Presented by WESTERN SIDING.
Monday, November 10, 2014.
Had Boise State lost at New Mexico Saturday night, it would have been fairly devastating to the Broncos. My headline in Friday’s Scott slant column was “A defining D-line moment?” Well, yes, but not the way I was suggesting. Here the defense was, allowing a record 505 rushing yards, 65 more than the record 440 established by Idaho 39 years ago in the Kibbie Dome dedication game. The Lobos scored 49 points, the most yielded by the Broncos in a non-overtime game in 16 years. New Mexico gained 10.3 yards per carry, another Boise State record for futility by more than two yards per attempt. And the Broncos won, 60-49. It would have been brutal for them had they not come back to outscore the Lobos 32-7 after trailing by 14 points late in the first half—and holding UNM to 88 rushing yards in the second. But they did.
The entertainment value in this game was high for viewers without a dog in the hunt. It wasn’t a sloppy game. It was just lacking defense more often than not. There was not a single turnover in the game, and there were only eight penalties all night (just three on Boise State). The teams combined for 1,305 yards of offense and 109 points, and each struck for a 75-yard touchdown on its first play from scrimmage—New Mexico on the run by Jhurell Pressley and the Broncos on the screen pass from Grant Hedrick to Jay Ajayi. It was an edge-of-your-seat night until Ajayi’s 14-yard TD run sealed it with 38 seconds left. The score might not be much higher when Boise State and New Mexico meet in hoops this winter.
A check of other record book entries out of the Albuquerque excursion shows the 627 yards of total offense by New Mexico to be the fifth-most given up in Boise State history. On the other hand, the Broncos' 674 yards of offense were their sixth-most ever. Grant Hedrick’s 498 yards of total offense ranks No. 4 on the Boise State all-time list (only Ryan Dinwiddie and Kellen Moore ever topped that). Hedrick also became the first Bronco player in the FBS era, which started in 1996, to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. Boise State is showing his 131 rushing yards as the most by a quarterback in school history. And Ajayi not only secured his second 1,000-yard season, he now has 3,135 for his career, the seventh Bronco ever to top 3,000.
Little-appreciated fact: Saturday night's victory clinched a winning season for Boise State, its 41st in 47 seasons as a four-year school. There have only been five losing seasons since 1968, plus one .500 campaign. It's also the Broncos' 17th straight winning season, dating back to Dirk Koetter’s first year in 1998. Boise State has 20 10-win seasons all-time and still has a chance at a 21st—the Broncos are 7-2 now with four or five games to go.
You wonder if some of the Broncos didn’t go into the game looking at November as a whole rather than November 8 as its own separate entity, what with all the talk out there of the Group of 5’s guaranteed access bowl berth. To Boise State coach Bryan Harsin, the Broncos aren’t in a “stretch run” right now. They’re in a stretch week. “One game at a time, you know,” Harsin said on his KBOI postgame show. “We all know what we can play for. We’re just a team that needs to be 1-0 every week.” There’s little chance of the Broncos looking past their next opponent, as San Diego State is headed north this week.
Paul Petrino predicted a score in the neighborhood of 24-21 in the Idaho-San Diego State game, and he got half of it right. The Vandals were within striking distance for 54½ minutes before the Aztecs pulled away for a 35-21 victory Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium. Idaho was driving to tie the game early in the fourth quarter when Jerrel Brown fumbled inside the SDSU 10-yard line and the Aztecs recovered. It was UI's only turnover of the night after suffering eight last week. Chad Chalich went most of the way for the Vandals—Matt Linehan came in for spot duty on two first-half series and again during the final two possessions to try to rally Idaho through the air. The Vandals are now 1-8, just like they were the past two years at this point. But it doesn’t do this year’s team justice.
It was a typically workmanlike effort by San Diego State, which regains a little confidence going into this Saturday night’s showdown against Boise State on the blue turf. The Aztecs’ bowl hopes rest largely on the play of quarterback Quinn Kaehler, and he was able to go vertical on the Vandals, throwing for 249 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-22 passing. Mountain West rushing leader D.J. Pumphrey ran for 142 yards and a TD. Also noteworthy in the conference: Colorado State has debuted in both polls after dispatching Hawaii 49-22. The Rams are No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 25 on the Coaches’ list. The Broncos have votes totaling seven points in the Coaches Poll and received one vote for 25th in AP.
Was it just me, or was it curious that Eastern Oregon was going for it on fourth down with 50 seconds to go on its final possession Saturday with a 38-21 lead on the College of Idaho? I guess that's how rivalries start. The Mountaineers scored on the drive with 21 seconds left to make the final 45-21. Oh well. The Coyotes' home season ended on a beautiful afternoon at Simplot Stadium before an appreciative crowd of 4,726. The highlight of the day was Bishop Kelly High grad Corey Brady's 73-yard interception in the fourth quarter. With everyone in purple urging him on, he was dragged down at the Eastern Oregon one. Former Eagle High standout Marcus Lenhardt had five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. That gave Lenhardt 41 receptions this season, second of the C of I single-season list behind R.C. Owens.
The Boise State basketball team wrapped up its two-game exhibition season with a 103-63 drubbing of Montana Tech Friday night. Here are a few impressions of the Broncos going into this Friday's opener against San Diego. David Wacker appears to be the real deal. The true freshman looks and plays older than his years and has great instinct. Wacker had seven rebounds before halftime Friday night. Chandler Hutchison showed why he's such a highly-ranked recruit with a reverse layin from a seemingly impossible angle, but he's still a bit green. And did you know forward James Webb III could step out and hit the three? He did it three times Friday. Webb did add the one thing we already knew about—he unleashed a huge tomahawk slam late in the first half.
Other hoops notes: the College of Idaho swept Arizona Christian and Walla Walla to win the 27th Taco Bell Shootout in Caldwell. The Coyotes are now 4-0 going into Part I of the annual Mayors’ Cup series against NNU tomorrow night. And if this is indicative of the way Dean Cooper's team is going to play, there'll be some electric nights in CenturyLink Arena this season. The Idaho Stampede blew past the Reno Bighorns in their only exhibition game Saturday night at College of Southern Idaho, 158-135. The Stampede shot 61 percent from the field and went 12-of-26 from three-point range. The Stamps' regular season opens Friday night in Boise against the Erie BayHawks.
With a 3-2 overtime loss Friday and a decisive 7-3 win Saturday at Colorado, the Idaho Steelheads have retaken sole possession of first place over the Eagles in the ECHL Pacific Division. In the Saturday blasting, Jason Bast and David deKastrozza each scored twice for the Steelheads. Bast is now tied for the lead in goals scored in the ECHL with nine. Between the pipes, Henri Kiviaho did indeed replace Olivier Roy as the starter Friday after Roy’s rough patch last Wednesday and took the OT loss. Roy bounced back Saturday to take his league-leading sixth victory of the season. Now it’s the first episode of the Idaho-Alaska rivalry in the new season—the Aces will be in CenturyLink Arena tomorrow night.
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November 10, 1990: Nevada brings the top-ranked team in Division I-AA to Bronco Stadium to face Boise State. The Wolf Pack was no match for BSU on this day, as the high-powered Nevada offense was held to 218 yards in a 30-14 Bronco win. Bart Hull had one of the most interesting games ever: three carries, 10 yards…three touchdowns. The hockey guy had a TD hat trick. BSU and Nevada would meet again four weeks later in the Division I-AA semi-finals in Reno, with Nevada prevailing 59-52 in the triple-overtime classic.
(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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