BOISE STATE WINS, HOW IT HAPPENED, HOW IT WILL BE REPORTED NATIONALLY & A FEW NFL NOTES
In the aftermath of tonight's Boise State-Virginia Tech game at FedEx Field in D.C. I'd like to make a few points before the subject is distorted & maligned by some members of a very bitter media.
1. Boise's lines dominated Va Tech's, there's no way to spin or excuse this fact. Tech had 3 returning starters on the offensive line but they were manhandled.
2. Boise shutdown Tech runners Ryan Mathews & Darren Evans. Both 1,000+ yard rushers, they were held to 56 total yards on 24 carries.
3. Boise's three leading rushers, Doug Martin, D.J. Harper & Jeremy Avery rushed for 189 yards on just 21 carries.
4. Tech QB Tyrod Taylor ran for 73 yards on 12 carries, every carry was after he was flushed from the pocket, not a designed play. Dropping your quarterback into the pocket & then he runs for 73 yards, is not an offensive gameplan. If not for Taylor, Tech would've gotten murdered, he's an impact player to be sure.
5. Tech, long famous for superior special teams play, got a punt blocked on a missed assignment that was shameful. They also missed a field goal & gave up too much yardage in punt & kick coverage.
6. Tech had half as many turnovers, half the penalty yards & nearly nine minutes more in time of possession & yet Boise won the game.
7. Both teams showed a lot of heart in the 4th quarter, but in the end, Kellen Moore & his Bronco teammates made the plays in their final drive & Virginia Tech didn't.
8. The game opened at Boise State -2 & closed at Va Tech -1. You've heard me say this over & over, when a game swings this much, the public is almost always wrong. Once again, that theory holds water.
9. Boise won a big game without a single gadget play, can't remember the Broncos winning a game like this without a trick play or two.
10. Bottom line: Boise State made a lot of mistakes but was able to regroup on the final drive & win, at some point they deserve credit for that..
I can almost promise you we'll hear one or more of the following comments tomorrow:
"Boise had them on the ropes in the 1st half but couldn't put them away. A good team finishes off their opponent when they have the chance." My response: So Virginia Tech is so bad they can be "finished off" in front of 60,000+ of their own fans? Why didn't Oklahoma finish off Utah State Saturday? Why didn't LSU finish off North Carolina? Putting away a quality team is a helluva lot harder than people think. A proud team coached by a legend like Frank Beamer isn't going to just fold & go home. Virginia Tech isn't Utah State, they've been a ranked program for the better part of 2 decades.
"Virginia Tech let them off the hook in the 4th quarter." Once again, it's Tech's fault, Boise State deserves zero credit for the game-winning drive.
"If Boise State played in a BCS conference, they would never go undefeated." O.K. maybe they wouldn't. But if Florida was in the WAC, they wouldn't have won two BCS Titles because their recruiting would fall off dramatically & then there's that lack of respect thing. Boise has to play in a conference that is geographically realistic to their locale. How tough do you think it is to get 4-star recruits from Miami, Dallas or L.A. to attend a small school in Boise freakin' Idaho? It simply doesn't happen. Why didn't the PAC-10 invite Boise State to join their conference last spring? Let's start with the population in Idaho, about 1.5 million, which is way less than half of any of the PAC-10 states. Boise's stadium only holds 33,500, over 20,000 less than the smallest PAC-10 stadium. See the problem they face? But are they a bogus football program because of population or geography? Absolutely not, their 11-4 record against BCS conference teams isn't bogus either.
"Boise plays a schedule of mostly "high school caliber teams." I've already heard this one twice & it's asinine. Who did Alabama play Saturday? Answer: WAC member San Jose State. USC surrendered 588 yards of total offense to WAC member Hawaii. Oklahoma struggled at home to fend off WAC member Utah State. It's O.K. for traditional powerhouses like 'Bama, USC & Oklahoma to play WAC teams, any WAC team except Boise State. The Broncos have had difficulty filling their schedule with quality BCS-caliber teams, teams don't want to play them, a loss to Boise State carries such a negative connotation, but the risk of losing to San Jose State or Utah State is almost non-existent, so teams are given a pass for scheduling them. Boise's win tonight just made it even more difficult for them to schedule higher profile BCS conference teams, more & more of them don't want any part of the Broncos.
