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

Know your enemy (for this week, anyway)

What's that whistling sound? Just Colin Kaepernick standing in the wind.

Boise State and the Bronco Nation head to Reno this Saturday to take on the Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack. The Broncos are coming off Vandal hammering (no, pun intended) and Nevada is coming off a dominant performance against San Jose State. Most fans, like me, know little about the Wolf Pack outside of the lil General and "the fastest thing on stick legs" Colin Kaepernick. Needless to say, there is a lot to be learned about this week's foe (don't worry, Kellen Moore already knows their defense intimately)...so let's explore through the magic of factoids and childish jokes. For the mutual benefit of the Wolf Pack faithful, I will let you get to know us a little bit too...so take notes.

Ten things Bronco fans might not know about the Wolf Pack and their iniquitous den to the south

10. Ron Toomer, who holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from UNR, designed the first upside down roller coaster, the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew was a mainstay at Knott's Berry Farm for years, but now resides at the Silverwood amusement park in Athol, Idaho. Corkscrews are also good for popping corks...say on a champagne bottle...whilst celebrating an outright WAC title.

9. The Wolf Pack play their games at Mackay Stadium (29,993). The stadium is named for Clarence H. Mackay, the son of John W. Mackay, a silver and telegraph mogul. Clarence Mackay was an early financier of the university and gifted the school the Mackay School of Mines. Mackay was a tad eccentric, some might say...he collected medieval suits of armor, refused to marry his second wife for 15 years until his first wife died, and disinherited his daughter after she married composer Irving Berlin.

8. The oldest secret society at the University of Nevada-Reno is the Coffin and Keys Society, which was founded in 1916. The club was formed to be "a force to give the proper impetus to affairs of school life". Currently, the society appears to be mainly involved in putting t-shirts on statues, arranging canned food in decorative ways, and lounging in jaunty caps and Halloween masks. Spooky.

7. The UNR football program has produced an NFL Hall of Famer in fullback Marion Motley. Motley was only the second African American player inducted into the Hall of Fame after playing nine years in the league with the Steelers and Browns. During Motley's tenure with the Browns, in which he played fullback and linebacker, the Browns were 47-4-3 and won every championship in the AAFC. Sounds like Motley had quite the Crüe.

6. Each year, UNR and UNLV battle on the gridiron for the Fremont Cannon. The cannon goes to the victor of the contest for a year and it's undercarriage is painted in the winning school's colors. The cannon is a replica of the howitzer cannon that explorer John Fremont and his party hauled west and abandoned in the Sierra Nevada in 1844. Fremont was also the first Republican nominee for President of the United States...he didn't win, of course—maybe the nation was looking for a leader that didn't just leave cannons lying around.

5. Archaeological digs show that ancient native Americans known as the Martis, lived in the area where Reno now stands. The Martis resided in the area from 3,000 BC to 500 AD. Man, they just missed Chris Ault.

4. The UNR campus was the setting for five motion pictures in the 1940s, among the tititles: Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble, Apartment for Peggy, Mother is a freshman, and Mr. Belvedere goes to College (no, not that Mr. Belvedere), which was one of Shirley Temple's last films.

3. Nevada coach Chris Ault, "inventor" of the Pistol offense, is one of only 4 active coaches that have already been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The other 3 are Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, and Joe Gagliardi. If that doesn't sound like an advertising dream team for Geritol® and Efferdent®, I don't know what does.

2. UNR football's first All-American (1923) was James "Rabbit" Bradshaw. No relation to this guy OR this guy.

1. Boise State has clinched outright WAC titles in Reno in every even numbered year since 2002. The Wolf Pack haven't had a sellout at Mackay since 2003. The Wolf Pack have the number one rushing offense in the country and Boise State has the number 2 scoring defense in the country. Boise State has not lost to the Wolf Pack since 1998. Something's gotta gonna give on Saturday...excited yet?

Ten things Wolf Pack fans might not know about the Broncos and their heavenly home to the north

10. Idaho governor C.L. "Butch" Otter is an alum of Boise Junior College where he played linebacker for legendary Bronco coach Lyle Smith. Otter didn't stuff the run...he vetoed it.

9. Former Boise State cornerback DaWuan Miller had only one arm. He had several key interceptions in the 1994 Division 1-AA playoffs that helped get the Broncos to the national championship game. Looks like the arm he was left with was his good arm. Amazing.

