points per game. On the other hand, the Pack is eighth in the conference in total defense, yielding 440 yards per outing. How can that be? This is the epitome of a bend-but-not-break unit. Opponents get their yards between the 20’s and have made it into the Nevada red zone just nine times in four games, scoring only two touchdowns. This does not bode well for the Broncos, considering their epic struggles in the red zone.
That brings us to turnovers. It’s easy to point at that as a key to tomorrow’s game. Nevada is No. 1 in the Mountain West in turnover margin at plus-6. Not good timing for the Broncos, perhaps. Boise State turned the ball over an appalling seven times last week, of course. The Wolf Pack has turned it over just twice all season. The glass-half-full in me says that if the Broncos went turnover-free in the two previous games versus UConn and Louisiana-Lafayette, it’s at least possible for them to duplicate the feat at Mackay Stadium.
So what would you do tomorrow night if you were Nevada? It seems too obvious. Flood the box and go all-out to stuff Boise State’s Jay Ajayi—then make Grant Hedrick try to beat you. Air Force put its stock in that last week, holding Ajayi to 63 yards rushing and forcing two fumbles by the Bronco star while Hedrick was throwing four interceptions. But the Wolf Pack has been vulnerable against the pass, allowing 292 yards per game. Stopping the run would take on added focus for the Pack if Matt Miller doesn’t return to the field tomorrow night to help out the Boise State passing game after the leg injury he suffered in Colorado Springs last Saturday. Miller would be missed on special teams, too. Dan Goodale’s only field goal attempt of the game was blocked last week, with punter Sean Wale doing the holding in place of the injured Miller.
While we wonder when Miller is going to be able to get those final 15 yards to break Boise State’s career record for reciving yards, we see Shane Williams-Rhodes climbing in the record book. Williams-Rhodes made six catches last Saturday to bring his career total to 137, moving him into 11th-place on the Broncos’ career receptions list five games into his junior year. More important to the big picture was the fact that Williams-Rhodes also scored his first touchdown of the season, diving inside the pylon on a 10-yard pass from Ryan Finley in the fourth quarter.
Coach Bryan Harsin has been tight-lipped on injuries this week—Miller’s and everybody else’s. The Boise State secondary was patchwork at Air Force last week, and we don’t know yet if the starting lineup will return to some semblance of normal tomorrow night. Safety Darian Thompson is slated to be back in his spot at Nevada, but it may be tough to keep Chanceller James off the field. The sophomore from Spring Valley, CA, is seeing his first action this season after missing last year with a fall camp knee injury and led the Broncos at Air Force with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery. “He was in the right place at the right time—making plays,” said Harsin. “You see him really developing.”
Idaho has made measurable progress on offense this year, even with last week’s 269-yard performance in the loss to South Alabama. Matt Linehan is second in the Sun Belt and 12th nationally in passing with 319.5 yards per game, and Josh McCain leads the Sun Belt and is second in the country with his six touchdown catches. But there’s always an asterisk with the Vandals. After Linehan was sacked seven times last Saturday in the Kibbie Dome, Idaho dropped to No. 123 in the country with 18 sacks allowed for the season. The Vandals were dead last a year ago, when they yielded 52 sacks. Time to circle the wagons as they hit the road for a tussle tomorrow at Texas State.
An offense created from scratch would usually be hard-pressed to chalk up big plays. But that’s just what the College of Idaho newbies have done as they go into their road test at Eastern Oregon tomorrow. During their 3-1 start, the Coyotes have hit eight passes covering 20 or more yards and have had seven rushes of 20-plus, five of them going 40-plus yards. Quarterback Teejay Gordon can be counted on to have his hand in much of the onslaught. In last week’s win over Montana Tech, Gordon was directly involved in 47 of the Yotes’ 85 plays. He is third in the NAIA in rushing yards at 131.5 per game, while ranking second nationally in touchdowns.
Tyrone Crawford was moved inside from defensive end to tackle last Sunday, and he has been receiving rave reviews for his role in the Cowboys’ 38-17 rout of the Saints. Crawford had just two tackles and a pass deflection, but analysts say he played the most important role on the Dallas defensive line and was disruptive to Drew Brees, almost recording his first sack of the season on the New Orleans icon. “He really affected the game,” said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett of the 2012 third-round pick out of Boise State. “He was around the ball a lot, he was pushing the pocket.” Dallas hosts the vastly improved Houston Texans on Sunday.
There’s no Midnight Madness, but the Boise State basketball team opens preseason practice today. Coach Lee Rice gave KTIK’s Bob & Chris Show some capsules of some key newcomers yesterday. Guard Chandler Hutchison, who some regard as the Broncos’ highest-ranked recruit ever, is still growing according to Rice. Hutchison was 6-6 when he committed out of Mission Viejo. He’s listed as 6-7 now, and Rice says he’s closing in on 6-8. David Wacker, last season’s Texas 5A Player of the Year, is a 6-10 forward who “knows how to play the game.” Wacker’s grandfather was former TCU and Minnesota football coach Jim Wacker. And Montego Alford, the 5-9 guard from the College of Southern Idaho, “may be the most athletic guy I’ve ever coached,” said Rice.
The Broncos will host an open scrimmage a week from tomorrow night in Bronco Gym. What can you expect to see? “You’ll see that the Broncos can dunk,” quipped Rice. He was serious, though, as the new faces bring in some significant hops. But the Broncos won’t be looking to jam this season in lieu of their bread-and-butter, which is getting up and down the floor and scoring points. “You don’t want to ignore what you’re good at, and then not be good at it anymore,” said Rice.
You never know where you’ll find some kind of local tie in the big league playoffs. Minor League baseball returned to Boise in 1975 after a 12-year hiatus in the form of the Boise A’s, the team that played two seasons here before relocating. The Boise general manager that summer was Dean Taylor, an up-and-coming 24-year-old. I was the PA announcer that season, and Taylor did a great job getting the most out of the A’s home ballpark, Borah Field. Taylor started moving up the ranks the next season, reaching the Kansas City Royals as an administrative assistant in 1981. I got to thinking—I believe he ended up in back in KC after several stops in other front offices in the majors. And there he is. Dean Taylor is the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Royals, hoping he has a very busy October.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
October 3, 1976: Hank Aaron singles in the final at-bat of his career in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Aaron, with 755 home runs, held baseball’s career record for 33 years until it was infamously broken by San Francisco’s Barry Bonds in 2007. But Aaron collected the bulk of his homers in an era when pitchers were dominant. Perhaps just as impressive was Aaron’s career batting average of .305.
(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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