Tuesday, October 2, 2007.

It’s New Mexico State week, which in the past has brought a vanilla response in Broncoland. But Boise State’s well-chronicled struggles defending the pass last year in Las Cruces make this Sunday a day of atonement. This will be the first real passing team the Broncos have faced this year, with a quarterback, Chase Holbrook, who threw for 529 yards on them last season. That was the fifth-biggest chunk of passing yards allowed in BSU history. And Holbrook’s staggering 50 completions were the most ever against the Broncos—by 12. BSU could not get out of drives last year against the Aggies, who converted on 8-of-16 third downs (they lead the WAC in that category this season at 47 percent). Bottom line, though: it was still a 40-28 Bronco victory on the road last October.

The Broncos vowed to circle the wagons on pass defense after the New Mexico State debacle—then proceeded to give up 328 yards through the air in the 42-26 win at Idaho. It was there that Kyle Wilson was inserted into the lineup, and the wagons have been circled ever since. This season, BSU is yielding just 177 yards a game and has a defensive pass efficiency rating of only 103, which (trust me) is good. That latter number is the one Chris Petersen looks at, and the Broncos have achieved it with only two interceptions. That’s their one missing link against the pass so far in 2007. A factor in BSU’s pickoff hopes could be the health of quarterback Chase Holbrook, who hurt his ribs on a vicious hit he took against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Ian Johnson talked about his “super speed” mode last Thursday on KBOI’s postgame show. That’s a term coined by BSU running backs coach Jeff Choate, referring to Ian’s habit of putting his head down to get his forward lean (and extra gear) when he sees daylight. We saw “super speed” from Johnson in the win over Southern Miss—essentially for the first time since the Weber State game—and it earned him his first WAC Offensive Player of the Week award in 2007. Ian had 111 yards rushing and three touchdowns, plus 80 receiving yards.

The Sunday night football thing begs the question: can Bronco Stadium fill up with 30,000-plus fans for the ninth straight time the night before a dreaded Monday—a school and work day? Yes, according to the BSU ticket office. The game is already sold out, and with temperatures expected to be in the low 60’s Sunday, few no-shows are expected on a perfect autumn night for football. The Blue-And-Orange-Out angle for this one is: all blue in the lower deck, and all orange in the upper deck. The stadium wore the pie chart look well last week in the Southern Miss game. Despite the loss of several hundred seats due to stadium construction, the Broncos are averaging 30,212 a game this season.

In the WAC, unfortunately, there’s nothing really out of the ordinary at the gate so far. The big three, Hawaii, Fresno State and Boise State, are all over the 30,000-a-game mark. On the surface you see three other schools averaging over 20,000, but Nevada was buoyed by the 25,278 who showed up last Saturday for the rivalry game against UNLV, New Mexico State’s total was fattened by a crowd of 30,343 for its grudge match against UTEP, and Louisiana Tech was boosted by 22,135 who turned out to see Hawaii a few weeks ago. The Wolf Pack’s moment of truth in attendance will come this Saturday when Fresno State comes to Mackay Stadium.

Idaho’s crowd of less than 14,000 last week to see a Top 25 team and a Heisman Trophy candidate has to be classified as a disappointment. There are two things the Vandals are trying to get done that require the utmost in fan support: balance the schedule and expand and enhance the Kibbie Dome. Idaho is averaging 12,029 a game, and that’s not going to produce the revenue needed to reach the program’s goals. The Vandals want to avoid having to play two BCS teams a year on the road just for fundraising. Only Florida Atlantic, Kent State and Eastern Michigan are drawing fewer fans right now. Idaho’s remaining home games are against Fresno State, Louisiana Tech and Utah State—it’s hard to imagine attendance getting any better.

San Jose State will get a different look from Idaho when the Vandals come into Spartan Stadium this week. Quarterback Nathan Enderle tore the tissue that holds the tendon in place on the top of his middle knuckle in the loss to Hawaii and had surgery yesterday, putting him out of action three weeks. That makes senior backup Brian Nooy the starter at San Jose State. Nooy is 4-for-8 this season with no interceptions, and that’s a key stat, as Enderle has thrown 12 picks in the last three games.

Nothing new on the Albertson College football front—the program’s been dormant for 30 years now, but there’s still an underground movement of sorts trying to get the sport reinstated someday. The strength of the Carroll College program in Montana makes you wonder “what if”. Former Capital High standout Zach Richardson led Carroll to its fifth win last Saturday, a 42-0 whitewash of Montana Western. The junior free safety had four tackles, a sack, and an end zone interception for the Fighting Saints, the four-time defending NAIA national champions who have not yet allowed a touchdown this year. There are 15 other Idahoans on the Carroll roster, including Zach Thiry of Bishop Kelly and Scott Holbrook of Nampa. There’s a big Idaho talent pool out there if Coyote football ever resurfaces.

Don’t look now, but Utah Jazz training camp opens today in Taco Bell Arena. That’s because you can’t look. Despite a four-day stay in Boise, the Jazz will not hold an open practice or scrimmage for locals. That’s no way to develop a fan base in one of the West’s fastest-growing cities. And the Jazz are owned by Larry Miller, whose chain of car dealerships expanded into the Treasure Valley long ago. Miller will be on Idaho SportsTalk today to explain. It can’t have anything to do with the Idaho Stampede no longer being affiliated with Utah, can it? The Jazz now have their own NBA D-League club beginning play next month.

This Day In Sports…October 2, 1993:

Quarterback Tony Hilde burns his redshirt year and makes his first career start as a true freshman against Montana in Missoula. He throws the first of his then-BSU record 70 career touchdown passes—that one pulled in by Ryan Ikebe, who was burning his redshirt year that day as well. Hilde’s 388 passing yards and 406 in total offense in his collegiate debut would also be his career highs. He would rack up over 9,000 yards passing and over 10,000 in total offense over the next four years, and 26 of his TD passes would go to Ikebe.

(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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