Bart's Blog: The Girl Next Door

BroncoCountry is very proud and pleased to introduce a new weekly series from former 2-time Big West Offensive MVP, Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl MVP, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Finalist, and Boise State legend, Bart Hendricks. Bart's Blogs can be found here now, as well as on his own website, www.BartHendricks.com.

I think a defensive win is a lot like "the girl next door" mentality. It is often overlooked, under appreciated and eventually over time you start to realize what you really were looking for was in front of you the whole time. Can’t a defense play “pretty?”  I guess they can’t. Because it would tarnish the philosophy and image of defensive play; leave the pretty stuff to the players that score, run, pass, and catch right? Though that may ring true in our mental image of football, I am here to state that a solid defensive effort is just as good looking as six seemingly easy big plays for scores by the offense.

Nothing says domination like holding a team to pitiful numbers. It sends a strong statement that not only can we stop you; we are better than you. Often times said, there is no truer statement than, “defense wins championships,” and so far the defense seems to be the definition of the Bronco team as the first three games are notched. So in a program with a recent history of offensive playmakers and high scores that we as fans have become accustomed to, it is time that we give some much-needed praise to the defensive side of the ball.

I got a lot of comments over the weekend about this last game too. “It wasn’t pretty,” “Tharp had his chance,” “offense is terrible,” and as much as I love the big plays of an offense, the grind of a clock consuming drive, and the roar of a crowd as a long pass sails through the air, I certainly appreciate good defensive play. And please define to me what a “pretty” win is? A blowout?  A win without mistakes? Most likely the blowout in most eyes. But this last game against Wyoming would constitute as the win without mistakes, the "girl next door" kind of pretty. The offense is not terrible, just young on the big play potential. And as long as Tharp can control the tempo of the offense the way he did this last week we will be fine. (Let's remember that this is only his third start.) There were no turnovers, no huge mistakes; it was a solid O effort against a very good Wyoming defense and great, solid D against a talented offense.

Over five quarters of goose eggs against some respected, talented teams is a job well done, especially at the college level. Maybe Coach Wilcox has them in the right situation majority of the time, making the right adjustments, or maybe we have some no-name players that make great, athletic plays. Maybe it is both. There is a lot of “new” on that defensive team and without the names on their backs this year, the secondary probably has the most notoriety thus far, lead by Marty “Tatted-man.”  I like it that way. Remember the nameless defense of the ’72 Dolphins?  I don’t know if I want to know who is lining up to make the tackles, just make 'em.

So maybe we won’t have ESPN highlights or ESPYS to win at the end of it all and maybe the offensive side of the game just has to play solid and mistake free to be successful this season. Because if points were a sense of style that constitutes pretty, then wins would be the stylist remembered for it. Start learning to appreciate the talent of a good defense, stop worrying about the lack of big plays, because with wins like this and you are not only pretty, you are downright sexy... you just happen to live next door.

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Bart Hendricks... played a few times for Boise State.  
Bart's other sports musings can be found at www.barthendricks.com.

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