Ian Johnson undrafted—My faith in humanity dashed

This is my 300th post on FFBSU. Seems odd that my 300th post milestone is to announce Ian Johnson, the "face" of the Broncos for the last 3 years, went undrafted in this weekends NFL draft and I'm not happy about it. You wanna know why I'm not happy about it? Look at who was drafted. Tom freakin' Brandstater was drafted (!). Two Mountain West running backs were drafted that had fewer TDs in their career than Johnson's sophomore season alone—one of them had fewer career yards than Johnson's sophomore campaign as well. You are telling me that Ian Johnson, the very definition of a character player...who scored 58 rushing TDs in his career and finished 8th in Heisman voting as a sophomore isn't a better pick than UNLV's Frank Summers? Really, NFL? A guy who posted the second fastest time among running backs at the NFL combine and showed versatility and character throughout his career can't even make it 10-deep on the "top remaining players" list hours into day 2 of the draft? Really, "Scouts Inc."? What a slap in the face to a kid who played through injuries, always talked to the media and never complained about diminished touches in the backfield. Say what you will—I know that free agents can and do flourish in the league...but a player as decorated and talented as Ian Johnson should NOT be drafted behind two (!) players from 1-AA. A player as valuable to a team and as committed as Ian Johnson should not be drafted after a quarterback from Nebraska-Omaha or a running back from Abilene Christian. The all-time leader in rushing TDs and face of the WAC just got wacked...10 conference mates were picked up by NFL squads—none could take a "chance" on Ian?

Oh sure, Ian will get his shot somewhere...and he has his "foot-in-the-door" so to speak, but the NFL's system of evaluation leaves much to be desired...and Ian deserved better than what he got. Oh, and I'll go ahead and throw this out there: Jeremy Childs might have made a "slight" miscalculation.

Somewhat less disappointing update: Friends gotta stick together. Vinny and Ian heading to the Vikings as free agents. Ian chose the Vikings from 12-15 suitors (the team with Adrian Peterson as an RB...really?) Good luck to both. Also, Julian Hawkins to Dallas to say hello to O. Scandrick.

LINK

Spend some time in the Big Apple with IJ...

This didn't hurt.

Must be the shoes...

After Ian Johnson turned heads and calmed nerves at the NFL Scouting Combine last month many just hoped he would sit back and ride out the wave of goodwill till Draft day. Ian wasn't hearing any of that. On St. Patrick's Day, IJ took to the FieldTurf again to show the scouts what he's got, and once again, impressed those in attendance. Johnson, who wisely chose to stand on his Combine 40-time of 4.4, ran agility drills for about 12 NFL scouts at the Caven-Williams Complex on Tuesday afternoon and garnered high praise from the reigning BMOC, Coach Pete:

“He’s as big as he’s ever been and moving as well as he’s ever moved,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “… He looked fast and he looked powerful.”

Chrissy, must be slipping some whey protein into the Hamburger Helper.

Also showing off for the scouts were Vinny Perretta and Jeremy Childs. Perretta may have piqued some interest from scouts with his blazing 40 times of 4.48 and 4.43 as well as some solid numbers in the agility tests, and Childs had to have improved his stock as he was able to make them forget his so-so Combine sprints by finally posting some sub-4.5 marks.

All-in-all...a good day for the newly-minted Bronco alums. Hopefully we'll see all three of the aforementioned sneak onto Kiper's big board.

Ian Johnson looks 'fast, powerful'...[Statesman]
Intriguing prospects work out at Boise State Pro Day [NFL.com]

Watch it again...

Sorry, Sean Penn...Z's acceptance speech was better.

Found a little website that lets you watch Out of the Blue in streaming format without commercial interruptions (and in its entirety). Watch this great little doc about our beloved Broncos again...or for the first time. Here's to a slow day at work tomorrow.

