Wednesday, November 15, 2006.

The week of the Sacramento State opener, I was going to do a paragraph on how quickly the season would go for the Boise State seniors. There was other stuff to write about, so I shelved it. And—how quickly has this season gone? There are 22 guys who suddenly face their final game on the blue turf Saturday against Utah State. It does indeed seem like just yesterday that the 2006 team was debuting against Sac State on August 31. And it doesn’t seem so long ago that Jared Zabransky and Korey Hall were redshirting, watching their first game as Broncos from the sidelines as BSU beat Idaho 38-17 on Labor Day weekend four years ago. You blink, and their Senior Day hits.

Let’s pick out a couple of seniors on the defensive side of the ball, both of them Idahoans, starting with Hall. He was part of Dan Hawkins’ second BSU recruiting class in 2002. At the time, everyone thought it was a nice gesture to offer a scholarship to a kid from Glenns Ferry. But…are you sure, Hawk? Well, all Hall has done is become one of the best linebackers in college football, a two-time All-WAC first-teamer who’s been a tackling and intercepting machine as a senior, climbing the Bronco record book in each category. He’s fourth on the career list with 371 tackles and could end up in second with a big finish (he’s already second all-time in the WAC).

Next to Hall is Colt Brooks, one of those fuzzy-faced guys from Bishop Kelly who really, really wanted to be a Bronco. He walked on in 2002, and—in fact—he wouldn’t be denied. After a year’s apprenticeship on special teams, Brooks has been a regular since 2004. Now he’s the Broncos designated disrupter, lining up most of the time on the line of scrimmage, leaving opposing quarterbacks to check Colt’s whereabouts first before any signals are called. This one-time BK quarterback has 12 sacks in the past two seasons. Brooks epitomizes the local walk-on who has thrived during the golden era of Bronco football (can you say, “Brock Forsey”?). Hard to gauge how conference coaches view him, but a first-team All-WAC honor would be fitting.

Latest word is that Ian Johnson should return to Boise today, making it highly unlikely, you would think, that he could shake off the rust and stress brought on by his partially-collapsed lung enough to play Saturday—even if doctors clear him. It’s become a national story, as Johnson’s plight has been on all the wires and major sports websites. It’s ironic, because Ian was already everywhere anyway. He had the long feature last Saturday morning on ESPN College GameDay and his profile in ESPN The Magazine has just come out. Johnson is also a prominent part of the Sports Illustrated story this week on BSU’s BCS-busting chances, where the story of his “Dog Food” nickname is dredged up (he ate a small can of it in a freshman talent show last year).

There’s no doubt that Nevada is playing its best football since joining the WAC in 2000. The one thing that is in BSU’s corner November 25, though, is fan support—Bronco faithful could take over Mackay Stadium just like the past two visits to Reno. There were just 8,584 who bothered to show up for the wind-chilled Nevada victory last Saturday. That is an indescribably bad day at the gate for a Division I-A program that had such a rabid following 10 years ago. The crowd will be much larger for BSU, but they won’t sell the place out. The Boise State allotment of tickets for the game has already been sold, as you might expect. But there should be plenty of good seats still available through the Nevada athletic department.

Incidentally, the Broncos host the same opponent this week as the Wolf Pack did last week. But BSU has only single seats remaining for the Utah State game. A crowd of 30,534 is needed to break the season record average of 30,456 set in 2004. That might be touch and go, but even if it doesn’t happen, attendance has been impressive—this season’s home schedule had Sacramento State instead of the BYU game two years ago. And Saturday it needs to be impressive about 15 minutes early. From the “broken record” department, I mentioned this on last Saturday’s telecast and on Sunday Sports Extra. As much as Bronco fans love the scene in the parking lot, I implore them to break away from the tailgates early enough to get inside the stadium for Senior Day ceremonies.

Saturday in the San Joaquin Valley you have two teams trying to heel, as Fresno State plays host to Idaho. The Bulldogs are back in the win column for the first time since Labor Day weekend with their victory over New Mexico State, although coach Pat Hill is the first to acknowledge it wasn’t a thing of beauty. The Vandals, meanwhile, have lost three straight—and since Boise State’s Rashaun Scott returned a fourth quarter sky kick and took the wind out of the proverbial sails on October 21, Idaho has been outscored 127-17. The Vandals’ bye week obviously came at a good time as they regroup for their final two games.

It was like old times for former Nampa Bulldog Rob Morris last Sunday. Not only was he roaming the middle of the Indianapolis Colts defense, he was doing so with success. Morris got his first start in two years in the Colts’ 17-16 win over Buffalo and logged eight tackles. He was filling in for Gary Brackett, who beat him out for the starting middle linebacker job last year. Brackett was out with a hamstring injury. Morris stayed the course last season after having a chance to bolt Indy as a free agent. He was a first round draft pick of the Colts out of BYU in 2000.

The Idaho Steelheads take the Marty Flichel Show on the road this weekend to Bakersfield and Fresno. The 30-year-old wing is doing the fine wine routine, improving with age. And he’s busted out to a great start this season. Flichel has an ECHL-leading 11-game scoring streak, which means he’s tallied every night out so far. He also has a six-game goal streak. Flichel’s most exciting goal may have been his most recent, as he scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway in Sunday’s shootout loss to Stockton.

This Day In Sports…November 15, 1960:

Former College of Idaho star Elgin Baylor scores an NBA record 71 points and pulls down 25 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks, 123-108, at Madison Square Garden. His record would be broken the next year (and re-set again later) by Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor played at C of I five years earlier before transferring to Seattle University and ultimately being named MVP of the 1958 NCAA Tournament as the Chieftains made the championship game.

(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 ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK.)

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