Doug Mad...Doug Smash

"Did somebody misplace this hammer?"

Horrifying news, everyone...Doug Martin wants to tackle you. Well, not you personally, but all the offensive "yous" out there. The coaches seem to feel that Martin has just had too few opportunities to kill someone while blocking or carrying the ball—so this Spring will turn him loose on a terrified second-team offense in Spring Ball. Just for the record...THIS is what Doug Martin looks like on offense...and THIS is an artist's rendering of what he may look like on defense. Nate Enderle just peed a little.

Coaches announced today that Martin will be given the opportunity this Spring to try out for the hybrid/linebacker position vacated by Ellis Powers...and he's already a finalist...

Martin, junior safety Jason Robinson and junior-college transfer Winston Venable are the top contenders to replace Powers, who turned nickelback into a staple of the Broncos’ defense last season.

God, I love Boise State football.

In other awesome news, linebacker Dan Paul has jumped the line of scrimmage as well and will be playing fullback in 2009. Personally, I thought that Paul was a natural at fullback when he filled in for a gimpy Richie Brockel last season...this too is a great move. Oh yeah, and DL Chuck Hayes couldn't stand all the exciting switches going on and decided to move to Offensive Guard.

Remember, Bronco Nation...position switches are our friend—WR Legedu Naanee came in as a QB, DE Ryan Winterswyk walked on as a Safety, RB Lee Marks came in as a cornerback and Coach Chris Petersen came in as an Offensive Coordinator. The coaches routinely get these guys in the best position to contribute so look for these to be very fruitful changes for the Bronco squad this Fall.

Martin to try defense full-time [Statesman]
Oh, look...the Lombardi Award watch-list just got Swiked [Statesman]

Bronco Nation Podcast 10-7-08

The Bronco Nation Podcast just got much Bart Hendricks-ier. Bart joined JT Ray of Bronco Nation N.O.W. and I and we discussed the only ray of hope and goodness in this world amid the turmoil and despair: Bronco football. Bart answers whether or not Kellen Moore is better than he was as a frosh, we rehash the La Tech game, praise the Bronco D and give our predictions for the WAC-ky weekend ahead. Start the podcast playing...then minimize the windown and do your spreadsheets...the boss will never know!

 The Bronco Nation Podcast - Its Actually KBOI [47:46m]: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

A win's a win...

Photo by IPT/Greg Kreller

While the Boise State win on Saturday may not have set the nation abuzz like, say, Missouri's demolition of Nevada or BYU's ridiculous beatdown of UCLA, it was not without it's merits. Boise State played a pretty good Bowling Green team and dominated them... far more than the final score indicated.

The Boise State defense was on their game once again, swarming to the ball, pressuring the QB and locking down receivers. The Bronco defense definitely look like they have largely fixed the mistakes of last season and have only given up 7 points in the first two contests of the year. If I were to pick a low point of the game for the D it would be getting fooled on a 4th and goal were the Falcon receiver got it way too easy. Of course, another low point could be that the Falcons were even that close to the endzone anyway after the Bronco D allowed Bowling Green into the redzone following a pass interference call on 3rd and long. The call looked a little suspect, but nonetheless. The Broncos collected 3 turnovers on Saturday and will need to maintain that level of production in Eugene this weekend. Ellis Powers played like a man possessed, Jeron Johnson continued his torrid pace, and Ryan Winterswyk was back in action (though somewhat quiet on the evening). Billy Winn looks like he will be hard to keep off the field as he made his presence known several times during the game. Derrell "hard luck" Acrey was injured in the game...no telling how bad (thanks, Augusto).

The Bronco offense was the other big story from Saturday night. They came out with their hair on fire behind an 11 for 11 start by Kellen Moore. The Broncos were spreading the ball well, flummoxing the Falcon defense en route to a 20-0 halftime score. Then the second half happened. No telling exactly what the issue was, but the Broncos seemed to be flat and confused and did not score again on the night. Thankfully, the Bronco defense was on top of things allowing only one Falcon score in the 4th quarter of play...but clearly, the Bronco offense will need a MUCH better performance at Autzen. The offense in the second half seemed far too cutesy and far too sloppy. Drives were killed by penalties, drops and abandoning a run game that had been very productive in the first half. Also slowing the Bronco offense a bit was the absence of Titus Young, who was serving a (hopefully) one game suspension. Young's ability to stretch the field was sorely missed as the Falcons took away the dink and dunk passing game that Moore had exploited in the first half. The Falcons offense was also on the field longer in the second half which kept the Bronco offense from getting much rhythm back. The sour taste that many felt after the game was certainly due to the yawn-inducing second half offensive effort...the only real detractor of the evening.

The bottom line is that the Bronco offense needs to keep pace with the defense. The defense has been showing an intensity and focus that I haven't seen since 2006 (so far), and the offense, though young, needs to match it. The playcalling has been okay and Moore has run the offense incredibly well for a frosh...but the Bronco receivers need to gain the confidence of Moore and the Bronco run game needs to pick up the production a bit. The O-line play was actually a pleasant surprise...they kept Moore relatively safe and opened some decent running lanes. Mentally, the O-line has a little ways to go. All in all, a very dominant game by the Broncos...they shut down the vaunted spread offense of the Falcons and showed that they can score at will...unfortunately their will was missing in Saturday's second half. We'll give them a 2-quarter mulligan this time...but things need to be fixed by Saturday...you already know that.

Grades
Offense—which quarter?
Defense—A-
Special Teams—B (you can't run into the kicker, IJ)
Derrell Acrey's injury—D
Titus Young's absence—F
Idaho losing to WMU—A+

This one goes to Eleven

Nigel Tufnel would be so proud. That's eleven verbals for Boise State as of today (someone special's birthday). DE Kharyee Marshall from Washington High School in Phoenix, AZ pulled the proverbial trigger and will join other Arizona commits Justin Jungblut and Ebo Makinde on the blue (hopefully). Both Jungblut and Makinde received Pac-10 offers AFTER giving Boise State the nod—hopefully the blue will prevail. Marshall is a 6'2" 215 lb. D-line standout who also held offers from Idaho, Nevada, SDSU, Utah and UTEP. Marshall possesses a good frame that will no doubt take more weight and also has good speed at 4.7 in the 40. Marshall is rated as a 3 star recruit by rivals and classified as the 50th best player at his position. Makinde, Jungblut and Marshall are rated as the 16th, 22nd and 23rd best players in Arizona, respectively.

Hey Pac-10...keep away from our recruits!

Noice! Thompson Coach Pete's Player of the Day

Brandyn Thompson was named Coach Pete's Player of the Day for the 4th day of Fall Camp.

“Brandyn showed up today with great focus, energy and he turned that into some play-making ability,” said Petersen. “He had an awesome interception, but his coverage has been very tight all camp long. We’re looking forward to great things out of him this fall.”

This is very good news, since the early departure of Orlando Scandrick has left a gaping void in the defensive secondary opposite Kyle Wilson. Thompson was one of 5 true frosh to play last year, but was mainly utilized in nickel formations when we played NMSU and Hawaii. Particularly uplifting for nervous Broncos is the fact that Thompson has outperformed other highly touted recruits Antwon Murray, Keith McGowan and Garcia Day. Thompson had an acrobatic pick today against Austin Pettis, who I'm pretty sure is 3 feet taller than him. Good job, Brandyn...keep that intensity up cuz WAC offenses like to throw.

In other news...Ian talks

Ten spot

Boise State has landed their 10th verbal commitment of the 2009 class...and on the last day of July. Justin Jungblut, a Defensive End from Saguaro High (Scottsdale, AZ) has notified Bronco coaches with his decision to accept their scholarship offer. Jungblut is currently 6'6" and weighs 250 lbs. Besides holding an offer from Idaho, Jungblut had scholarships extended from a smattering of Mountain West teams—Air Force, Utah, Wyoming and UNLV. As a junior, Jungblut had 38 tackles and 1 sack. He is graded out as a 70 by ESPN's recruiting website. Here is more of their eval:

Jungblut registers as having one of the more interesting names in the 2009 class. He is also somewhat of an interesting prospect. He is a good sized kid, who should be able to get into a college weight program and add some good bulk. He is a defensive end, but it may serve him best to try and bulk up and slide inside to tackle. He has a good get-off and it is one of the strengths of his game. When he keeps his pads down and shoots his hands he can take on a block and hold his ground. Will flash the ability to get skinny and split a double team. He needs to watch his pad level and more consistently keep his pads down. He does an adequate job of coming across the ball and staying square. He has a good motor and is a solid tackler. Possesses very adequate speed and short-area change-of-direction skills. As a pass rusher he will lead with his hands and does a solid job of being able to shed. He needs to keep working on developing pass rush moves to help him more quickly defeat a blocker. He will flash the ability with his get-off to be able throw a quick swim to beat a blocker. Jungblut is a solid defender. We believe he may be better suited if he can add the size to be a defensive tackle at least in the long haul anyway.

If Jungblut's verbal holds, he will join another Arizona '09 commit, Ebo Makinde. To be honest, though, I'm more concerned about Makinde hanging in.

What's in a (nick)name?

There have been many great nicknames in the annals of sports history; "Magic"..."Primetime"..."Chocolate Thunder"..."Bill Wennington"—great players seem to require great nicknames. Sadly, this has been an area in which Boise State has been sorely lacking of late. Boise State's recent nicknames consist mainly of shortening the players name or using their initials. ENOUGH!

Fight, Fight, BSU would like to arbitrarily hand out some nicknames that we hope stick with our young squad. Some will require no explanation...some will. Bear with me.

In no particular order:

Austin "Stickum®" Pettis—Dude's got amazing hands

Vinny "Vincenzo" Perretta—Vinny's an all-purpose player...and "Vinny" is plenty tough...but if he eventually wants to take over the family business; Vincenzo it shall be.

Titus "the" Young—Titus torched defenses as a true frosh last year, but still doesn't look a day over 15. I looked back to Alexander the Great and Hagar the Horrible for this one. Titus the Young shall conquer Gaul.

Bush "2 in the hand" Hamdan—I've never understood that saying...but depending on what we're talking about could be pretty darn cool. Example: 2 beating hearts?

Jarrell "Voltron" Root—credit BC's Zagco for this gem.

Ryan "the flying Dutchmen" Winterswyk—Ryan is from La Habra, CA...but we believe his ancestors to have been pillaging Norsemen.

Jeremy "Slash and Burn" Avery—Avery didn't like "Peanut" too much, and I feel that his running style is most similar to this agricultural practice.

Doug "Doug Mad" Martin—"Doug mad, Doug smash".

DJ "the Quiet Man" Harper—Harper is quiet and unassuming...he also is a punishing runner and one of the fastest guys on the team.

Mike "Teed Off" Williams—You wouldn't like Mike T. when he is angry...only Doug Martin likes him when he's angry.

Kellen "the Prodigy" Moore—Kellen may start as a redshirt freshman and demolish recordbooks in a 4-year conquest. We'll see.

Ian "Freakin'" Johnson—He's just Ian freakin' Johnson. 'Nuff said.

Jeremy "AO" Childs—Always Open.

Nate "White Shadow" Potter—He'll be in Clady's shadow his whole career. Embrace it, pal.

Derrell "Geeked Up" Acrey—No one looks like they're having more fun on or off the field than Acrey. We're all expecting big things from this kid.

Kyle "What's with the 2 G's" Gingg—Ohhhh..the 2nd G is silent.

Dallas "Pops" Dobbs—I graduated from BSU almost 4 years ago...I think Dobbs was in my freshman English class.

Billy "the Professor" Winn—Billy looks like he can recite Pi to the 30th decimal point. We hope that he formulates hypotheses on the field about how to destroy quarterbacks.

JP "Morgan" Nisby—JP Morgan was an American banker and financier. JP Nisby is a freakishly strong defensive lineman. Do I have to spell this one out?

Richie "Malibu" Brockel—Looks a little like a Mattel® Ken doll...with much bigger traps.

Andrew "Big Pun" Woodruff—He's a player and he crushes...a lot.

Kyle "Yoink" Wilson—"Oh, you thought you had that ball? Yoink"

I'm tapped out. Got any more? Send them my way!
fightfightbsu@gmail.com

Reader Carroll proposes the following alternates:

J.P. "Mr. Nasty" Nisby—This guy is a monster!

Ryan "Seek And Destroy" Winterswyk—Ryan is on a mission.

Doug "Full Metal Jacket" Martin—Don't get in his way! He will go right through you.

Kellen "Ever Ready" Moore—Kellen will just keep going, and going, and going...

Jeremy "Checkmate" Childs—Checkmate is defined as: "To strike in such a manner that no escape or defense is possible."

Reader Jason (Hayzer) proposes "T-Byrd" for Frosh Center Thomas Byrd