Out of the Blue

IJ just made some money

You can get all the yarn you've ever dreamed of

No one has ever questioned Ian Johnson's heart or character, but after IJ's stellar sophomore campaign, his NFL draft stock appeared to be dropping precipitously. Ian suffered some freak injuries throughout his career and had to deal with a retooled offense that no longer gave him the ball as much as he was accustomed...and then there were the questions about his speed. All in all, I don't think things were looking great for IJ, draftwise. But the all-time WAC rushing TD leader has been turning heads at the combine this weekend and quieting some naysayers that thought his sophomore season was a fluke. Ian just finished running his 40-yard dash in Indianapolis and officially has run the second fastest time of the day...just 1/100th of a second behind Virginia's Cedric Peerman at 4.46 seconds. Ian also put up impressive numbers on the bench press, finishing with 26 reps of 225 lbs. Those finishing with more reps than Ian among the running backs were mainly fullbacks. Ian also finished 4th and 5th amongst running backs in the 20-yard and 60-yard shuttle runs, respectively.

With Ian's character speaking for itself, and now being backed up by solid combine numbers and experience on special teams—I think that Ian just made himself (and Chrissy) some cash.

Nice job, Ian.

By the way, Jeremy Childs ran a 4.57 in the 40—not amazing...but not terrible. Hey, nobody ever said JC was a burner, right?

Combine top performers [NFL.com]

Childs a no-go for the combine

Be the ball, Jeremy.

Jeremy Childs winding road to the NFL may have just gotten a wee bit more complicated. Whereas last years early departures, Orlando Scandrick and Ryan Clady, had a chance to show their wares at the meat market known as the NFL combine...Childs will have to hope that he draws a big crowd on Pro Day. The official invite list, out today, shows only one Bronco making the trip to Indianapolis, and that Bronco is Ian Johnson. Oddly enough, Johnson may have more to prove to the scouts than Childs...at least physically. The combine runs between February 18th and the 24th.

Story [KBCI]

Thank you seniors!

Fresno heads to the blue on Black Friday this week after Boise State clinched their 6th league title in 7 seasons in their "biggest little win" of the year. Fresno has had a curious year and failed to meet many preseason expectations (sound familiar?), but are always a dangerous squad and I'm sure would love to do to the Broncos what the Broncos did to them in 2001. The fans are already in post-season mode, but as long as the players aren't...it should be a very tough game for the 'dogs to win. Lost in the commotion is the fact that Friday is Senior Night and the Broncos will honor a slew of seniors that have given their heart and soul to the program. Among them are Ian Johnson, who placed 8th in Heisman voting in 2006 and passed LaDainian Tomlinson on Saturday for second all-time in WAC rushing TDs, Vinny Perretta, who tossed the game-tying TD in the Fiesta Bowl and notched 126 yards against the Wolf Pack on Saturday, and Andrew Woodruff, who has been a mainstay on the Bronco O-line and paved the way for some of the best rushers this school has ever seen. Hopefully Bronco Nation will show up early on Friday afternoon to honor this senior class that has represented Boise State so well and given us all memories to last a lifetime. If you'd like to express your gratitude and wish the Bronco seniors well, I've set up this online petition so you can do just that. Remember, the first page after you sign is just a preview of your post...you must hit 'sign' again after reviewing for your signature and comments to go live.

Thank you Bronco seniors

That'll do, Kellen...that'll do

Photo by Joe Jaszewski/Statesman

The Kellen Moore era has begun in earnest and it looks like it may be soon joining other well-known eras such as the paleozoic and mesozoic. Moore looked freakin' great against a game ISU team, but obviously will really show his mettle in the upcoming weeks. Moore's 274 yard, 2 TD day was the best debut we've witnessed in quite some time...let alone from a freshman. Kellen looked poised, confident and showed a great touch when it came to nickel and diming or dropping 80 yard TD bombs. Moore finished the night with no turnovers and a passer rating of well over 200 in the 49-7 drubbing of the Bengals—Nice.

MIA
A few notables sat the game out and will be key returners for Bowling Green (who gave our SOS a boost yesterday by beating a possibly overrated, but still solid #25 Pitt team). Ryan Winterswyk was conspicuously absent at DE, but was filled in for nicely by future star Jarrell Root. Winterswyk has a bit of a knee tweak and may not be a go for the game against the Falcons on the 13th, but "should" be back for the Oregon game (keep your fingers nicely crossed). Kyle Gingg was also absent last night with a minor injury...he is more likely to be healthy for the BGSU tussle, but was not overly missed against ISU as Derrell Acrey recorded 14 tackles and freshman Aaron Tevis recorded 8, a tipped pass and two sacks.

