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Friday, December 5, 2014.
If you’re one of those protesting over the late kickoffs at Albertsons Stadium, I hear you. It’s just that tomorrow night’s Mountain West championship game against Fresno State is not the game at which you do it. The 8 p.m. start time for this one has been set for months, as a way to cap Championship Saturday. Fans need to ensure Boise State puts its best foot forward, especially with major bowl officials in town to evaluate every facet of the program. Think of how hard it was for the Broncos to get there. Now, for the sake of the players and coaches that made it happen, I hope fans don’t take lightly a decision to stay home and watch the game on CBS. There’s still a chance to reach the 30,000 plateau, which I think would be a satisfactory accomplishment. We know this: the ones who attend will make massive noise on every defensive down.
I'm not the first to make this point this week. Fresno State is much better than it was when it lost by 10 points on the blue turf seven weeks ago. But Boise State is, too. The Broncos are playing with a confidence now not seen even in mid-October. So what will offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. and his cohorts cook up this week? You can’t go wrong with something that involves wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck. Unfortunately, Sperbeck’s pass efficiency rating took a hit when he threw a doggone incomplete pass last week, the first of his career. The rating, uh, plummeted all the way to 287.7 (he’s 3-of-4 for 62 yards and a touchdown). It was against Fresno State that Sperbeck threw the TD pass, a nine-yarder to Grant Hedrick that regained the lead for the Broncos in the fourth quarter.
One of the biggest surprises of Boise State’s 2013 season was the lack of involvement from the running backs and tight ends in the passing game. The tight ends’ emergence has been talked about extensively this season. But there are amazing numbers from the backfield and its one-man gang at running back. Last year the running backs combined for 32 receptions for 257 yards and a touchdown, with most of that production coming from Jay Ajayi. This year the Ajayi-dominated backfield—and I’m going to include quarterback Grant Hedrick here—has accumulated 61 catches for 692 yards and six TDs. Hedrick has three grabs this season for 40 yards and two scores.
We'll see if Fresno State takes a page out of Utah State's defensive playbook tomorrow night and blitzes the Broncos. It gave BSU problems in the second half last week, leading to five sacks of Hedrick as the Aggies continually brought the house. Toward the end of the third quarter, though, the Boise State turned back to Ajayi and pushed USU over the edge, symbolized by Ajayi’s 62-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Which brings me to the J-Train. It could be that tomorrow night’s game will mark his final game on the blue turf. If Ajayi leaves early for the NFL as many expect, that’ll be it. Did I mention you should go see this game?
Coaches talk about the need to be good in the red zone, and it’s not just lip service. It’s really, really important. After the Air Force game, Boise State was 112th in the country in red zone offense. They have since climbed all the way to 17th—and to No. 2 in the Mountain West. In that time they've converted 59 of 66 red zone chances into points, including the past 42 straight, with 34 of those producing touchdowns. Conversely, Fresno State is 11th in the conference in red zone offense. In the best of all worlds, the Broncos would hope to keep the Bulldogs from even getting to the red zone.
After one of its best seasons in school history, Colorado State has to regroup now upon the naming of Jim McElwain as the new head coach at Florida. UF athletic director Jeremy Foley got his man by being flexible and creative in handling McElwain’s buyout at CSU. Florida will pay the Rams $3 million over six years and McElwain will pay $2 million of his own money to CSU “over time.” The Gators will also host the Rams in Gainesville sometime between 2017 and 2020 for a $2 million guarantee. Meanwhile, back in Fort Collins, McElwain will be missed. CSU didn’t look very good on the blue turf in September, but it sure did the rest of the season. Quarterback Garrett Grayson benefited greatly from McElwain’s tutelage, which is what Florida’s QBs need.
The shocker of the day yesterday was Oregon State’s Mike Riley being named the new head coach at Nebraska. Huskers fans are wondering how a guy with Riley’s record is going to win them a national championship next year, like they expect. But consider what Riley was able to do in Corvallis in his two tours of duty. He’ll be a great recruiter, taking advantage of Nebraska’s inherent drawing power. Riley was always gracious in defeat (I remember the admiration he showed the Boise State program after the 42-14 loss to the Broncos on Ian Johnson’s breakout night in 2006). He was respectful in victory, too—witness the aftermath of the Beavers’ 38-23 win over Boise State last December in the Hawaii Bowl.
It’s another Battle of the Aussies as Boise State visits Saint Mary’s tomorrow night in the Bay Area. The Gaels boasted one of the most accomplished Australians in college basketball in recent years, Matthew Dellavedova, who became the team’s career scoring leader. Dellavedova is now a Cleveland Cavalier. The current crop of Aussies in Moraga, CA, includes true freshman guard Emmett Paar from Sydney, who has started all five Saint Mary’s games and is averaging 7.6 points. Sophomore forward Dane Pineau out of Melbourne has come off the bench to average 5.6 points per game. And freshman center Jock Landale gets a couple minutes off the bench. The Broncos, of course, bring in Anthony Drmic, Igor Hadziomerovic and Nick Duncan.
The Idaho Stampede begin a five-game road stretch with games at Austin tonight and Rio Grande Valley tomorrow night. Turnovers have been interesting for the Stampede, who go into the weekend 3-3. The Stamps recorded 25 turnovers in each game against Reno last week and are averaging 19.3 per game. That sounds like a high number at the D-League level. The thing is, they’re forcing turnovers, too—opponents are averaging 19.5. Also, the Stampede have acquired former Purdue standout Lewis Jackson from the Westchester Knicks in exchange for a future draft pick. Jackson is expected join the team in Texas this weekend.
Eight of the Idaho Steelheads’ last nine games have been decided by one goal, and the Steelies have been on the short end of half of them. Some separation would undoubtedly feel good this weekend, as long as it benefits the home team when it hosts Bakersfield for two more games in CenturyLink Arena. There’s some room for the Steelheads’ defensive unit to make a difference. Idaho's defensemen have combined for 39 assists this season, with Matt Case's eight helpers leading the way. But the Steelheads defensive unit has produced just two goals, both coming from Charlie Dodero.
Additional things: Boise State wrestling’s annual trek to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is this weekend, with the Broncos sending nine competitors to the 33rd edition of the prestigious tournament. Boise State is one of 39 schools represented at the event. In women’s hoops, Boise State routed Idaho State 86-62 in Pocatello last night behind 28 points from Deanna Weaver. And at the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championships in Sioux City, IA, the College of Idaho picked up a five-set victory over Georgetown College of Kentucky yesterday to reach a pool play tiebreaker last night. The Lady Yotes then fell to Concordia-Irvine to end their season.
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December 5, 1981: In its first trip ever to the Deep South, Boise State beats Jackson State, 19-7, in the first round of the Division I-AA playoffs. Future Pittsburgh Steeler and former Boise High star Rick Woods set a BSU postseason record for longest interception return—a 73-yarder that set up the clinching points. That mark would stand until Shaunard Harts broke it with an 80-yard pick for a touchdown versus Louisville in the 1999 Humanitarian Bowl. That standard was eclipsed by Andy Avalos with his 92-yard rumble against the same team in the 2004 Liberty Bowl, and again by Jamar Taylor with his school-record 100-yard romp against Arizona State in the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl.
(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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