Game one is in the books. 49-7 win for the Broncos. I predicted a 42-10 final so I wasn’t too far off. Here are my observations from the game.
First impressions on the Stuekle Sky Suites… Wow. Very impressive looking. In fact, the whole west side just looks real real nice. That thing is definitely big time. I would LOVE to see a game from there, but that may have to wait a year or 20. Maybe someday I’ll have the bankroll to do something nutty like that. But, I will say, sitting on the east side and looking at that thing, it really is a sight to behold. Also, I gotta give the people in those suites and club seats props… even though they were in the high-dollar area, most of them were still rocking the blue and orange gear. I didn’t see many suits or anything through my binos.
As an aside, I’m sure I’ve made this point before but I’m going to make it again. The number of people wearing Bronco gear to games is just astounding. I vividly remember years ago when maybe 20% of the people actually had something on that read “Boise State” or “BSU”. Now? I’d guess we’re at about 90-95% saturation. I absolutely love it. Once again, big props to the athletic department and that new logo they rolled out.
Back to game day. First impressions of the new Radio team. I thought the play by play was ok. Nothing to shout about, but there wasn’t anything specifically wrong with it either. Well, except for the first series the radio call was about 10 seconds behind the play. But, they got that fixed and it was right for the rest of the game. I did enjoy listening to Jadon Dailey doing the color. Sure he was raw, but he sounded like he enjoyed himself and was definitely prepared. Nice Job Dailey.
One other auxiliary issue I gotta mention, the Bronco Vision replay board was jacked up most of the first half. Three quarters of the screen was just black, with a tiny sliver of the board working along the bottom. Talk about aggravation. There were many plays that we just didn’t get to see again. That sucks. How can this happen? Someone seriously dropped the ball. Eventually, they did get it working, but by this time all the backups were starting to play and we already missed most of the big plays. Oops.
Onto the actual game.
The big news, of course, was the debut of Kellen Moore, the freshman phenom at quarterback. He did not disappoint. 14-19, 274 yards and 2 TDs. One of those TDs was an 80 yarder to Titus Young which was a thing of beauty. I read that Boise State has had only 12 pass plays longer than that one. Think about that… a freshman, in his collegiate debut, has one of the 13 longest pass plays ever. Wow. I don’t want to get too excited, but he looked very good. He was calm in the pocket. He made great reads, and delivered the ball exactly where it needed to be. This could be a very exciting 4 years.
Other things about the offense I noticed. Our line is young. It seemed like we couldn’t get the rush game really going even though we ended up with 230 yards on the ground. Maybe it’s because Moore was airing it out from the very beginning when I expected them to pound it a little more.
Hey, Titus Young… Hold onto the ball!
Also, I noticed the offense kept it very simple this game. They really limited the amount of shifting and formation stuff they usually do. Which was smart. We don’t need that to beat ISU, so there is no reason to give the upcoming opponents the tape of it, right?
Defensively, we were ok. I wasn’t blown away. ISU was able to move the ball a little bit, which is kinda disconcerting. If we were playing a better team, like Bowling Green in 2 weeks, that could be a problem. I will say this… if our offensive line is young, our defense are practically babies! Our leading tacklers were freshman Aaron Tevis and sophomore Darrell Acrey. At one point, the radio guys pointed out that we had 11 freshmen on the field on defense. That is crazy. Jaron Johnson, wow, that kid can lay the lumber!
I remember the last time we were this young. It was 2004. We were way heavy on sophomores and freshmen, to the tune of the 2nd youngest team in the country. What did that team go on to do? Oh, they only pulled the Fiesta Bowl season 2 years later. Exciting things could be afoot if this team comes together the same way.
There was one moment I have to comment on. Idaho State decided to try a little trickeration and ran themselves the Statue Left play that Boise State used to win the Fiesta Bowl. I immediately saw it and just shook my head. Especially when it didn’t get them 2 yards. I absolutely LOVED that the fans lustily booed them for even attempting it. They said in the Statesman that it was an “homage”. Uh, not really. That’s their coaches trying to be cute and put one over on us. I wonder what their players thought. Were it me, I would be embarassed to run it, especially in front of our fans. What did they think? We wouldn’t recognize it? I have probably watched that play upwards of 250 times, at a minimum. It is burned into my brain and will never be erased. To see their weak-ass attempt was just horrible. Idaho State, I didn’t dislike you at the beginning of the game, but I do now.
Elsewhere in the WAC. The good: La. Tech beat Mississippi State and Fresno beat Rutgers. Good wins for the conference. The bad: Hawaii followed up the Sugar Bowl debacle with a 56-10 drubbing at Florida. That means their last two losses were a combined 97-20. That is almost as bad as what Idaho did in their first game… 70-0 at Arizona. Ouch. Just… Ouch.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. It is so great to have football back in my life. I love fall more than anything and we’re now just getting into it. I’m a bit nervous to face up against Bowling Green in 2 weeks, especially after they beat top-25 Pitt in their house this weekend. But, they say the most improvement a football team makes is between game 1 and game 2. I have every confidence this coaching staff will get us coached up right.
Go Broncos!