No cause for alarm
Many fans are a little worried about inconsistent line play in the first game...mainly due to the fact that the offense didn't get rolling until nearly the 2nd quarter and the fact that the running game never fully took flight. Let me address those concerns thusly: It was the first FREAKIN' GAME! Let's all take a step back and look at the big picture. Boise State was about half a yard from posting the exact same score against Idaho State last night as they did against Weber State in the 2007 opener. Boise State's O-line is extremely young and untested...were missing behemoth Nate Potter and still allowed a single sack and sprung the runners for some big gainers. I personally thought that the run-blocking last night was not as good as the pass-blocking...but it was nothing terrible...the interior line wasn't opening huge holes, but Kellen stayed relatively pressure free and the run game looked like it could've really taken off if given more time. Also, Doug Martin and DJ Harper played extremely sparingly last night. The D-line looked pretty good...good pressure...a lot of sacks...and if you take out one lackluster drive pretty much shut down the ISU offense entirely. More perspective: In 2006 (considered by some to have been a "pretty good year") Ian Johnson had 89 rushing yards in the opener against Sacramento State. Last night? 87 yards. We're fine, Chicken Little.

Could be cleaner
As I said before, this was the first real live football a lot of these guys have played in months and for a lot of them, the first real live college football of their careers. There were some mistakes made—fumbles, pass interference, missed blocks and poor pursuit angles...but all-in-all this was a solid outing all around. Any mistakes made seemed to be atoned for later on and that is all you can ask of our athletes. Two oddly familiar looking fumbles by Titus Young were atoned for by two beautiful TDs, and bad field position for the Broncos (yep, fumbles) gave way to great defensive stands. Linebackers and secondary played very well...missed tackles were at a minimum and the one long drive given up by the D seemed to be due more to some poor pursuit angles than poor tackling like last year. The D-line was getting a good push, but will need to seal off the ends a bit better...Winterswyk will help with this immensely.

Bright spots
Richie Brockel did his best Mike Alstott impression on two goal line runs. Freshman Tyler Shoemaker from Mountain View showed the coaches that putting him on scholly last week was the right move by hauling in two nice TDs. Derrell Acrey wasn't "supposed" to start this one, but did...led the team in tackles with 14 and looked grrrreat. Jeron Johnson showed that you better think twice before running into him head-on...he isn't going to slow down. Ian Johnson blocked a punt...really. Aaron Tevis is a Colt Brooks clone...and he's only a frosh. One bright spot for the Bengals was their place kicker...he was kicking the crap outta that ball last night. Never got to see our new look kick return team because the balls were sailing out of the endzone.

Passing Grades
Offense—B+
Defense—B
Special Teams—B
BroncoVision—D

Kellen gets Helmet Sticker

The one-two punch

Boise State was voted first AND second in preseason WAC voting today. The coaches saw fit to dangle the "beat Fresno State" carrot in front of their clubs for the year—while the conventionally wise media looked at history and put the target on Boise State's back. So, is being voted the preseason #1 a good or bad thing? Anyone know how many times Boise State was picked to win the WAC during their string of five straight titles? It certainly wasn't five...and I'd be willing to bet that Fresno got much of that love. Ian Johnson was tabbed as the preseason Offensive player of the year, making my prediction ring gloriously true. Defensive player of the year was erroneously given to Hawaii LB Solomon Elimimian—Ryan Winterswyk is now sufficiently motivated.

OBNUG has some nice WAC media days goodies for Bronco Nation while BoiseStatefans.com has adequate coverage.

You also might enjoy this artsy preseason video I made the other day on a whim (sorry, no Mudvayne, Eminem or Phil Collins)

WOW.

If you were lucky enough to brave the raging Boise winds and catch the first spring scrimmage this afternoon...you were treated to a blistering display of offensive and defensive fireworks, and some of the best 15-yard punts you've ever seen.

All jokes aside, the first spring scrimmage is in the books and it looked like...well...the first spring scrimmage. A lot of guys sitting out, among them: Jarrell Root, Billy Winn, Jeremy Avery, Mike T. Williams, Kyle Wilson etc.

A lot of bad snaps, dropped passes and general miscues...but we expect that in the first spring scrimmage. Bush Hamdan and Kellen Moore seem like VERY early frontrunners for the QB job. I liked Moore's decisions and mobility and Bush made some nice throws and improvised well. Saw the first glimpse of a Ian Johnson/Doug Martin kick-return tandem and I liked what I saw...they will house a few this season.

Didn't get to see as much of Doug Martin's angry running as I would've liked, but all the backs looked capable and even Jarvis Hodge impressed on one long run.

Absolutely stacked at RB: Ian Johnson rushed four times for 70 yards, Jarvis Hodge three times for 57 yards, Doug Martin 10 times for 59 yards and sophomore D.J. Harper nine times for 40 yards. Yikes. Nice job O-line or "get well soon" D-line.

A pretty good crowd on-hand for a windy day with the NCAA tourney going on. A lot of excitement about the new-look Broncos.

I have decided to drop the scrimmage vids as I don't want to run afoul of the practice gestapo. I don't think my grainy vids are going to step on anyones toe with "actual" media credentials...but I also don't want to risk "ruining" it for anyone who consider practice video and reports to be the only real thing to get excited about until August 30th. Hence, here is a link to some "real" scrimmage video minus the pithy comments. Enjoy.

A good recap from the Statesman: Moore shines.

Every time Boise State wins, an angel gets his wings.

Broncocountry's Forseyfan11 made the following vid...a few reasons to get pumped for the '08 season. The scary part?! We have these guys and Austin Pettis back AND add rageaholic Doug Martin to the backfield. WAC defenses and incontinent Vandal coaches just collectively wet themselves.

No Way, Jose.

In 2004, it was unexpected. In 2006, it was getting ridiculous. Both of those years, Boise State came into San Jose with perfect records—both of those years they barely escaped with the W. Despite being heavily favored every year against San Jose and despite having never lost to San Jose...the Spartans have found ways to scare the Broncos plenty of late. Gone are the days of the 77-14 shellackings, these Spartans, under coach Dick Tomey are scrappy, athletic and driven. However, recent history aside—the Spartans have little chance of winning on Saturday.

The main reason that the Spartans are facing a huge uphill battle is that they are playing on the blue. Boise State has never lost to a WAC foe on the blue and doesn't intend to tomorrow. The second reason that the Spartans are in trouble is that their offense is banged up and on life support. Stud tailback Yonus Davis is out with an ankle injury and the Spartans leading rusher is their QB, Adam Tafralis. The Spartans average only 71 yards per game on the ground...not good news against a BSU team that gave up only 89 rushing yards last week in Fresno to a team that averaged over 200 yards per contest. Adding to the Spartans offensive struggles is the fact that their kicking game has been horribly anemic...converting just 17% of their field goal attempts this year.

Obviously, the Spartans are going to have to go to the air against the Broncos, but I doubt they'll find much success there as Marty Tadman, hard-hitting Jeron Johnson, Orlando Scandrick and Kyle Wilson are on the prowl in the secondary. The Spartans will get some yardage there...maybe exploit a blown coverage or two, but I doubt they will score more than 14 points on this defense—and very well may be shut out like they were in Fresno a few weeks ago.

One bright spot for the Spartans is their defensive secondary and linebacking corps. They've got a good one in DB Dwight Lowery, who was an All-American pick last year and has 3 INTs this year, one of which he took for a TD. Lowery is also a dangerous return man that the Broncos will have to keep an eye on. Across the field from Lowery is CB Chris Owens...who is every bit as dangerous a cover man. He has 4 INTs on the year. Linebacker Matt Castelo is a formidable defender as well. If the Broncos can keep the ball away from these 3 playmakers...the Boise State offense should click well. I, for one, am very interested to see our talented wide receiving tandem of Jeremy Childs and Titus Young take on Lowery and Owens—BUT, the Broncos really shouldn't have to pass much.

Last week, in Ian Johnson's second game out of the lineup, we realized that we have a very, very good stable of running backs. Jeremy "don't call me 'peanut'" Avery and DJ Harper absolutely tore up the Fresno State defense and with Ian back this week...we have a angry, hungry three-headed monster in the backfield. I see the Broncos once again using "the committee" as Ian re-finds his form and running wild on the Spartans. The last few games in the series have been exciting...but this one has blowout written all over it. Expect to see a fairly tight contest in the first half...but the Broncos roll in this one.

BSU 42 SJSU 7

One for the ages?

I decided not to blog the UNR/BSU game yesterday...as I, like other Bronco faithful was in a bit of a daze. Apart from being worn out physically...my vocal chords weren't feeling too swell. I'm sure that many a Bronco walked around Monday morning in a bit of a haze...wandering aimlessly...muttering "Kaepernick" softly under their breath. Well, today I feel more refreshed and am able to look back on Sunday night's crazy game with a little more insight.

First off, let me say that this was probably the greatest game ever on the blue—eclipsing the 2004 BYU squeaker and the 2005 Idaho game where BSU turned a 21-21 tie into a 70-35 beatdown in what seemed like 5 minutes. It was as exciting and nerve-wracking as they come...watching Boise State survive Nevada's mind-boggling offensive display in 4 OTs as LB Tim Brady sacked freshman QB Colin Kaepernick as the Wolf Pack tried to convert a two-point conversion (which, by rule they had to attempt). The Broncos and the Wolf Pack combined for almost 1300 yards of offense, and put up a final score of 69-67, which resembled a basketball score, and also, incidentally was the most points scored in a NCAA Division 1-A game since they started keeping track sometime in the '30s.

Secondly, let me say that it was the most PATHETIC display of defense by either team that I think I've ever seen. The conundrum here being that as memorable as the game was, I am sure both teams would rather forget it. The Broncos, who prior to this game had the 3rd ranked defense in the country and hadn't allowed a hundred yard rusher all year long—inexplicably gave up nearly 400 yards on the ground. 400!

Now, I won't take anything away from the Wolf Pack...they seemed to have largely outschemed us offensively and our D looked confused, sluggish and worn out all night. Maybe the Broncos were overly confident after last week's demolition of NMSU? Maybe the Broncos were not expecting a fight from the Wolf Pack after 7 straight years of domination? Who knows? All I know is that the Wolf Pack offense came to play this time around—and our defense did not. Fortunately for Bronco Nation...OUR offense decided to play—and the Nevada D took a cue from ours and decided to stay on the bus.

Tharp looked darn good once again throwing 4 TDs and only one pick. Ian continued his all-purpose attack, garnering WAC player of the week honors for his 205 rushing yards and 50+ receiving yards (and 3 TDs), and Jeremy Childs had another outstanding game. We even saw some old-skool Bronco trickeration in the form of a fake fieldgoald TD strike and the Bronco special teams came up with another big block, this time, a Nevada PAT. After the game, we learned that Vinny Perretta is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury and Jeron Johson didn't start again because of a nagging hammy injury.

The only real analysis I have is that I HOPE sincerely that this defensive outing was a total anomaly, and that a hard week of practice and some refocusing will cure all ills. If the same defensive effort is put forth in coming weeks...I can honestly see BSU picking up 1 or 2 more losses. That said, as well as our offense is playing right now...any aforementioned losses would be by likely final scores of 50-45 or some such. Get cracking Broncos and look ahead to La Tech...while the rest of Bronco Nation breathes a sigh of relief at Sunday's slugfest.

Oh and by the way, nice game, Nevada. Respect has been regained and I am looking forward to the next few years of the rivalry. And big props to Bronco Nation for getting NOI-ZEE! Loudest I've ever heard Bronco Stadium at the end there.

No pistol...we've got Pete.

Outside of maybe the Idaho Vandals...no Bronco opponent has quite the same history and bad blood as the Nevada Wolf Pack. In the mid-90s, Nevada's coach Chris Ault famously said that if Boise State didn't improve the quality of its players...he saw no reason to continue the "rivalry". Well, Ault now looks like a prophet of sorts as the Broncos DID improve the quality of its players (and coaches, and recruiting, and facilities,etc, etc.) and the the rivalry has continued. The only slight wrinkle being that Boise State has absolutely OWNED the Wolf Pack as of late. 1998 was the last year that the Wolf Pack tasted victory against the Broncos...and since then its been ugly. Boise State has one the last 7 meetings in the series by an average of 38 pts. In fact, last year's BCS-clinching game in Reno was the closest the Pack has come to the Broncos in that span—they lost by 31.

As funny as Ault's past comments seem now...they are still the cause of much fan hatred between the schools—multiplied by the head coaching stint of Vandal "great" Chris Tormey. Ault has been much more complimentary as of late of the Bronco program, but you can see in his aging eyes that he dies a little inside each year the Broncos wipe the floor with this squad. Last year, as Boise State sat at 11-0 after storming their way through their schedule...some prognosticators still felt that the Broncos would be defeated by Nevada. Not so, obviously as the Broncos won 38-7...the Broncos always seem to get "up" for the UNR game...like no other (even Idaho). Maybe the history between the schools (BSU now leads 21-12 all-time) or the fact that the media always seems to think the Wolf Pack will beat the Broncos just gets under BSU's skin. Who knows, maybe it is the fact that the Broncos had to share the title with Nevada in 2005 after beating them 48-14 on the blue. Maybe it's just the fact that the "pistol" seems to backfire against the Broncos?

This year, unfortunately for Nevada, won't be any different. Nevada is coming off a tough home loss to Fresno State and the Broncos our coming off a 58-point shutout of New Mexico State. Nevada's rushing defense is ranked 119th in the country, while Boise State's is ranked 4th. Nevada's total defense is ranked somewhere around 100th and Boise State is 3rd. Now, Nevada does have a pretty good offense, ranking 10th in total yards...but BSU is not far behind at 15th and really...do the Broncos need to put up a lot of yards when our defense has been so prolific in shutting other schools down? UNR is also without their starting QB, Graziano after a freak foot injury ended his season last week. Redshirt freshman Colin Kaepernick will get the start against BSU, and looked pretty good against Fresno, but is probably too young and inexperienced to be thrust into a tough game against an amazingly stout D and expected to do much damage. Kaepernick is supposed to be pretty fleet of foot too, but if he gets too happy with his feet...I fully expect him to run right into Nick Schlekway or Mike T Williams...that will probably slow him down a bit for the night. Also, look for the Broncos to put pressure on the young QB and force him into some errors...namely picks for our stellar DBs.

I don't want to seem like I am giving the Wolf Pack no respect...but given the recent history and the matchups that this game poses—I see this one getting out of hand...yet again. Look for the outstanding trio of Ian Johnson, Jeremy "don't call me 'peanut'" Avery and DJ Harper to get yards in bunches and feast on the porous Nevada run D all night. Also, look for Titus Young to have at least one more 50 yard reception as he seems to be always open when Tharp looks deep. Lastly, look for our secondary to have at least 2 INTs and for Marty Tadman to light someone up.

Boise State 47, UNR 13

How Ian got his groove back.

Ian Johnson decided to find his groove again on a perfect night. Not only had Johnson been ceremoniously promised to gain 150 yards and 3 TDs by O-lineman Jeff Cavender, but the Broncos needed Johnson to find his '06 form in a tough ESPN contest against Southern Miss. Well, Ian got his yards (191 all-purpose) and his TDs (3, exactly) and helped the Broncos defeat the Golden Eagles 38-16 on national TV and in front of a blue and orange crowd.

Taylor Tharp had his best game of the year with over 300 yards passing, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Tharp found Titus Young on a long strike, found Jeremy Childs and Vinny Peretta a few more times and dumped off nifty passes Johnson all night when he felt pressure from the USM D. The outlet pass to Johnson seems to be a new concept on the Bronco offense, but one that worked extremely well and bailed Tharp out of trouble. Johnson looked great in the open field (80 yards on 3 receptions) and Tharp was able to escape the pressure without taking a sack or trying to run.

The Bronco D looked good again on Thursday, shutting down USM's stud RB Damion Fletcher and allowing only minimal gains through the air. Marty Tadman and Jeron Johnson laid some big hits on the Eagles ball carriers all night from the safety position and Orlando Scandrick and Kyle Wilson did a nice job containing the speedy receivers of Southern Miss. Kyle Gingg had a nice game from his linebacker position with several nice tackles for loss.

Tadman finally broke out a bit on his punt returns, giving Boise State good field position all night and Rashaun Scott got the Broncos near the 50 every time he returned a kick it seemed. The Bronco crowd was loud and rowdy all night and helped the defense confuse the Golden Eagles every series.

All in all, a very impressive win for the Broncos. The Golden Eagles were a good team that just flat got outplayed and outcoached on Thursday night. Johnson and the Broncos look to be peaking at the right time with WAC conference play right around the corner. Hal "the Towel" Mumme brings his New Mexico State Aggies and their "air raid" onto the blue for a Sunday night matchup on October 7. If the Broncos keep their foot on the gas this year, the Aggies should be an easy win. I think that Johnson will carve up the weak run defense of the Aggies all night and our improved secondary won't allow Chase Holbrook to nickel and dime us to death.

Broncos are rollin' now. Next game= BSU 42, NMSU 20

Get Noisy in Boizee!

No need to pipe in crowd noise—Boise is going to be rockin' on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles take the field against our Broncos. Southern Miss looks like a well-rounded team with a lot of athleticism and speed and at 2-1, have the same record as the Broncos. Led by a mobile QB in Jeremy Young, the USM offense also has an exceptional runningback in Damion Fletcher who rushed for over 1300 yards last year as a freshman. USM's top receivers are WR Chris Johnson and tight-end Shawn Nelso who have accounted for 346 yards of offense and 3 TDs. Southern Miss is averaging 401 yards per game so far this season as well as putting up an average of 27 points. On the flipside, Boise state is only allowing 249 yards per game and 15 points and is currently ranked 11th nationally, so this could make for an interesting night. Southern Miss' defense has so far yielded 24 pts. per game and given up 342 yards.

The USM defense won't be quite as good against the run as Wyoming or Washington was...so hopefully our run game can finally take off (the Weber St. game does NOT count). Ian Johnson has had a bit of a slow start this year, with only BLANK yards and 3 TDs. The biggest dropoff in Ian's production to this point is his YPC average which has fallen dramatically this year to only 4.7 yards per carry. Ian seems primed to have a big night under the bright lights of ESPN and Jeff Cavender has all but assured the public that Ian will get 150 yards and 3 TDs against the Golden Eagles. Of course, we all know that Ian has it in him, but he needs to find his rhythm like he did last year to really take off again.

If all went well this week, Vinny Peretta should be back in action for the Broncos as should David Shields. Redshirt freshman Jeron Johnson will get his second straight start at strong safety on Thursday and has looked good so far this year.

As usual, if the Broncos run defense can show up like they usually do and shut down the Golden Eagle run game...the Golden Eagles will have to put the ball in the air—with Kyle Wilson, Orlando Scandrick, Marty Tadman and Jeron Johnson roaming the blue...this will not go well. The Bronco defense has been stellar so far this year, especially in our defensive secondary. USM will have to utilize their mobile QB to start opening up running or passing lanes.

I see this game as being as close to a mirror match as we'll see this year, with the defenses making the big difference. Boise State's defense will dominate this game, but the offense needs to start clicking as they've struggled early in the last two outings. If the Defense can play like they have been and the offense starts playing like they can (open up the playbook, coach)...this should be a Bronco win. Add the Bronco crowd noise and home field advantage into the equation and I see this as a 10-14 point Bronco win. Hopefully Kyle Wilson can step in to field some punts this Thursday, broken hand and all... and Rashaun Scott can continue his great play on special teams to give the Broncos some nice field position this week as well.

Remember...don't look like an idiot...it is a blue and orange out this week so if you're sitting in the odd-numbered sections, wear orange and the even-numbered sections wear blue. Rumor has it that they'll be selling cheap Bronco gear in front of the stadium pregame so if you forgot to don your gear...pick some up.

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If you want a good laugh pre-game...check out these hilarious threads on Broncocountry and the Eagles' board.
USM look-alikes
Bronco look-alikes

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BIG congrats to Bronco legend Bart Hendricks for his induction into the Bronco Hall of Fame on Wednesday. If you never saw this dude play on the blue...you missed out. Also, thanks to Bart for adding me to his link list. You can read Bart's excellent blog by clicking his link in MY linklist to your immediate right.

