Friday, September 14, 2007.

Boise State has been saying all the right things this week following the Washington loss—talking about focus, dedication, stepping up. But we won’t know where things really stand with this team until kickoff tomorrow night. Last week was a fork in the road, and the Broncos went down the prong that has them just another football team for the moment. Tomorrow is a crossroads, as BSU will find out a lot about itself when it gets tested by a Wyoming team that smells an upset. The Cowboys see this game as the turning point of the Joe Glenn era. Their launching pad.

They won’t be intimidated by the blue turf and its atmosphere, having practiced with crowd noise pumped into War Memorial Stadium all week. “I think we have respect for Boise State, and I think they respect us,” Glenn said in the Casper Star-Tribune. “I don’t believe in Vegas odds, but we believe we can touch gloves with them and give them a fight.”

No refreshers are necessary this week for the Broncos. They won their game at Wyoming last year, but it was oh-so-uncomfortable. The team with the 22 seniors, the team that would go undefeated and win the Fiesta Bowl, was held to 10 offensive points and just 246 yards by a menacing Cowboy defense. BSU was 2-for-12 in third down conversions and was shut out after halftime.

The Broncos limited Wyoming to 251 yards and registered five sacks, but that was two games before Karsten Sween was inserted as the Pokes’ starting quarterback. Sween has guided Wyoming to seven wins in its last nine games. The sophomore hasn’t necessarily thrown for distance so far this season (he’s averaging less than 10 yards a completion), and he has three interceptions against two touchdowns. But Sween has been accurate, completing exactly two-thirds of his passes.

If this game is close, and it very well could be, the BSU kicking game will have to circle its wagons. Last year Kyle Stringer kept Wyoming facing long fields by averaging 50 yards on seven punts. Stringer’s replacement this season, true freshman Brad Elkin, averaged 33½ yards a punt last Saturday in Husky Stadium before he was lifted. Kyle Brotzman booted his first career field goal last week, but it was only a 21-yarder, and we don’t know what the Meridian High product will be like in a game-changing situation. Meanwhile, Wyoming has what it wants in Billy Vinnedge, who handles placekicking and punting for the Cowboys. The senior is averaging 48 yards on punts and already has a 48-yard field goal this season. Vinnedge nailed one from 64 yards out in practice Wednesday.

With Idaho running back Deonte Jackson off to a red-hot start, it’s not hard to guess what Washington State’s defense will try to do against the Vandals tomorrow. The Cougars will stack in the box and challenge quarterback Nathan Enderle to throw. The Idaho redshirt freshman will have to be more accurate than the first two weeks—he’s completing only 41 percent of his passes on the young season. The Vandals are going to need some points, considering what WSU quarterback Alex Brink did to San Diego State last week (469 yards and five touchdowns). Idaho also remembers what happened last year in Martin Stadium: a 56-10 Wazzu win.

The WAC is hoping for good things tomorrow, as it goes into the weekend 0-10 this season versus Division I-A schools. So what are the possibilities beyond Boise State? At least the oddsmakers feel the WAC can get one on the blue, installing the Broncos as 12½-point favorites. Let’s see: Utah State at Oklahoma, Louisiana Tech at Cal, Idaho at Washington State, San Jose State at Stanford, Fresno State at Oregon, UTEP at New Mexico State, Hawaii at UNLV. Utah State, La-Tech, Idaho, San Jose State—no. You’d have thought before the season the Spartans would beat Stanford, but they’ve been beset by injuries. Oregon’s on too much of a roll for a drained Fresno State. So, there’s New Mexico State, which has a shot at the Miners, and Hawaii, which should beat UNLV. To be sure, there are no eggs in the basket.

What happens in the stands in the state of Nevada tomorrow will be intriguing. Hawaii will have almost as many fans in Las Vegas as Nevada has at Mackay Stadium. The Warriors expect their faithful to take over Sam Boyd Stadium, with over 10,000 expected to make the trip from the Islands and various places on the Mainland. That will make a nice travel statement for UH if it’s a candidate for a bigger postseason game than the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. The Nevada athletic department foresees a crowd of less than 15,000 for the Wolf Pack’s home opener. That’s incredible, but that’s about the way it’s been for the Pack in recent years. Nevada can’t light anyone’s fire over Nicholls State.

It’s not the preseason anymore, and Legedu Naanee knows that. The former Boise State star, a fourth-round NFL Draft pick in April, is contributing on special teams again, as he did for much of his career with the Broncos. After catching nine passes for 90 yards in exhibition games, Naanee’s first official NFL stat was an assisted tackle on cover teams in the Chargers’ 14-3 win over the Bears last Sunday.

It has to be especially gratifying to Chris Petersen to see Naanee make it. Before, during and after the Fiesta Bowl, Pete was able to avoid being overcome by emotion—except in one December press conference when asked about Naanee’s successful transformation from quarterback to wide receiver. Look for No. 40 when the Chargers go to New England on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

It was only the opening day of the Tour Championship, but the timing is good for the Albertson’s Boise Open next week. Tim Clark, the 2000 Boise Open champion, torched East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta yesterday with a course record-tying 8-under-62 to capture the early lead in the PGA Tour playoff tournament. The rain-delayed first round is finishing up this morning. Clark started off with birdies on three of the first four holes, then punctuated his round with an eagle on 15. If this story can last through Sunday, Boise Open promoter Jeff Sanders will be positively giddy. Meanwhile, the Nationwide Tour is in Junction City, OR, this weekend for the Oregon Classic.

This Day In Sports…September 14, 1968:

Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers defeats Oakland, 5-4, to win his 30th game of the season—the last time a pitcher has done that. McLain’s record for the season would be 31-6. The closest anyone has come since is 27, by Steve Carlton of the Phillies in 1972 and Bob Welch of the A’s in 1990. McLain’s career and reputation unraveled within a couple years, though, and he ultimately served several terms in prison for drug trafficking, embezzling and racketeering.

(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 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football.)

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