Presented by MOUNTAIN WEST BANK.
Wednesday, October 8, 2104.
Take a guess at Boise State’s season turnover margin as it stands now. Sure, you can consider the four interceptions against Ole Miss and the seven total giveaways at Air Force. Once the Broncos had lost two fumbles and given up their pick-six at Nevada, their margin for that game was just plus-one. Well, Boise State’s turnover ratio for the season is dead even, right in the middle of the Mountain West. What stands out are the overall numbers. The Broncos lead the conference in both giveaways and takeaways by far, with 16 of each. If it’s any consolation, Boise State has picked off one more interception than Grant Hedrick and Ryan Finley have thrown—12 to 11.
Until the offensive breakout at Mackay Stadium, Boise State’s season had been marked by lots of yards and not that many points to show for them. The 51-46 win over Nevada was a much-needed tonic for the offense. It was the Broncos’ first 50-point game in a conference matchup—and on the road—since November, 2011, a 52-35 victory at San Diego State. Boise State had logged three games in the 30’s before the trip to Reno. The previous season-high had been the 38 points at UConn, and as in the win over the Wolf Pack, that number has helped by a pick-six from the defense.
No Boise State player has seized the moment this year quite like Tanner Vallejo. The sophomore linebacker’s performance at the end of the first half and beginning of the second at Nevada last Saturday represented a microcosm of his season. Vallejo dragged down Wolf Pack quarterback Cody Fajardo for a 16-yard sack when the Wolf Pack had reached the Bronco 30 in the final minute of the second quarter. And he corralled Pack running back Don Jackson for a four-yard loss on a swing pass two plays into the third quarter. Then on the final play of the game, Vallejo instinctively dropped into pass coverage over the middle, surprising the Wolf Pack and breaking up their last gasp throw on fourth down. Vallejo leads the Broncos this season with 38 tackles and two fumble recoveries and is second on the team in tackles-for-loss with 7.5.
Idaho never got to find out what it was like playing in the Swamp, with its season opener at Florida having been wiped out August 30 by lightning and torrential rain. But the Vandals’ opponent this Saturday experienced Gainesville last year like few visiting football teams ever do. Georgia Southern was a four-touchdown underdog last November when it went into the Swamp and stunned the Gators, 26-20. It was the first time Florida had ever lost to an FCS school. The Eagles are FCS no more—they’re a first-year member of the Sun Belt. And they’re just as good as they prepare to host Idaho Saturday in Statesboro. Georgia Southern is 4-2, with its only losses coming by a point at North Carolina State and four points at Georgia Tech.
It’s homecoming week at the College of Idaho, the first time it’s been capped by a football game since, yes, 1977. The Coyotes have been following one of the sport’s old adages to the letter in their return season: turnovers can affect games like nothing else. In the Yotes’ three wins this season, they’ve turned the ball over just once, while forcing seven turnovers. In the C of I’s two losses, it has committed seven turnovers while forcing just two. Takeaways would come in handy against Montana State-Northern Saturday, as the Lights (what a nickname) bring in quarterback Travis Dean, who’s throwing for more than 300 yards per game. The scoreboard could get a workout on both sides—outside of a 40-17 victory over Dickinson State, its only win, MSUN has allowed at least 36 points in every game this season.
Boise State grad Richie Brockel has been placed on injured reserve by Carolina due to a high ankle sprain, ending his 2014 season. The Panthers’ fourth-year fullback didn’t have a carry or reception this season, which isn’t surprising—he’s only had four of each in his career. But Brockel has been invaluable as a blocker for Carolina, and he’ll be missed. He signed with the Panthers in 2011 and was given a contract extension last March.
Plenty of time during the football bye week to peruse the Boise State basketball prospectus. The senior backcourt duo of Anthony Drmic and Derrick Marks is already historic, and they have a chance to break more new ground as seniors. Drmic and Marks have been the Broncos’ top two scorers each of the past three seasons, and both are already among the school’s top 10 career scorers. Combined they’ve poured in 2,714 points, already the second-highest scoring set of teammates in Boise State history. They should easily pass the late Steve Connor and Trent Johnson, who teamed to score 3,082 points almost four decades ago.
The ECHL Board of Governors held a special meeting yesterday in Chicago, and voila!—the league has swelled from 21 teams to 28, just like that. The Central Hockey League has folded, with seven surviving franchises taken in by the ECHL effective immediately. Joining the league are: the Allen Americans, Brampton Beast, Missouri Mavericks, Quad City Mallards, Rapid City Rush, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder. Don’t get your 2014-15 Idaho Steelheads schedule card ready for the recycle bin quite yet, because their slate may not change. But there will be shifts in the ECHL’s divisional alignment and in the format for the Kelly Cup Playoffs next spring.
At least for now, the Steelheads have a backup for new goaltender Olivier Roy, as Henri Kiviaho has been assigned to the team by the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Kiviaho, a fifth-round draft pick of the Stars two years ago, is a 20-year-old from Finland. He appeared in one preseason game for the Texas Stars of the AHL, stopping each shot he faced in about 30 minutes of action last Friday against Oklahoma City. Opening Night is just nine days away now, a week from Friday at Utah (unaffected by the ECHL’s sudden expansion).
After the College of Idaho upset of the NAIA’s No. 1 women’s soccer team in the country, Coyotes goalie Brittany Houghton has been named the national NAIA Defensive Player of the Week. Houghton, a freshman from Sarasota Springs, UT, made six saves in the second half to lead the upset Concordia 1-0 last Saturday. She’s only the second Yote in program history to earn the national award.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
October 8, 1995: Probably the most memorable moment in Seattle Mariners history, as Edgar Martinez beats the Yankees in the Kingdome with a dramatic double in the playoffs. Martinez, a 2007 inductee into Boise’s World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, brought home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to rally the M’s to a 6-5 win, sending them to the American League Championship Series for the first time. Seattle would, however, lose the ALCS in six games to the Cleveland Indians.
(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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