"Any decent team could go undefeated in the WAC." Boise State is joining the Mountain West Conference next year, but that won't help much with pollsters, they just don't like any outsiders interfering in the BCS bowls or the title game. The don't like TCU, Utah or BYU either, it has to be Texas, 'Bama, Florida, Ohio State, OU, USC, Nebraska or LSU. many media-types have/will discredit any of the BCS Busters. I listened to ESPN's Rob Parker say Friday "no one wants to watch this team in January, especially the networks." Well now we're getting somewhere. I picked the BCS Title game as Iowa & Boise State, think this would tighten the collective sphincters at the networks?
"They play on that stupid blue field." I've heard that one for years, my wife hates the blue field & bitches about it every time we watch a Boise home game. If someone mentions a blue field, you know exactly what they're talking about, Boise State. But when someone mentions Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, do you know where that is? That's Ole Miss' home field, the one where they were humiliated by a Division 1AA team Saturday. So the blue field works, people associate Boise State with the blue field. Because they play on a blue field just isn't a reason to keep them out of the BCS O.K.?
This assault on Boise State's credibility will continue as long as they stay in the BCS hunt, which could be all season. But honestly, how many more BCS teams will the Broncos have to defeat before they're given their due? Five more, ten? Truthfully, many of the national sports media will never accept a smallish school in Idaho as a legitimate football power, period.
A few NFL notes of interest include Matt Leinart's signing in Houston. He got only a 1-year deal to backup Matt Schaub. Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a 1-year deal with the Ravens. LeGarrette Blount was claimed by the Buccaneers on Monday. "Mr. Sucker Punch" was released by the Titans on Sunday. The Jets re-signed fullback Tony Richardson after he was released on Sunday. This move might have been one that was more about locker room leadership than play on the field.
The new deal signed by Darrelle Revis this morning got him back into camp. He will start Monday night vs. the Ravens. But Revis wanted to be paid more than Raider all-pro Nnamdi Asomghua. Turns out he got it, making $16.25 million a year in 2010 & '11. Asomghua makes $16.142 million. But what happens after the guaranteed money dries up in 2012? Will Revis hold out again? There's no denying Revis is one of the top 6 or 7 players in the entire league, but the Jets really caved on this one.
Finally, I want to wish my 82-year old mom a Happy Birthday. I spoke with her earlier this afternoon & she expressed her joy with the return of football, she's always loved the game. She said she watched the Sprint Cup race last night along with the U.S. Open & some football. Like her mother, who never missed a Cubs game on TV or a Chiefs' game, sports have always been a big part of her life. She raised four kids, provided one awesome meal after another & never missed a Chiefs game at Municipal Stadium, Arrowhead or on TV. She was a cool mom, still is for that matter. Happy Birthday Mom!
1. Boise's lines dominated Va Tech's, there's no way to spin or excuse this fact. Tech had 3 returning starters on the offensive line but they were manhandled.
2. Boise shutdown Tech runners Ryan Mathews & Darren Evans. Both 1,000+ yard rushers, they were held to 56 total yards on 24 carries.
3. Boise's three leading rushers, Doug Martin, D.J. Harper & Jeremy Avery rushed for 189 yards on just 21 carries.
4. Tech QB Tyrod Taylor ran for 73 yards on 12 carries, every carry was after he was flushed from the pocket, not a designed play. Dropping your quarterback into the pocket & then he runs for 73 yards, is not an offensive gameplan. If not for Taylor, Tech would've gotten murdered, he's an impact player to be sure.
5. Tech, long famous for superior special teams play, got a punt blocked on a missed assignment that was shameful. They also missed a field goal & gave up too much yardage in punt & kick coverage.
6. Tech had half as many turnovers, half the penalty yards & nearly nine minutes more in time of possession & yet Boise won the game.
7. Both teams showed a lot of heart in the 4th quarter, but in the end, Kellen Moore & his Bronco teammates made the plays in their final drive & Virginia Tech didn't.
8. The game opened at Boise State -2 & closed at Va Tech -1. You've heard me say this over & over, when a game swings this much, the public is almost always wrong. Once again, that theory holds water.
9. Boise won a big game without a single gadget play, can't remember the Broncos winning a game like this without a trick play or two.
10. Bottom line: Boise State made a lot of mistakes but was able to regroup on the final drive & win, at some point they deserve credit for that..
I can almost promise you we'll hear one or more of the following comments tomorrow:
"Boise had them on the ropes in the 1st half but couldn't put them away. A good team finishes off their opponent when they have the chance." My response: So Virginia Tech is so bad they can be "finished off" in front of 60,000+ of their own fans? Why didn't Oklahoma finish off Utah State Saturday? Why didn't LSU finish off North Carolina? Putting away a quality team is a helluva lot harder than people think. A proud team coached by a legend like Frank Beamer isn't going to just fold & go home. Virginia Tech isn't Utah State, they've been a ranked program for the better part of 2 decades.
