Presented by HOFFMAN AUTO BODY.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
It’s way to early to try to figure out Kellen Moore’s future in Dallas after the final two games of the season. Even Moore doesn’t have a clear feel for it. “(I have) another year contract-wise to be here, so we’ll see what happens,” he said yesterday on KTIK’s Idaho SportsTalk. “I certainly expect to be back for offseason and training camp.” Moore threw three touchdowns and had three turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble) Sunday versus Washington. How did he feel about the latter trio? Could Jason Witten had leaped to prevent the first pick? Did Cole Beasley stop his route on the second? Did center Travis Frederick screw up the snap on the fumbled exchange? It was classic Kellen. “Those three count towards me, and I’ll accept that,” he said. On the interception intended for Witten: “That ball came out a little quirky and sailed on him.”
Here’s a Kellen Moore factoid coming out of his 435-yard game for Dallas on Sunday. Only twice during Moore’s Boise State career did he pass for more yards, going for 507 against Hawaii in 2010 on the blue turf and 455 at Toledo in 2011. And the attempts and completions in the Cowboys loss to Washington? They match Moore’s Bronco career highs—right on the button. He threw 48 times at Nevada as a redshirt freshman in 2008 (his only other 400-yard game), and he completed 33 passes versus Hawaii the same year. Kellen was probably icing that left arm of his somewhere in AT&T Stadium late Sunday afternoon.
Coach Bryan Harsin had a couple revelations on the debut day of KTIK’s “Morning Grind” yesterday with Ian Johnson and Jake Hamar. One of them was not the departure of Boise State cornerbacks coach Julius Brown, which was reported by several sources last night. A primary factor had to be the Bronco secondary’s tendency to give up big plays, especially in the losses to New Mexico and Air Force on the blue turf in November. Still, it has to be a wrenching move for Harsin, who was a senior backup quarterback at Boise State when Brown arrived as a player and redshirted in 1999. Harsin mentored him at Arkansas State before both came home two years ago. FootballScoop.com reports that former Bronco and NFL safety Gerald Alexander, who was just hired by Jeff Choate at Montana State, is in line to become BSU’s new secondary coach.
What Harsin did say yesterday was that there’ll still be a “competition” at quarterback this spring between Brett Rypien and Ryan Finley, who’ll be returning from his ankle injury. “Those two guys will be rolling out there first, and we’ll see what happens,” Harsin said. He acknowledged that’s difficult to do with Rypien coming off a Mountain West Freshman of the Year season and an Offensive MVP trophy in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Harsin also talked about the offensive line’s future. He did say that Mario Yakoo, a mainstay at guard, will be getting some nicks “cleaned up” and will miss most of spring football. “We’ve got to get him healthy,” said Harsin. But he’s highly optimistic about the O-line, a group that took some heat this season. “We’re about 15 deep, and what that creates is competition.” Harsin specifically mentioned three redshirts, John Molchon, Eric Quevedo and Fruitland’s Garrett Larson, as players ready to take the next step. “We’re going to have to push the issue going into spring,” Harsin said. There is momentum up front from a productive running attack the final two games of the season. “We got under center a little more and that scheme and mentality helped us.”
Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin trailed Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson by 64 yards going into the final weekend in the race for the NFL rushing crown. Martin ran for just 48 yards in the Buccaneers’ 38-10 loss to Carolina, so Peterson had already clinched the title going into Sunday Night Football at Green Bay. Peterson ended with 1,485 yards to Martin’s 1,402. The next guy in line, the Rams’ Todd Gurley, was almost 300 yards back at 1,106. The vote here is for Martin as NFL Comeback Player of the Year. The former Boise State star almost matched his magnificent rookie season in 2012, when he rushed for 1,454 yards. The past two seasons Martin totaled 456 and 494, respectively.
It’s well-chronicled that Boise State picked up its first-ever win in Logan against Utah State last season. The Broncos are 1-18 in the Cache Valley, and they return tonight to take on USU again. They’ll be facing a different brand of Aggies, as Tim Duryea is now their coach after an incredible 17-year run by Stew Morrill. Different indeed, as David Collette is no longer there after leaving the team just two days before the season. Collette’s the guy who hit a prayer of a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Boise State in Taco Bell Arena a year ago (the Broncos have not lost at home since). It turns out Collette is now attending Utah, where he hopes to walk on. It was not a happy ending at Utah State. “With coach Duryea there, I didn’t like it at all; just not a coach I wanted to play for,” Collette said in the Salt Lake Tribune. “I wasn’t so sure I wanted (Duryea) as a coach in the first place, and that’s how a lot of us players felt.” Ouch.
Boise State’s win over Colorado State Saturday night was as notable for who wasn’t present and accounted for as who was. Senior guard Montigo Alford didn’t play a minute against the Rams, a fact bemoaned by coach Leon Rice after the game. Rice said the way Mikey Thompson was playing, he just couldn’t take him out. Understandable. Rice insisted Alford’s time will come, perhaps as quickly as tonight’s game at USU.
Then there was Nick Duncan, who was surprisingly held scoreless for the first time this season. The junior Aussie got into foul trouble out of the gate and fouled out after playing only 18 minutes. Duncan had come into the game having made at least one-three pointer in all 13 Boise State games. Graduate transfer Lonnie Jackson started and did hit a three in the first half, his 11th straight game with a trey, but that was the extent of his scoring, as he played only 14 minutes. Like Alford, the use of Jackson is situational. Let’s see what happens in Logan.
James Webb III has his second Mountain West Player of the Week award in three weeks. Webb took the honor the week before Christmas and again for last week. He scored 23 points in last Wednesday’s victory over UC Davis before putting up 28 in the victory over Colorado State. I jotted down in the middle of the CSU tilt that the only thing missing from Webb’s game right now is his three-point stroke. He then proceeded to can all three of his beyond-the-arc attempts on the way to a 20-point second half against the Rams. Webb, the Broncos’ leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, is hitting 29 percent for the season from three-point land.
Treveon Graham has flown under the radar for the Idaho Stampede this season, but he was key last night in the Stamps’ solid 103-92 win at Bakersfield. In his highest-scoring game since Thanksgiving weekend, the former VCU star put up 19 points and added nine rebounds. Bryce Dejean-Jones also scored 19, but he was just 5-for-17 from the field. The Stampede now head for the annual D-League Showcase in Santa Cruz, where they play Canton tomorrow morning.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BBSI…your business owner advocate.
January 5, 1957: Jackie Robinson announces his retirement from baseball. Robinson decided to retire rather than accept a trade from the Brooklyn Dodgers to their hated rivals, the New York Giants (all this just one year before both teams moved to California). The first black player in the major leagues accepted a position as a vice-president with Chock Full ‘o Nuts, a popular New York City coffee company. Robinson, who was just about to turn 38, had already seen his production affected by diabetes.
(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:
<P
Zamzows
