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Friday, October 24, 2014.
In one respect, tonight’s Boise State-BYU game will bear no resemblance to the one on the blue turf two years ago, when the first game of this 12-game series was played. In another respect, it will. The Broncos and Cougars combined for just 461 yards of offense in that 7-6 matchup in 2012 (261 for Boise State and 200 for BYU). It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see both teams exceed that 461 number tonight—they both did last season in Provo. There could be sameness in the stands, though. The crowd for this matchup two years ago was 36,864, still the Albertsons Stadium record. And it was loud. Beau Martin said it this week, and we said it the day after the game in 2012: that was the loudest the facility has ever been. Rinse and repeat.
I don’t know how BroncoCountry.com’s Rocketman5000 comes up with this stuff, but it’s interesting. He notes that Boise State has gone 96-4 in its last 100 home games, tied with Nebraska for the best record over a stretch of 100 home games since 1925. A more mainstream fact: the Broncos have not lost a home game during the month of October since 1998 when they fell to North Texas, 21-13. That streak is 34 games. Last year BYU snapped Boise State’s 50-game October winning streak overall with the 37-20 victory in Provo.
The defensive play that all but snuffed out Fresno State’s last chance at a rally last Friday was a sack with less than five minutes left in the game—by Elliot Hoyte, of all people. The emergence of the once-raw Brit gives Boise State yet another option on the defensive line. Hoyte, in fact, was named the Broncos’ defensive line player of the game by the coaching staff. His sack was the last of five that night for BSU, giving it 22 for the season, tied for 19th in the nation. The Broncos may not touch the whopping 48 they had in 2010, but that’s pretty good with a young defensive line. Boise State just has to prevent sacks on the other side of the ball. Rewind five years to 2009—the Broncos allowed five sacks all season, thanks in part to the eyes in the back of Kellen Moore’s head. Last year, the Broncos gave up 26 sacks, and this year they’ve allowed 15.
Boise State coach Bryan Harsin talked this week about the need to win critical matchups against BYU tonight. Here's one for you. The Broncos are missing their “MM” (Matt Miller), but the Cougars have an MM clone, 6-6 wide receiver Mitch Mathews. He’s four inches taller than Miller—and nine inches taller than the guy Mathews will at least occasionally be going against, 5-9 Donte Deayon. Matthews gathered in 16 receptions against Nevada last week, the most by a Cougar in 41 years and the second-most in BYU history. This MM is like the Broncos’ MM—he runs precise routes, gets open, and catches everything near him. Mathews has 43 receptions on the season for 457 yards and five touchdowns.
You never know about turnovers. They can come out of nowhere and affect a game when you least expect it. And this Boise State-BYU tilt has the makings of one that could turn on turnovers. The big picture: in the Broncos’ first four victories this season they were plus-six in turnover margin—in their two losses they were minus-six. In the win over Fresno State, the Broncos and Bulldogs were even, with one turnover apiece. And that’s where Boise State is for the season in turnover ratio, dead even. BYU is minus-three in the turnover department and lost three costly fumbles in its loss to Nevada.
BYU fans want to know: is this the game Christian Stewart turns the corner? He’s been trending up. When he came in cold turkey against Utah State after Taysom Hill was injured, he was just 10-of-29 for 172 yards with three interceptions. Then at Central Florida, Stewart suffered only one pick and threw three TDs, but averaged only 4.1 yards per attempt. It came together more against Nevada, when he went 39-of-63 for 408 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Stewart just has to protect that football when in the pocket and when scrambling.
It certainly seems like the Mountain West was trying to build up Rivalry Weekend right after Thanksgiving when it created the 2014 conference schedule. There’s one big rivalry matchup missing that day, though, and it’ll be played tomorrow. The Mountain West’s oldest such game is the Border War between Colorado State and Wyoming, set for Fort Collins. The Cowboys’ final home game of the season is November 22 versus Boise State, and they wrap up November 29 at New Mexico while CSU takes on a lesser rival, Air Force. The Nevada-UNLV rivalry will end the season that final weekend, as will San Jose State-San Diego State and Hawaii-Fresno State (the Warriors will finish the season on the road for the first time in their 105-year football history).
Special teams have been a wild ride for the College of Idaho this season. Going into their home tilt with powerful Southern Oregon tomorrow, the Coyotes have some things to clean up and some things to build on. In the cleanup department, Rocky Mountain kickoff returns of 54 and 55 yards last week led to touchdowns in the Yotes’ 35-21 loss. Then again, Cory Brady had the C of I’s longest punt return of the season at 42 yards, and punter Kevin McLemore averaged 46 yards a boot in Billings. Southern Oregon will be hungry after suffering its first loss of the 2014 season. The seventh-ranked Raiders lost a heartbreaker 42-40 at Carroll last Saturday, as a two-point conversion pass attempt fell incomplete with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
The College of Idaho’s return to the gridiron has been everything the school could hope for, especially in the stands. Three home games into the 2014 season the Coyotes have drawn very well at the gate, averaging 4,892 fans per game. That is tops in the Frontier Conference and puts the C of I among the NAIA leaders. The Yotes have two crowds (vs. Montana Western and Montana State-Northern) that were larger than two crowds at Idaho State this season.
Jerry Jones’ quote of the week in Dallas had to do with former Boise State star Demarcus Lawrence, who has been back in practice and is eligible to return to action for the Cowboys a week from Sunday against Arizona. "Lawrence had everybody frothing at the mouth a little bit out there last week,” the Dallas owner said on 105.3 The Fan. Froth on, Jerry. Said defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli in the Dallas Morning News: "He has fresh legs now, but he really looks quick and explosive. Now he has a chance over the next couple of weeks to hone in on his skills, hopefully we will get him going.” Lawrence fractured his foot at the beginning of training camp.
Time for the Idaho Steelheads’ first road trip of the season, with visits to Bakersfield tonight and Ontario tomorrow night. The Reign were the only ECHL team to go 3-0 through the opening weekend, and they did it in the most challenging fashion. Ontario traveled north to Alaska and swept the Aces, becoming the first visiting team in six seasons to sweep a three-game series in Anchorage. Furthermore, the Reign’s Joe Cannata is the first ECHL Goaltender of the Week this season. Cannata started two of the games against the Aces and won both, with one shutout, a goals-against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .985.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by GROUND FX…the Treasure Valley mulch experts!
October 24, 1992: The Toronto Blue Jays become the first team outside the United States to win a World Series. The Jays beat the Atlanta Braves in six games, but the final one wasn’t decided until the 11th inning, when 41-year-old Dave Winfield doubled home two runs and Toronto held on in the bottom of the 11th for a 4-3 victory. There was another first, as Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston became the first African American manager to win a World Series.
(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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