As Bronco fans haven’t been as thrilled the last two
weeks as they have been at different points in
Boise
State
history, we were all waiting to see what the Bronco football team would do
next. On the agenda:
a date with the Hawai’i Warrior football team on the beautiful
island
of
Oahu
.
Mapleleafbronco hoped that the Broncos would look and play
like a top five team. He wanted the
big plays stopped cold and to beat the 25-point spread that
Las Vegas
had set for the game. Bronco fans
clearly wanted the big plays by the opposition to stop.
Jojobro called on the Broncos to allow “absolutely no big pass plays
for easy touchdowns.” Alanweezie
too wanted no big plays and error free ball.
Ezstrokin said something similar—“The ball does funny things on the
rock. I just want sound football.
No blown coverages and no big plays.”
Upbronco felt the defense should not give up any big plays and hold
Hawai’i
to under 17 points. By and large,
Boise
State
accomplished all of this. Outside
of the “snaps” issue, you could substitute just about any team in
America
in their place and they couldn’t have performed any better.
The entire
Hawai’i
experience is not dealt with lightly. They
are blessed with wonderful weather and eye candy everywhere.
This is not easy for the 19 and 20-year old kid to handle.
There are temptations and diversions everywhere.
Enter the
Boise
State
coaches. They have been experienced
in dealing with players in
Hawai’i
. They set tough standards and
demand compliance.
Boise
State
fans are fortunate to have them in
Boise
. They have the players’ respect
and run a top-notch program.
Besides the mop-up touchdown,
Hawai’i
never had a drive longer than eight plays and that ended with an outstanding
interception in the end zone by
Boise
State
’s Jeron Johnson. In fact, if you
look at
Hawai’i
’s drive chart, you would think they were going against
Texas
or
Alabama
: Fumble, punt, punt, punt, fumble,
interception, punt, interception, punt, fumble, stopped on fourth down,
interception and the touchdown right before the end of the game.
Hawai’i
’s biggest run was 16 yards and their biggest pass play was 30.
Prior to the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors had a total of
four pass plays and three running plays that exceeded 10 yards.
The only
Hawai’i
touchdown came halfway through the fourth and it was on a 10-yard pass.
They finished with nine pass plays and four rushing plays over 10 yards
for the game, with just one play over 20 yards.
Jojobro wanted the Bronco secondary to have a strong,
consistent performance. Two
interceptions, he thought, “would be a good sign of the secondary getting back
to dominant form”. Daysomeday
too wanted the Bronco secondary to step it up and begin to live up to preseason
expectations.
Besides the
aforementioned interception by Johnson in the second quarter that thwarted a
drive when the score was still 17-0, Johnson had another pick in the third
quarter. Linebacker Hunter White
also picked one off in the second.
Polar Opp had the crystal ball of the week when he called
for the Broncos to force five turnovers—they had six, with an even mix of
three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
Byron Hout got one recovery, Winston Venable forced another that was
recovered by Brandyn Thompson and Daron Mackey jarred a third ball loose that
Johnson picked up.
The defensive line that was so solid against
Tulsa
was important too. Jojo wanted
pressure on the quarterback, with the defensive ends getting sacks and the
tackles “continuing to jam the core of the
Hawai’i
line.” Brad999 too wanted sacks
and to pressure the quarterback into throwing interceptions.
Boise
State
got some pressure on Bryant Moniz and Shane Austin, but unfortunately the
Broncos only got one sack by Billy Winn. Many
of the turnovers were caused by intense line play and pressure in the backfield,
although there were no tackles for loss.
Jojo wanted
Boise
State
to continue to involve the Bronco tight ends in the passing game.
He looked for eight receptions between them because he felt that it would
“set up a more diverse and dangerous passing attack.”
Kyle Efaw had one catch for 28 and Chandler Koch had a reception for 10.
Daysomeday looked for a solid running game in the red zone
with four runs if needed to punch it in. Matt Kaiserman rushed on five of seven plays on a Bronco drive at the end of the
third quarter. Later in the fourth,
Kaiserman carried the ball what is believed to be an unprecedented 11 straight
plays from the Bronco 49 into the
Hawai’i
end zone. Maybe Kaiserman is what
the Broncos have needed all along.
Ezstrokin wanted big plays from the offense.
Jeremy Avery had a 21-yard run that led to
Boise
State
’s first touchdown. Bronco
quarterback Kellen Moore made a beautiful fake on the play action and hit
receiver Tyler Shoemaker for 35 yards to finish the drive.
Facing a fourth-and-four on their own 45, Bronco punter Kyle Brotzman
unleashed a perfect 28-yard pass to Jeron Johnson to keep the drive alive.
In the second quarter, Austin Pettis threw a perfect strike to Efaw for
28 yards on the double pass. Two
plays later,
Moore
hit Titus Young for the 24-yard TD. Young
had an 18-yard run in the third. On
the next drive,
Moore
spotted Young all alone for a 48-yard bomb.
Nicely done Broncos!
Upbronco called on the
Boise
State
special teams to not allow any scores and they bottled up the Warrior special
teams all night. In addition to the
nice pass play on a faked punt, Brotzman added four field goals.
Brad999 was right on when he called for “only one kickoff (the opening
one of the second half.”
Hawai’i
had just two kickoffs--one to start the game and one with seven minutes
remaining in the game.
MBulmer0 felt like this was the moment of truth for the
2009
Boise
State
football team. He looked for the
Broncos to “finally keep penalties and turnovers to a minimum and soundly beat
a team that is playing their worst football in years.
The Broncos had six penalties for 78 yards, and would greatly reduce that
number if they kept their heads on straight after the play.
Bulmer predicted a final of
49-17 and didn’t miss it by much.
Fotograffir wasn’t too demanding:
“I want an exciting game to keep me awake or a Bronco blowout in the
first half in case I fall asleep at halftime (since the game starts at
10 p.m.
here).
Boise State took his concerns to heart and built a 31-0 halftime
lead!