The World According to Tharp

Well kids, the first game is in the books and if you braved the scorching Boise temperatures and made it to the Blue you witnessed a very impressive showing by the newly reloaded Broncos, easily beating the Weber St. Wildcats 56-7 in a game where had Chris Petersen not been such a "nice guy" and called off the dogs before halftime, the Broncos could've hung 90 on the scoreboard. Taylor Tharp was lookin' Sharp as he connected on 14 passes out of 19 attempts and netted over 180 yards through the air and led BSU's first team offense down the field eight seperate times for scores. The defining moment of the evening—the one that has all Boise State fans licking their collective chops was when Tharp dropped back, got drilled and planted in the turf...but not before unloading a perfectly thrown 53-yard TD strike to True Freshman Titus Young. I, for one, breathed a sigh of relief to see that the oft-analyzed Tharp indeed had "big play" ability and looked crisp in his debut as the starter. Tharp was accurate, made safe throws and aired them out when he needed to.

Freshman ruled the day as true freshman Titus Young, DJ Harper, Austin Pettis, Brad Elkin and Brandyn Thompson all saw fairly significant playing time. Titus Young looks like the real deal as he took a reverse 23 yards on his first touch of the game and then on the next drive outstripped the Wildcat defenders for the most exciting passing TD of the night. Running back DJ Harper also looks like he's gonna be a good one as he showed Ian Johnson-like patience in reading his blocks and displayed his tough running as he broke several tackles on a 10-yard TD scamper. WR Austin Pettis has sticky hands and pulled in some nice passes over the middle from Tharp. CB Brandyn Thompson played mostly on special teams but looked good in with the 2nd team D as well. True frosh punter Brad Elkin didn't get much work in and didn't quite find his rhythm yet, but his punts weren't terrible and everyone knows that when he gets down division 1 game tempo he will be a good one.

Redshirt freshman Jeremy Avery is going to be a total stud. The little guy can move. Deep in the Bronco's own territory, Avery came in for Johnson and proceeded to take his first handoff 50 yards in what looked like he would go all the way. The backfield is absolutely stacked with Avery, Johnson and Harper and should have no trouble moving the ball on anyone this year. Johnson, by the way played all of a quarter and a half of ball, but seemed to knock the rust off quickly rushing for 128 yards on 18 carries and garnering 3 touchdowns. Johnson chipped away on every run he had, quietly gaining 5-6 yards each time before following an amazing Richie Brockel block around the left side for a too-easy 56 yard TD.

The Defense looks amazing. Yeah, yeah...we were playing "lowly" Weber State, but our Secondary made former SEC QB Jimmy Barnes (who was listed as 6'5", 230 lbs., but didn't look an ounce under 270) look downright awful all night. In fact, Weber State scarcely had any first downs or yardage before halftime (49-0, at that point, BTW) Marty Tadman showed why he is an SI.com All-America pick as he was all over any pass that came his direction, and Orlando Scandrick and Kyle Wilson locked down their sides of the field amazingly well.

Wilson and Tadman also showed that the punt return game may have a bright future too as both took a Wildcat punt over 60 yards and nearly scored both times. Wilson directed blockers on his punt return as he nearly took it to the house, eventually outrunning his blocks and being forced out at about the 10 yard line.

I know that you can't ever tell a whole lot about a team when they open against a 1-AA squad, but if last year's perfect season is any indicator (when BSU beatdown Sac St. 45-0) we should be in fairly good shape. The game wasn't sloppy, the starters and newcomers looked incredibly crisp for the first outing and the offense and defense seemed to be firing on all cylinders.

Next week, Boise State tries to get the BCS road-game monkey off their backs as they travel to Seattle to take on the UW Huskies. Without having to reallly open up the playbook last night, the Broncos may have some big surprises in store for the Dawgs..and I'd wager our running game will be a big factor in this one.

Here is a link to a nice slideshow of the game put together by BoiseStatefans.com

Pic at top of article from boisestatefans.com