Broncos continue quest for perfect season in clash with Bulldogs
Sports Network | November 26, 2008
Boise, ID (Sports Network) - With their fifth Western Athletic Conference title already secured, the ninth-ranked Boise State Broncos turn their attention to remaining undefeated as they close out the 2008 regular season with a meeting against the Fresno State Bulldogs on the blue turf on Friday.
Last weekend the Broncos, who are also ninth in the most current BCS rankings, led Nevada by a score of 24-3 at the half but had to play hard down the stretch to secure the 41-34 triumph. With the victory, BSU has now won the WAC crown six of the last seven seasons and also remained in the hunt for an at- large BCS bowl berth. Playing at home in Idaho has been a huge advantage for the Broncos over the last few years as the team has put together a 48-game regular-season home win streak and has topped conference opponents in 37 consecutive home meetings.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs enter the week tied with Nevada for fourth place in the WAC standings at 4-3. Luckily the team has a slightly better overall mark at 7-4 and while that makes the Bulldogs bowl eligible, it doesn't guarantee coach Pat Hill and his crew anything beyond this weekend. FSU continued to make its case for another game this season as it defeated San Jose State last Friday by a score of 24-10, the team's second straight win after losing back- to-back outings against Louisiana Tech and Nevada.
With respect to the all-time series between these programs, Boise State holds a 6-4 advantage after picking up a 34-21 victory in Fresno a season ago.
"The three backs all ran hard," was coach Hill's response to their involvement in the game plan versus the Spartans. "Anthony Harding, Lonyae Miller and Jamaal Rashad all ran the ball hard and very effectively." The Bulldogs are lucky that the trio showed up because quarterback Tom Brandstater was little more than a spectator with just five completions for 71 yards and an interception. Harding actually saved the day with his two rushing scores in the fourth quarter, finishing with 99 of the team's 171 yards on the ground.
Harding has given the program some sparks almost every time he's touched the ball, producing a team-best 691 yards on 120 carries. With Ryan Mathews out with an injury, Miller has also become more of a commodity with his 676 yards and five touchdowns. Considered one of the better senior passers in college football this season, Brandstater doesn't always seem to have a killer instinct, completing less than 60 percent of his attempts for 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
"Our defense played well the whole game," coach Hill said of his unit after the win against SJSU. "They have played well the last two weeks. After giving up about 400 total yards in the last two weeks, they have played very well." Although the Spartans have been a weak rushing team this entire season, FSU still did well to hold the home team to minus-five yards on 31 attempts. The squad also got after Sean Flynn, limiting the signal-caller to 170 yards on 20 completions, posting four sacks along the way.
Unfortunately, even after cracking down on the SJSU run game, the Bulldogs are still seventh in the conference and 101st in the nation with 192.9 ypg allowed on the ground through 11 games. A bigger problem for the Bulldogs tends to be their inability to come up on the positive side of the turnover margin from week to week. In fact, Fresno State has a mere three interceptions this season, two of them by Marvin Haynes, and that has given opponents plenty of reason to think that they can go over the top versus the Bulldogs.
"I knew it would be a tight game," BSU head coach Chris Petersen said of the meeting with Nevada last weekend. "I knew they would make a run, especially if we turned the ball over." And turn the ball over they did, specifically Kellen Moore who threw three interceptions in the third quarter alone. What's worse is that two of those picks were returned for touchdowns by the Wolf Pack. Nevertheless, Moore still finished with 414 yards and three touchdowns through the air to keep the Broncos on track for a possible perfect season.
Even though Moore is rather young, he has still fit squarely into the offense by completing almost 70 percent of his pass attempts for 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. But the offense is really so much more than just Moore, with Ian Johnson still picking his way through defenses for 610 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Although it has been a down year by his lofty standards, Johnson is still a force to be reckoned with while fellow running backs Jeremy Avery and D.J. Harper step in to give the squad a change of pace when needed.
Nevada, which is still the top rushing team in all of college football, was averaging about 325 ypg on the ground heading into the meeting with the Broncos, but coach Petersen had his players ready. "Our coaches worked hard and came up with a great scheme. It was definitely a different look than we have shown in the past," and that's why BSU was able to limit the Pack to just 144 yards on the ground. Making his presence felt was Jeron Johnson who recorded a game-high 13 tackles, while George Iloka logged two of his seven stops behind the line of scrimmage.
Holding down Colin Kaepernick in terms of his passing, the Broncos improved upon their pass efficiency defense and now have a rating of 93.86, which is second in the nation behind only Southern California. In terms of total defense there's no one better in the WAC, with the Broncos permitting just 294.6 ypg, a number that places the group 16th in the country this week. Six times the unit has held an opponent to a touchdown or less, making it that much easier for the Broncos to check in at number five nationally with just 12.5 ppg allowed.