8. Former Bronco QB Jared Zabransky once told ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit that he could throw a potato 80 yards. The comment found its way into the NCAA Football 07 game when Herbstreit, doing the voice over work says at random points in games "That reminds me of the time that kid at the Liberty Bowl told me he could throw a potato 80 yards."

7. Boise had it's very own "trial of the century" in 1907, when the leaders of the Western Federation of Miners labor union went on trial accused of hiring assassin Harry Orchard to kill Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg.

6. Boise's Statehouse building is heated geothermally by underground hotsprings. Most hot springs I've ever been to are rife with scantily clad hippies...can't imagine who you'd meet at an underground one.

5. Hollywood director Michael Hoffman is a Boise State alum and was the school's first Rhodes Scholar. He won two Oscars for the film Restoration, but I think his finest work is the documentary film Out of the Blue, which is about Boise State's undefeated 2006 season...oops, I just spoiled the ending.

4. Boise State has been shutout only twice in football, the last coming against Washington State in 1997. Boise State registered two shutouts over their opponents just last year. 20 of Boise State's 24 opponent shutouts since 1968 have occurred at home. Their most lopsided win ever? The first ever game on the blue turf: a 74-0 win over Humboldt State which answered once and for all the question, "can Hippies play football?"

3. Since 1973, Boise State has won 13 conference championships including 5 straight WAC titles from 2002 to 2006. Prior to 1968, they competed in the JC ranks, and as stated before...were a dominant force at 153-25-6 and winning the JC national championship in 1958. Boise State won the 1-AA national championship in 1980 by defeating Eastern Kentucky and played in the championship again in 1994, but lost to a Jim Tressel-led Youngstown State.

2. Boise State sophomore wideout Austin Pettis is the nephew of former major league baseball player Gary Pettis. Gary Pettis still holds the record for most stolen bases in the Angels organization (186)...Austin holds the Boise State record for stealing the most corner fade routes from defensive backs (all of them).

1. Boise State freshman QB Kellen Moore set state records for career completions (787), career touchdown passes (173), completions in a season (317), passing yards in a season (4,600) and touchdown passes in a season (67) at Prosser High, in Washington, but he never won state. His brother Kirby, who will join Kellen on the Blue next season, recently became the national record holder for receiving TDs in a career. Something in the water in Prosser, Washington besides apple residue.

That's about the long and short of it...apologies for the delay this week...one of my biggest resources was out of commission so I had to wing this one and bring back some oldies-but-goodies.

Bronco Nation Podcast 11-18-08

Boy, I hope you like the sound of Jadon Dailey's voice...cuz he came in with some pretty epic analysis last night and showed why he's going places in the industry. We break down the Idaho game and the hammer "controversy", Byron Hout and his POTW hardware, and talk each other down over the Nevada game on Saturday.Make sure to listen towards the end when JT basically says that I suck.

 The Bronco Nation Podcast - 10 Years of Whoopins: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

WAC film comparisons

WAC media days are over (great wrap-up by OBNUG here) and fall camp is tantalizingly close...so what better way to kill some more time than by putting together an arbitrary list comparing WAC teams to their film counterparts.

Movie content, plot and general awesomeness/crappiness were NOT considered...just throwing up puns here.

Utah State— Superbad

Idaho— The Devil's Advocate

New Mexico State— The Other Sister

Hawaii— You Only Live Once

Fresno State— Almost Famous

Nevada— The Way We Were

Louisiana Tech— Southern Comfort

San Jose State— Closer

Boise State— Best of the Best

Got more? Think yours are better? Email fightfightbsu@gmail.com or comment.

Deeper and deeper...way down

Wonder what was the driving force behind Nevada's inexplicable barrage at Bronco Stadium last year? Do you wonder why Luke Lippincott sliced through our defense in OT like he was sleepwalking...well, he might have been. It seems that Luke Lippincott is hypnotized before football games by his father, Dr. Demento Brian Lippincott. "Three or four" of his Wolf_space_pack teammates are "put under" as well by the good Dr. Lippincott, a psychologist at John F. Kennedy University(their motto: Ich bin ein undergrad). Luke explains:

"It's not follow the magic thing," Lippincott said. "Hypnotism, I like to think of it as just like getting your body in a totally relaxed state and thinking of a game-time situation to the point where you're in the game-time situation in a real-life game and you're calm."

