Presented by HANDYMAN CONNECTION.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014.
It really is David versus Goliath today. How so, you say? Well, it sure is if you go by the ranking differential of Boise State and its Fiesta Bowl opponents. The Broncos slew the Sooners in the historic 2007 Fiesta Bowl, but did you remember that BSU was No. 8 going into that game—and Oklahoma was No. 10? In the 2010 game, TCU was No. 4, two spots ahead of No. 6 Boise State. This year, the gap is huge by comparison, as Arizona goes into today’s Fiesta Bowl at No. 10 while the Broncos are No. 20. Hey, they should be more than three-point underdogs, shouldn’t they? After all, the Wildcats are the only team to have beaten Oregon this year. But the oddsmakers see something in the Broncos that says they can keep it close.
Everything we’ve seen of the Broncos in the Valley of the Sun tells us they’ve been having a good time down there. Under normal circumstances, that would be worrisome. Are they not focused on today’s monumental task? But lightening up has been at the core of the turnaround that has carried Boise State to eight straight victories since the 28-14 humbling it endured at Air Force. “I think when you get throttled like that…” said Harsin in the ramp-up to today’s game. “That’s been a turning point. We’ve enjoyed ourselves a whole lot more (since then).” Harsin has been the preacher of the ol’ “go 1-0 this week” and “one-game-at-a-time” mantras. Those phrases have not fallen on deaf ears. “I don’t think we take them as clichés,” said quarterback Grant Hedrick. “We take them seriously.”
As we all know, running is a mega-part of Hedrick’s game. With all signs pointing to Arizona making Jay Ajayi its defensive priority, Hedrick’s legs could be key today. Boise State’s senior quarterback has rushed for 563 yards and eight touchdowns this season and twice nailed Fresno State for TDs in the Mountain West championship game, taking advantage of the Bulldogs’ tendency to bite on the J-Train. Little known fact: those 563 rushing yards are a single-season record for a Bronco quarterback, shattering the old mark of 440 set by Joe Aliotti back in 1979. If Hedrick goes up on the wall in the Boise State quarterbacks room next to Kellen Moore, Ryan Dinwiddie, Taylor Tharp and Bart Hendricks, the photo should go all the way to his feet.
The little boy born in England to Nigerian parents, the one who spent his early years thinking a "football" was round and white with black splotches all over it, plays his final college game today. Boise State star running back Jay Ajayi didn’t even play American football until he signed up for a pee-wee football team in Maryland after he moved to the U.S. with his family in the fourth grade. He later became a high school star in Texas—and then one of the most popular players in Bronco history. Ajayi is only 25 yards away from Ian Johnson’s Boise State single-season rushing record of 1,716 yards. But they’ll be harder to come by than anyone thinks against a Pac-12 defense that’s hellbent on stopping him.
There’s Boise State’s need to stop the run today—and how Arizona’s tempo figures into that quest. The Wildcats logged 75 offensive snaps eight times this season. Only twice did a Bronco opponent run more than 75 plays this year. One of them was Fresno State, who piled up 87 snaps in the title game 3½ weeks ago. Despite the barrage, BSU held the Bulldogs to 4.6 yards per play and 70 yards on the ground. Since that out-of-body experience at New Mexico that saw the Lobos roll up a record-shattering 505 rushing yards on the Broncos, they’ve allowed 169, 80, 109 and 70 yards. That’s the defense the Broncos dearly need this afternoon in Glendale.
Boise State wide receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes is surely hungry for a bowl game. The junior sparkplug missed the Hawaii Bowl last year after injuring an ankle in a November overtime loss at San Diego State. He was neck-and-neck at the time with Matt Miller in a race to break the Broncos’ single-season record for receptions—a mark Miller eventually nailed with 88 catches. SWR had 77 grabs last season and leads Boise State with 68 this year, although he was shut out in the Mountain West championship game win over Fresno State. Did I mention Williams-Rhodes was hungry? He had one reception for five yards in the 2012 Las Vegas Bowl victory over Washington.
Hopefully Boise State fans trekking into University of Phoenix Stadium today have been reminded that it’s not like Albertsons Stadium. You can’t leave at halftime, party in the parking lot, and come back midway through the third quarter. And you can’t—as some unfortunate souls did during the Broncos’ first Fiesta Bowl—leave toward the end of the game and try to get back in because something, uh, unexpected happened. I’ve always wondered how many really departed after Jared Zabransky’s pick-six late in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, only to have to miss “the three plays that shocked the world.”
It’s hard to fathom that this doesn’t permanently change the dynamic and chemistry of Boise State basketball for the rest of the 2014-15 campaign. When Anthony Drmic did not suit up last week at the Las Vegas Classic, we suspected there was something more than rest involved for the Australian senior. Turns out Drmic is going to need ankle surgery next week and is lost for the season. If there’s any consolation, it’s that Boise State expects the NCAA to grant Drmic a medical redshirt that will allow him to return in 2015-16, since he’s played in less than 30 percent of the team’s games before the season’s halfway point. Drmic is sixth in career scoring for the Broncos with 1,528 points. Having a full season back would give him a shot at the school record of 1,944 points held by Tanoka Beard.
So Boise State takes the floor in Fort Collins tonight without its heart-and-soul guy. The Broncos open Mountain West play at Colorado State, a team laden with Division I transfers. There are six of them, plus two more from lower division schools. Often that kind of player doesn’t mix—there’s always a reason a guy left his previous program. But coach Larry Eustachy has meshed them together and has the undefeated Rams ranked 24th in both polls. CSU is tied with top-ranked Kentucky for the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 games. One of the transfers, Tiel Daniels, a former Southern Illinois Saluki who starts at center, will miss tonight’s game with an injured calf.
Other hoops notes: the Boise State women begin the Mountain West schedule today against Colorado State. There’s a Fiesta Bowl fan-friendly 11:30 a.m. tipoff in Taco Bell Arena. Both teams are 8-3—CSU was picked first and the Broncos second in the conference’s preseason poll. The Idaho men play their first two Big Sky Conference games in 19 years this week, and it’s a good, old-fashioned Thursday-Saturday homestand against Idaho State and Weber State. The Vandals are 5-6 overall but are 4-1 at home.
The Idaho Stampede tried to snap their 10-game losing streak last night on the road against a team that’s been a thorn in their side, the Reno Bighorns. And the Stampede played a lot better against them, holding them to 118 points. But the Stamps scored 115, and the streak is now 11. The Atlanta Hawks have assigned guard John Jenkins to the Stampede through to the NBA D-League’s flexible assignment rule. Jenkins should be in uniform for the Stamps’ home games against Bakersfield this weekend in CenturyLink Arena.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!
December 31, 1967: The legendary “Ice Bowl” takes place on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Up 17-14, Dallas was less than five minutes away from the NFL title and Super Bowl II when quarterback Bart Starr coolly moved the Packers 67 yards down to the Cowboy one-yard-line. Starr called Green Bay’s final timeout with 16 seconds left, then followed the famous block of former Idaho Vandal Jerry Kramer into the endzone to give the Packers a dramatic 21-17 victory on a classic below-zero day.
(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:
