Thursday, December 29, 2011.
Much has been made of Chris Petersen’s quote opening his postgame press conference one week ago in Las Vegas. “I have no idea what we’re going to do without Kellen Moore, so don’t ask it,” said Petersen. What needs to be pointed out is that he didn’t deliver the line solemnly. Petersen then flashed a wide smile, as if to break the ice for the media. Because when Petersen was asked if he feels this is the end of an era for Boise State, he flatly said, “No.” It’s the end of the Kellen Moore era, and the ramifications can’t be taken lightly. But Petersen couldn’t be further from calling it the end of the Broncos’ 13-year run that started in 1999. The quality of Boise State’s recruiting classes has taken a leap every year since Petersen arrived, and part of him has to be excited to see who steps up in spring ball and fall camp.
We’ll be checking out the cupboard in coming weeks, but it’s never too early to recap what’s on the Broncos’ quarterback shelf. On the surface, you see Joe Southwick as the frontrunner. Southwick, who will be a junior next year, is the most experienced quarterback coming out of 2011. He was 23-of-30 this season, but it was generally short-yardage stuff (198 yards). Southwick threw for one touchdown and had one interception. Make no mistake, though—the race to replace Moore will be wide open. It will be a four-man competition at the outset.
Sophomore-to-be Grant Hedrick played with confidence in his designed run packages this season, but we haven’t really had a chance to see him throw. Freshman-to-be Jimmy Laughrea had a great redshirt season and was named the Broncos’ Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. And incoming recruit Nick Patti, the Florida Class 8A Player of the Year, plans to enroll at Boise State in a few weeks to be available for spring football. It will be fairly fascinating to see who the survivor is when the bell rings at Michigan State next September.
On the bowl carousel yesterday, the Mountain West ends up 2-3 in the postseason after Air Force fell to Toledo in a wild one, 42-41. The Falcons scored with 52 seconds to play and lined up to tie the game on a PAT, but they faked it—and botched it. And in the Holiday Bowl, Texas pounced on a flood of Cal turnovers to beat the Bears, 21-10. After watching the Longhorns, well, let’s just say Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, the former Boise State OC, really misses the quarterbacks he had in his previous job. Texas QB David Ash was the MVP, but man did he miss opportunities with his late decisions.
Boise State encountered former Idaho coach Chris Tormey last year against Hawaii, and the Broncos will face him next season at Wyoming. Tormey has been named the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator after spending this season as linebackers coach at Washington State. He’ll also coach the Pokes’ secondary. Tormey was head coach of the Vandals from 1995-99 before taking the reins at Nevada from 2000-03. His last game as a head coach was in the 2003 season finale at Bronco Stadium, a 56-3 loss to Boise State. Chris Ault, then the Wolf Pack athletic director, fired Tormey the next day and began his third stint as head coach the following season.
One month ago Idaho finally landed its first commitment for the 2012 recruiting class. That was Coeur d’Alene quarterback Chad Chalich, who gave his verbal on November 29. The Vandals had to wait a couple more weeks before their next commit, but they’ve been flowing in steadily since then. Especially quarterbacks. According to Scout.com, Idaho now has 10 players on its list, including QBs Austin DeCoud of Redlands, CA, and Andrew Williams of Elk Grove, CA. Add Chalich, DeCoud and Williams to redshirting JC transfer Dominique Blackman and returning junior-to-be Taylor Davis, and you’ve got a very interesting spring shaping up in Moscow.
Boise State and Idaho face off as non-conference basketball opponents for the first time in six years with their Idaho Center clash on New Year’s Eve. BSU has won three of the last four in the rivalry, but the one the Broncos didn’t get was a death knell for the tenure of former coach Greg Graham—a 79-55 loss in Taco Bell Arena in 2010 that threw cold water on a crowd of 7,734. The Broncos had won 14 straight in the series until the Vandals broke through with a sweep in 2009. Boise State comes in at 9-4; Idaho is 7-6.
The Idaho Stampede have adjusted their roster as they prepare for road games tonight at Tulsa and tomorrow night at Iowa. The Stampede have picked up two players who were in NBA training camps earlier this month. Paul Carter, a rookie out of Illinois-Chicago, was in camp with the Jazz. The 6-8 forward averaged 14.7 points and eight rebounds last season. Terrico White was Detroit’s second-round draft pick in 2010 but missed all of last season with a fractured foot. The 6-5 guard was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2008-09 at Ole Miss. To make room, the Stamps waived Willie Jenkins due to injury and Kevin Galloway due to personal reasons. Galloway, the Stampede’s second pick in the D-League Draft this fall, was averaging only 4.3 points per game.
The Idaho Steelheads’ ship may have been righted now. Easy to draw that conclusion with the Steelheads riding a six-game winning streak, the longest in coach Hardy Sauter’s tenure. The Steelies started the season 1-6—since then they’ve gone 14-6-3. Idaho trails Alaska by 12 points in the ECHL Mountain Division, but more than half the season still remains. Chad Klassen has been the Steelheads’ offensive stalwart, as he leads all ECHL rookies with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists). The Steelies are back in CenturyLink Arena tomorrow and Saturday for a two-game series against the Las Vegas Wranglers.
This Day In Sports…December 29, 1997:
The first Humanitarian Bowl is played before 16,000 fans in Bronco Stadium, with Cincinnati beating Utah State, 35-19. The Bearcats virtually bid their way into the game out of Conference USA with ticket guarantees and the promise of a future trip of their nationally-ranked basketball team to the BSU Pavilion (which would come to pass two years later). The Aggies, meanwhile, were being coached for the final time by John L. Smith, the former Idaho Vandal head man who had taken the head coaching job at Louisville. USU would not make another bowl game until this month’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