Like, wow man.

And nothing unseemly about this:

Brian Lippincott travels to every game — home and away — and hypnotizes players in their hotel rooms.

No, Chris Hansen does not come out of a back room with cameras rolling.

Dr. Quack Lippincott also "helped out" prior to the New Mexico Bowl

Lippincott said his father hypnotized Nevada safety Uche Anyanwu prior to the New Mexico Bowl and asked the junior to envision stripping the ball from a running back. In the second quarter, Anyanwu did just that.

...he also hypnotized the entire Nevada offense and told them to envision scoring no points.

Now that we know about Nevada's ace in the hole, Chris Petersen has invited David Blaine to visit Boise State players before games to do some coin tricks.

Full STORY.

Maisel and Schlabach toast (or roast) the WAC

In an article today entitled "Three Things I Can't Wait To See This Fall In The WAC", ESPN's dynamic duo, Mark Schlabach and Ivan Maisel pontificated about the upcoming WAC-ky season in the WAC. A brief run-down:

Maisel's crystal ball first foresees another non-magical ride for the Fresno State Bulldogs:

After Boise State and Hawaii crashed the BCS the past two years, the WAC is asking in slogan fashion, "Who's Next?" The answer is no one.

I can actually see Fresno pulling off 2 of 3 against the likes of Rutgers, Wisconsin and UCLA...or I could see them losing all three. However, even if Fresno pulls off the trifecta...they will again lose to Boise State on the blue. Touchdown Tommy Brandstater notwithstanding.

Maisel's second bullet is dedicated to everyone's favorite softy, Ian Johnson—whom Maisel thinks may struggle this year with a "fresh O-line":

...More importantly, he has only one returning offensive lineman, Andrew Woodruff, in front of him. In other words, no matter whom head coach Chris Petersen picks at quarterback, Boise State will go through some growing pains.

No, Ivan...line play in '08 can't be much worse than what we saw from our veterans in '07. Ian's nemesis this year? A ridiculously deep stable of protegès carving away some of his carries. Ian still goes for 18 TDs and 1300 yards

Maisel's last pick is a yawner about La Tech, so we won't go much into that—suffice it to say, La Tech may get to .500 this year.

At the top of Mark Schlabach's list he poses this head-scratcher:

Will the pistol replace the run 'n' shoot as the toughest offense to beat in the WAC?

First off, the answer is 'no'. Secondly, I believe that historically the toughest offense to beat in the WAC has been Boise State's.

Schlabach's second query is another no-brainer:

Can Boise State re-establish its dominance in the WAC?

Only if BSU can overcome Pat Hill and his mighty Fresno State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs look poised to win yet another preseason WAC championship. The BSU coaching staff is so far inside Pat Hill's head it would take a Jules Verne-esque voyage to get them out.

Schlabach's third bullet, loosely translated reads:

Blah blah blah Fresno State, blah blah blah Bulldogs blah blah blah

Listen up, Mark...BSU is always the sexy pick to win the WAC, can't you see the world through blue and orange shades like the rest of us? Sheesh.

You can read the whole article HERE (but why would you want to? It's not nearly as concise or pithy as my summary)

Beware the 'Q'

It appears that "Pete's Poison" is going to get a dash of "Ault's Arsenic" as the Broncos have been flirting with Nevada's stupidly named Pistol offense this spring. The Broncos have decided to call it something much cooler...ready, James Bond fans? Behold: the Q! The "pistol" which Ault didn't invent, is really just a modified shotgun offense, so BSU has decided to show Nevada how it can be effective on a weekly basis. Ok, ok...so Nevada's offense went OFF on Boise State last year, but it wasn't because of their silly pistol—it is because Boise State's linebackers just weren't quite ready for a 6'6", 150 lb. quarterback who knew how to run a bootleg. Boise State won that game (the only game in 5 years not to be decided by about 30 points) and now has said "yoink" and comically snatched some of Nevada's bread and butter. Having wild success last year with triple reverses and Tanyon Bissell-behind-center formations...I can't wait to see the Broncos throw one more thing into their already ridiculously large playbook. Coach Pete was modest when talking about the new looks in the offense:

“I don’t think I’ve ever had an original idea,” Petersen said. “Everything we do has been taken from somebody. We make no bones about it. … That’s how we do things. We take things that we like and we try to marry them into our offense.”

Statesman link

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