Monday, November 19, 2007.

Idaho had the game scripted pretty well in the first half, but Boise State wrote the second act in its own words in Saturday’s 58-14 bashing of the Vandals, the Broncos’ ninth straight win in the rivalry. Idaho’s two second quarter touchdowns served as a wake-up call that was answered with 41 consecutive points to end the game. The win secured BSU’s seventh 10-win season in the past nine years, putting this long run of excellence into focus once again. Since 1999, the Broncos are 96-17. But long-term success has to be noted as well—this is Boise State’s 40th year as a four-year school, and it’s recorded 10-win seasons in 14 of them.

Taylor Tharp’s Senior Day went rather well, as he picked up where he left off the past two weeks. Tharp notched 282 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of 31 passing, making him an eye-popping 76-of-95 over the past three games for 824 yards and nine TDs. Very, very efficient, which brings up Chris Petersen’s favorite statistic, pass efficiency rating. To refresh, a rating of 130 is considered okay and 150 is good. Tharp’s rating is 182.0 over the past three weeks and 159.9 for the season, a point and a half behind Colt Brennan. But hey—what about Bush Hamdan? It doesn’t get much better than 3-of-3 for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Hamdan’s pass efficiency rating against Idaho was 580.4.

As much fun as the seniors were having Saturday, it was not just their party. The Broncos played their trickeration card, and it involved a slew of underclassmen. One of the game-turning moments was Kyle Brotzman’s shovel pass to Ellis Powers from punt formation, gaining 30 yards and leading to a touchdown. But Ryan Clady’s called-back touchdown was a doozy—the 6-6, 315-pound All-American was so anxious on the play that he moved forward a little too quickly, making Tharp’s throw to him an illegal forward pass instead of a lateral. Petersen said Clady’s play wasn’t meant to symbolize a swan song moment like the emotional touchdown pass to Jovan Hutchinson on last year’s Senior Day. It was just a play BSU had been wanting to run for a while (the Broncos tried it with Daryn Colledge two years ago). Clady, of course, is a junior but could declare early for the NFL Draft.

Another banner afternoon was turned in by BSU’s true freshmen wide receivers, Austin Pettis and Titus Young—Pettis in particular. Pettis made eight grabs for 139 yards and three touchdowns (WAC Player of the Week, anyone?). He spent the first six games of the season getting acclimated with seven catches for 53 yards. In the last five games, he had 28 receptions for 309 yards and six TDs. And while we’re spewing numbers forth, let’s combine those of Pettis and Young against Idaho: 10 catches, 205 yards, four TDs.

Before running into a brick wall in the third quarter, Idaho ran the ball effectively against Boise State Saturday. The Vandals became the first team to rush for over 100 yards on the Broncos in four weeks before the first half was even over (they ended up with 101 in the half, 132 for the game). Thousand-yard rusher Deonte Jackson looked to be on his way to a 100-yard game by himself, but the Bronco defense kicked it into a higher gear after Idaho’s first possession of the second half. Jackson had 17 carries for 72 yards at that point; he managed just 12 yards on seven attempts the rest of the way. Brian Flowers had a solid day on the ground for the Vandals, though, averaging almost seven yards a carry.

Now, finally, it’s winner-take-all for the WAC championship this Friday night. The Boise State-Hawaii game on ESPN2 will be the biggest regular-season WAC game since the eight mutineers broke away to form the Mountain West Conference after the 1998 season. Not since 1996, when sixth-ranked BYU took on 20th-ranked Wyoming, has there been a conference game in the WAC matching two teams in the top 20.

There’s a lack of respect in the new polls for not only Hawaii and Boise State, but Nevada and Idaho as well. The Warriors’ 28-26 win over the Wolf Pack did earn UH a one-spot jump in the BCS standings from 16th to 15th. But they dropped one spot in both the AP and Coaches Polls, to 14th and 13th, respectively. Voters apparently expected Hawaii to beat Nevada by a lot more than two points. Who knows what they expected of the Broncos—were they supposed to win by 60? Pollsters didn’t put much stock in a 44-point win over the Vandals in a rivalry game. BSU stayed put in the AP Poll at No. 17 but slipped two notches in the Coaches Poll to 17th and one spot in the BCS Standings to 18th. The winner this Friday should not count its sugar packets until they’re hatched, especially if it’s Boise State.

Boise State basketball is still trying to shake that “middle-of-the-road” perception. The Broncos had a chance Friday night, but the hole they dug in the first half was too deep at Montana State. After trailing by 13 at the half, they tied the game at 84-84 in the final minute. But Casey Durham answered on a jumper with three seconds left to give the Bobcats an 86-84 win. The loss spoiled a big night by Matt Bauscher, who led the Broncos with 20 points. BSU could have used this one as it tries to win followers, as MSU is only picked to be mid-level in the Big Sky this season. Coach Greg Graham is able to dangle the future out there, though, following last Thursday’s signing of highly-ranked junior college guard Robert Arnold with the inking of La'Shard Anderson, a 6-0, 160-pound guard from Irvine Valley College.

Idaho Stampede coach Bryan Gates has a live game situation tonight to help him decide who his final two cuts will be Wednesday. The Stampede plays the expansion Utah Flash in an exhibition game tonight at Burley High. It’s being billed as the first professional basketball game ever played in the Magic Valley. Gates will also get an idea of how former Bishop Kelly and Gonzaga star Cory Violette will mesh with Boise State product Roberto Bergersen—and if former BSU standout Jason Ellis has a place on the Stampede roster.

Just when it looked like the Idaho Steelheads had their skates under them, the nose goes back to the grindstone. Utah wasn’t going to roll over again after last Wednesday’s 6-1 humbling at the hands of the Steelheads, and the Grizzlies dealt the Steelies a 6-5 overtime defeat in Qwest Arena Friday, Idaho’s fourth OT setback of the young season, and a 3-1 loss in West Valley City Saturday. Veteran defenseman Darrell Hay had a pretty good weekend, scoring two goals with two assists. One of his tallies Friday night was the one that ultimately sent the contest into overtime, a power play goal six minutes into the third period. The Steelheads, who have won only four of their first 13 games, will try to get back on track Wednesday night at home against the Victoria Salmon Kings.

This Day In Sports…November 19, 1994:

In a winner-take-all game for the Big Sky championship, Boise State and Idaho face off before a record crowd at Bronco Stadium. BSU jumps out to a 13-0 lead behind Tony Hilde and Ryan Ikebe—then hangs on to beat the Vandals 27-24, ending Idaho’s amazing 12-game winning streak in the rivalry. It capped off a 10-1 regular season under Pokey Allen and gave the Broncos their first league title since 1980.

(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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