"Virginia Tech let them off the hook in the 4th quarter." Once again, it's Tech's fault, Boise State deserves zero credit for the game-winning drive.
"If Boise State played in a BCS conference, they would never go undefeated." O.K. maybe they wouldn't. But if Florida was in the WAC, they wouldn't have won two BCS Titles because their recruiting would fall off dramatically & then there's that lack of respect thing. Boise has to play in a conference that is geographically realistic to their locale. How tough do you think it is to get 4-star recruits from Miami, Dallas or L.A. to attend a small school in Boise freakin' Idaho? It simply doesn't happen. Why didn't the PAC-10 invite Boise State to join their conference last spring? Let's start with the population in Idaho, about 1.5 million, which is way less than half of any of the PAC-10 states. Boise's stadium only holds 33,500, over 20,000 less than the smallest PAC-10 stadium. See the problem they face? But are they a bogus football program because of population or geography? Absolutely not, their 11-4 record against BCS conference teams isn't bogus either.
"Boise plays a schedule of mostly "high school caliber teams." I've already heard this one twice & it's asinine. Who did Alabama play Saturday? Answer: WAC member San Jose State. USC surrendered 588 yards of total offense to WAC member Hawaii. Oklahoma struggled at home to fend off WAC member Utah State. It's O.K. for traditional powerhouses like 'Bama, USC & Oklahoma to play WAC teams, any WAC team except Boise State. The Broncos have had difficulty filling their schedule with quality BCS-caliber teams, teams don't want to play them, a loss to Boise State carries such a negative connotation, but the risk of losing to San Jose State or Utah State is almost non-existent, so teams are given a pass for scheduling them. Boise's win tonight just made it even more difficult for them to schedule higher profile BCS conference teams, more & more of them don't want any part of the Broncos.
"Any decent team could go undefeated in the WAC." Boise State is joining the Mountain West Conference next year, but that won't help much with pollsters, they just don't like any outsiders interfering in the BCS bowls or the title game. The don't like TCU, Utah or BYU either, it has to be Texas, 'Bama, Florida, Ohio State, OU, USC, Nebraska or LSU. many media-types have/will discredit any of the BCS Busters. I listened to ESPN's Rob Parker say Friday "no one wants to watch this team in January, especially the networks." Well now we're getting somewhere. I picked the BCS Title game as Iowa & Boise State, think this would tighten the collective sphincters at the networks?
"They play on that stupid blue field." I've heard that one for years, my wife hates the blue field & bitches about it every time we watch a Boise home game. If someone mentions a blue field, you know exactly what they're talking about, Boise State. But when someone mentions Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, do you know where that is? That's Ole Miss' home field, the one where they were humiliated by a Division 1AA team Saturday. So the blue field works, people associate Boise State with the blue field. Because they play on a blue field just isn't a reason to keep them out of the BCS O.K.?
This assault on Boise State's credibility will continue as long as they stay in the BCS hunt, which could be all season. But honestly, how many more BCS teams will the Broncos have to defeat before they're given their due? Five more, ten? Truthfully, many of the national sports media will never accept a smallish school in Idaho as a legitimate football power, period.
A few NFL notes of interest include Matt Leinart's signing in Houston. He got only a 1-year deal to backup Matt Schaub. Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a 1-year deal with the Ravens. LeGarrette Blount was claimed by the Buccaneers on Monday. "Mr. Sucker Punch" was released by the Titans on Sunday. The Jets re-signed fullback Tony Richardson after he was released on Sunday. This move might have been one that was more about locker room leadership than play on the field.
The new deal signed by Darrelle Revis this morning got him back into camp. He will start Monday night vs. the Ravens. But Revis wanted to be paid more than Raider all-pro Nnamdi Asomghua. Turns out he got it, making $16.25 million a year in 2010 & '11. Asomghua makes $16.142 million. But what happens after the guaranteed money dries up in 2012? Will Revis hold out again? There's no denying Revis is one of the top 6 or 7 players in the entire league, but the Jets really caved on this one.
Finally, I want to wish my 82-year old mom a Happy Birthday. I spoke with her earlier this afternoon & she expressed her joy with the return of football, she's always loved the game. She said she watched the Sprint Cup race last night along with the U.S. Open & some football. Like her mother, who never missed a Cubs game on TV or a Chiefs' game, sports have always been a big part of her life. She raised four kids, provided one awesome meal after another & never missed a Chiefs game at Municipal Stadium, Arrowhead or on TV. She was a cool mom, still is for that matter. Happy Birthday Mom!
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