In BroncoCountry's weekly "Fan Corner" feature, we asked posters
to set goals for the Boise State team against rival Fresno State. It was a
nationally-televised Thursday night game in Fresno and a key early test for the
Broncos. How did they do?
The Broncos had counted on their defense in the first two
games. The fans have gotten behind
them as Pattywagon called on a shutout and Fotograffir looked for “the same
intensity of the
Oregon
game without the mistakes of the
Miami
game.” TheFlern was looking for
the defense to “continue to play at a stunning level.”
It was stunning, but for all of the wrong reasons.
Broncoborn wanted to hold
Fresno
State
to under 100 yards rushing. The
Bronco “D” held
Fresno
State
without a first down in the first quarter and did well in the fourth
quarter—it was the middle of the game in which they allowed 27 points and
it is pretty much agreed that it was poor in those two quarters.
Upbronco was looking to hold
Fresno
to under 75 yards rushing. He did
not specify for sure but I doubt if he meant that 75-yard limit was for one play.
Fresno
State
’s Ryan Matthews exploded for touchdown runs of 69, 60 and 68 yards, all up
the middle.
Upbronco looked for two interceptions by the Bronco defense
and he got them, including a huge first quarter pick returned for a touchdown by
Winston Venable on
Fresno
State
’s opening possession. Broncoborn
had said, “That QB throws up balls the Broncos could eat up all day long.”
Upbronco set the goal of 180 rushing yards and the Bronco
backs did not disappoint. Both
Jeremy Avery (who not only had 186 rushing yards but 83 receiving as well) and
D.J. Harper (107 yards) went over the 100-yard mark.
Harper, who went down late in the game with a knee injury, will be sorely
missed as
Boise
State
head coach Chris Petersen confirmed that D.J. is out for the season.
Upbronco was looking for 300 yards passing from Kellen Moore with no interceptions;
Moore
didn’t come close with just 181 but he didn’t throw any to the Bulldogs.
Perhaps the Bronco coaches saw weaknesses in the Bulldog defense and
wanted to focus on the run, because the threat of the pass just wasn’t a focal
point.
Sunthas wanted a touchdown by true freshman Kirby Moore;
unfortunately the promising high school receiving record holder is still looking
for his first college reception.
The execution by the
Boise
State
offense was on the mind of blueturfdude. He
was looking for better run-pass balance. For
the first time this year, the rushing game topped the passing game (299-181).
Blueturf also looked to the offensive line to improve their blocking on
both runs and passes. The run
blocking was the best of the season. Samandeddie,
similarly, wanted “the offense to finally put together a full game”.
I think they accomplished that, short of the balance that blueturf was
looking for.
Sunthas was just hoping to see snapping issues resolved in
game three. Titus Young had a fumble
after a nine-yard run but made up for that with his hustle play of the year in
recovering Jeremy Avery’s fumble prior to the ball going out of the end zone
after Avery’s 74-yard run. Let’s
hope this isn’t an issue for game four.
Although Jeremy Avery’s 67-yard touchdown was off a
screen pass, that doesn’t quite qualify. Other
than that,
Moore
’s 20-yard pass to Titus Young in the first quarter was the longest pass of
the night and
Boise
State
never got another one for the rest of the game.
Sunthas was hoping for a 50-yard field goal from Kyle Brotzman. This was the best week for
the Bronco kickers, Kyle Brotzman successful on attempts from 30 and 32 yards
and freshman Jimmy Pavel successful on his 24-yarder in the fourth quarter.
The long-range field goal attempts did not come into play.
The Flern hoped for “the special teams to really step up
and put together a whole game”. By
and large, he got it. No missed
field goals or extra points, and one of the best performances by the
Boise
State
kickoff return team in school history. Titus
Young had five returns for 154 yards, including a 77-yarder, and Doug Martin had
two returns for 103 yards, including a 77-yard return of his own.
There is no record for total kickoff return yards, although 257 would
have to rank pretty high up there. It
isn't often that two players get 100+ kickoff return yards in the same game
either.
Blueturf dude had a poignant comment--“I think the team we
saw play
Oregon
and
Miami
will beat
Fresno
but they won’t beat a
BCS
(Bowl Championship Series) opponent.” “I’m
anxious to see progress in all aspects of the game.”
I don’t think we’ve seen the all-around great game in all phases yet
from the Broncos.
BlueandorangeDynasty and socalspud were not hard to
please—both just wanted to win. Upbronco
just wanted to “win, so we can keep that cool milk can!”
The Broncos “Got Milk!”
Next up:
Bowling Green
.