As
Boise
State
did not please too many fans with their performance a week earlier, Fan’s
Corner returned with the Bronco faithful wondering what had happened to their
team.
Bronco Psyche wanted
Boise
State
to take what the
Tulsa
defense gives them and destroy them with it, rather than being obsessed with
the run. The Broncos, however,
continued to strongly emphasize the running game, with 44 rushing plays and just
32 passing.
Boise
State
got 6.0 yards per pass and 4.4 yards per rush.
Boisebaron pointed out that establishing an offensive
balance is critical. “As a fan,”
he said, “I want to see that
Boise
State
is improving each week at o-line and able to run.”
They did get 193 yards rushing and Doug Martin picked up his first
100-yard game as a Bronco with 112. So
while the long-passing game was almost non-existent, the Bronco coaches are
intent on getting the offensive line to open up holes.
OldBSUBlue looked to Doug Martin with more of Martin
running between the tackles. He also
wanted two-back sets with Avery going around the corners and Martin north and
south. BSUhead’s comments were
similar—“Showing and creating a real threat up the middle just keeps those
linebackers more and more honest when they start cheating.
Force them in there and all kinds of good stuff happens.”
We didn’t see too much of Avery and Martin together, but
the Broncos generally are trying to do what OldBSUBlue and BSUhead called
for—establish the north-south running as well as jetting out around the end.
Brad999, alanweezie and BSUhead wanted to see good clean
snaps under center. I believe we saw
100% from the Broncos.
OldBSUBlue called on more pressure on the quarterback and
in this case, “stop G.J. Kinne from big gains from scrambling.”
OldBSUBlue wanted at least two sacks and two picks.
Zork1c was also right on target by saying that the d-line needed to get
some sacks and “disrupt the
Tulsa
backfield—make the QB make some bad decisions.”
LJPurvis emphasized that it was important for the Bronco defense to get
pressure on Kinne. Jojobro too
emphasized the defensive line, calling for it to “establish itself
immediately.” Evidence of this, he
said “will be containing the running of their quarterback and running backs
with the help of the linebacking corps.” Jojo
wanted the Broncos to keep
Tulsa
’s offense predictable and one-dimensional.
As Brad999 said, “We need physical play to return to both
the
Boise
State
offensive line and defensive line.” Flashypaws
was adamant: “I’d like to see
the d-line shed some freakin’ blocks and make some tackles in the backfield,
seriously.”
Ryan Winterswyk got a huge sack on
Tulsa
’s last drive and also his pressure on Kinne was responsible for the
one-hopped throw that ended their chances. Shea McClellin and Billy Winn combined for a sack just prior to halftime when
Tulsa
had the ball on the Bronco 48. McClellin
had another sack in the second quarter when he got to Kinne on a third-and-two
at the Bronco 41. McClellin also
made one of the big plays of the game when he batted down a pass from Kinne at
the line. Earlier in the second,
Winterswyk recorded his first sack that disrupted the
Tulsa
offense which started their drive on the Bronco 45 following a fumble.
Tulsa
went three-and-out as a result.
I want to expand upon this dimension of the game because it
was crucial to the outcome. Jojo
wanted
Boise
State
’s defensive line to establish itself immediately.
The Broncos must have read his comments because they stopped
Tulsa
cold on the first two plays of the game. Defensive
tackle Billy Winn got help from linebacker Daron Mackey on the opening play when
they had a Kinne sandwich for a loss of one.
After tremendous pressure from the Bronco defensive line, Kinne was
tackled again behind the line by Nickelback Winston Venable for a three-yard
loss.
On
Tulsa
’s next possession, Mackey got penetration into the Golden Hurricane backfield
to nail Damaris Johnson for a loss.
Tulsa
was forced to punt once again after its second straight three-and-out.
Winterswyk had a tackle for loss on Johnson.
Chase Baker and linebacker Hunter White teamed up for another stop of
Kinne behind the line.
Tulsa
did not score in the second quarter. McClellin
and Venable got into the
Tulsa
backfield for yet another tackle of Johnson behind the line in the third
quarter. That drive ended in a
three-and-out.
Tulsa
did not score in the third quarter either.
Byron Hout joined in by pinning Charles Clay to the turf in
the fourth quarter.
The Bronco defensive line returned to the form they
displayed in the season opener against
Oregon
and lived up to the potential that Bronco fans felt they had all along.
Boise
State
would not have won the game without them, and fans look for that fierce,
aggressive play to continue every game for the remainder of the season.
Brad999 wanted to see the Bronco defense force turnovers.
Tulsa
put the ball on the turf three times, but
Boise
State
could not get to any of them. The
Broncos will have to work on taking the opposition completely out of the play so
they cannot recover loose balls.
OldBSUBlue was hoping Titus Young and Martin could regain
the form returning kickoffs as they showed against
Fresno
. Young had three returns for 51
yards and Martin one for 12. Clearly,
the lanes opened against
Fresno
State
were not duplicated in
Tulsa
.
As the old adage goes, “A win is a win is a win.”
Boise
State
fans must remember to always be happy with that.
The Broncos may not get as far nationally as they would like when all
aspects of the game do not go their way, but they have already accomplished what
112 major college football teams have been unable to do—
Win every game.
