Presented by the POOL DOCTOR.
Thursday, October 23, 2014.
Tomorrow night you’ll be seeing two of the non-power schools most deserving of ascension into a power conference, according to a weekly ESPN poll of college football coaches. Overall, BYU was tabbed the most worthy with 24 percent of the vote, followed by East Carolina at 21 percent and Boise State at 19 percent. When you split it between categories, the Cougars were the overwhelming choice among Power 5 coaches, followed by the Broncos. East Carolina was tops among non-Power 5 coaches—then came Boise State and BYU.
The Cougars have had a high national profile for 35 years and have built-in advantages: a 1984 national championship in Division I-A, a Heisman Trophy winner (Ty Detmer in 1990), and a stadium that seats more than 63,000 and is always close to capacity. Attendance matters. The Broncos get credit for their incomparable run and national cache in the new century. With East Carolina, it's a case of "what have you done for me lately"—the Pirates are having a great season, ranked 17th in the Coaches Poll and 18th in AP with a 5-1 record. But consider also that ECU is averaging 46,290 fans per game. Did I mention attendance matters? Of course, there’s no power conference inclined to hand out invitations right now.
A natural mantra for BYU tomorrow night would be, “Stop the J-Train.” Boise State running back Jay Ajayi is just 133 yards from a 1,000-yard season. If he gets them against BYU tomorrow night, a good chunk of them will probably come in the fourth quarter. “Chunk” is a good word for it, too. Ajayi had that 74-yard run in the final period at Nevada and the 54-yarder in the fourth quarter against Fresno State. He has a checkered history when playing BYU. Last year in Provo Ajayi rushed for 151 yards, including a 61-yard dash (that time it came in the third quarter). Two years ago against the Cougars, Ajayi had just one carry for two yards. In fact, it was the first rushing attempt of Ajayi’s career as he was emerging from coach Chris Petersen’s doghouse.
SI.com says you should add Ajayi to the list of players who will come out early for the NFL Draft (if you haven’t already). Writes Pete Thamel: “The 6-0, 216-pound Ajayi is an intriguing prospect because of his combination of rushing and pass-catching and is expected to be a second-day pick, according to an NFL scout. He’s fifth in the FBS in all-purpose yards (1,184 yards) and the only player with more than 800 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving. ‘He’s something to look forward to,’ the scout told The Inside Read. Some scouts think Ajayi might be better than his former Boise State teammate Doug Martin, who was the second-to-last pick of the first round in 2012. It’s all shaping up to look like Ajayi made the right decision not to pursue professional soccer.”
Scout.com reports that Boise State has picked up another commitment for the 2015 recruiting class. It’s a unique situation—a big brother giving a verbal to the school his younger brother already attends. Defensive tackle Penaia “Ben” Moa will be a junior college transfer from Grossmont College. Little bro David Moa, also a D-lineman, is redshirting this fall with the Broncos. Ben Moa, listed at 6-4, 290 pounds, was originally a San Diego State Aztec but had to leave school two years ago to tend to a family health emergency. He had to start over in JC, and the journey has taken him to the blue turf.
Colby Pearson is a former Blackfoot High Bronco who was almost a Boise State Bronco walk-on. Instead, he accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity at BYU and will be wearing white tomorrow night in Albertsons Stadium. Pearson, a sophomore, has worked his way into the Cougars’ receivers rotation and has seven catches for 82 yards, including his first collegiate touchdown two weeks ago at Central Florida. He told the Salt Lake Tribune he grew up rooting for Boise State, going to some games. He has actually played on the blue turf before, in the 2010 Idaho 4A championship game.
It’s looking like Eagle High grad Taylor Kelly will get the start Saturday for No. 14 Arizona State at Washington. That’s despite the success of junior Mike Bercovici, who led the Sun Devils to wins over two ranked teams in three tries after Kelly injured his right foot September 13. Bercovici is a thrower, while Kelly is a dual threat, and ASU’s offense is tailored to Kelly (no pun intended). Chris Petersen and the Huskies have been licking their wounds since the 45-20 loss at Oregon last Saturday. They’re likely preparing for both quarterbacks—not fun. Kelly, who was recruited to Boise State by Coach Pete, had started 30 consecutive games for the Sun Devils before the injury.
The streak has spanned 46 games and three head coaches. Idaho State has not won a road game in more than eight years, but the Bengals are headed to the scene of that 2006 victory tomorrow looking for a breakthrough. ISU goes to Greeley to face Northern Colorado, which is 2-5 (1-3 in the Big Sky). The Bears were picked to finish last in the conference and were 1-11 last year, including a 40-26 loss to the Bengals in Holt Arena, so the cards are stacked in Idaho State’s favor.
The 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot has been released, and there are two former Idaho State greats among the 86 non-FBS nominees. Wide receiver Ed “The Flea” Bell, a 1969 All-American and two-time All-Big Sky pick, is still ISU’s career leader with 30 touchdown catches. Punter and placekicker Case deBruijn was an All-American on the Bengals’ 1981 Division I-AA national championship team. He led the nation in punting as a junior and senior, and his 1981 average of 45.9 yards per boot is third all-time in I-AA. The announcement of the 2015 Hall of Fame class will be made live January 9 in Dallas during the College Football Playoff Championship Weekend.
Yesterday was Mountain West basketball’s, Media Day, streamed digitally around the conference. Boise State’s Leon Rice met the group, along with senior stars Derrick Marks and Anthony Drmic. Rice is in his element several weeks before the regular season starts. “October’s been terrific,” he said. “I love practicing in October—it’s the best time of the year to coach in college basketball, I think.” Having players like Marks and Drmic, who both should end up among the top five scorers in Bronco history, certainly helps. “This (is a) group we’ve had a relationship with for five years,” Rice said. He marvels at how far Marks and Drmic have come as he recalls their freshman year. “There were a lot of days where you just put your head in your hands, knowing the experience would make them better.” Exhibition game No. 1 is a week from tomorrow.
Before the new Sports Illustrated lands in your mailbox, here’s one more snippet from last week’s issue. It’s one of those rare appearances by an Idahoan in the “Faces In The Crowd” feature. Kellen Hoskins, a senior running back at Troy High School, gets notice for rushing for 326 yards and six touchdowns on just 17 carries in an 88-50 eight-man win over Lapwai. Hoskins also had 99 yards receiving with two touchdown catches, returned an interception and kickoff for TDs and threw a 61-yard scoring pass. Maybe Hoskins is—at the very least—a walk-on candidate at Boise State. If Idaho doesn’t get to him first. But hey, his name is Kellen. And the Broncos picked up the state’s best eight-man player, Leighton Vander Esch, as a walk-on in their 2014 recruiting class.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
October 23, 1988: Dan Marino has the biggest day of his NFL career, but it comes in a loss for the Miami Dolphins. When the New York Jets went up 30-10 at halftime, the Dolphins were forced to go to the air. Marino threw for 521 yards—second in NFL history at the time to Norm Van Brocklin’s 554 yards in 1951—and three touchdowns. But Marino was also picked off five times in a 44-30 Miami loss.
(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.)
Scott Slant sponsor sites:
