Tuesday, August 5, 2008.

At the WAC Football Media Preview late last month, Boise State coach Chris Petersen said he wouldn't comment on suspended wide receiver Jeremy Childs until fall camp opened August 4. That he did yesterday, with a piece of news. Childs, who hadn't seen the official field since the loss to Hawaii the day after Thanksgiving, was out there with the Broncos yesterday. But Petersen said Childs won't be on August 30 when BSU opens the season against Idaho State. The record-setting junior will be suspended one more game after missing the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and spring football. "After that, we'll move him full speed ahead," said Petersen. Childs will participate throughout fall camp.

As good as Titus Young, Austin Pettis, Vinny Perretta and Julian Hawkins are, the Broncos can probably muddle through without Childs against the Bengals. But he'll be needed versus Bowling Green two weeks later--and that initiation will be crucial when BSU faces Oregon at Autzen Stadium September 20. Childs broke the Broncos' 15-year-old single-season record for receptions last year with 82. He also logged a 1,000-yard season and caught nine touchdown passes, the most by a Bronco wide receiver in 10 years. Childs was sorely missed in the loss to East Carolina in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Boise State's walk-on program has been central to its success the past nine years. Brock Forsey--need I say more? Among the 18 new walk-ons confirmed by BSU yesterday was quarterback Drew Hawkins, son of Dan and brother of Cody. Drew is taller (6-2) and slimmer (175 pounds) than Cody, who starts at QB at Colorado for dad, the former BSU coach. Drew Hawkins started at Holy Family High in Boulder the last two seasons. There are eight Idahoans on the walk-on list--one you have to root for is defensive lineman Jake Densley out of Centennial High. Densley went through a very emotional senior season after his dad Shon died suddenly in mid-October last year.

Not that anyone would ever read between the lines with Chris Petersen, but in discussing the quarterbacks, he said yesterday he felt the Broncos will end up with "a darn good" one by late this month. In fact, "It might be a darn good couple quarterbacks," said Petersen. Would he actually go with a two-headed approach? Naw, he's never been one to do that.

In the running backs department, it wasn't Ian Johnson's name that topped the conversation, but D.J. Harper's. "We've been extremely excited about D.J.," said Petersen. "He's one of our more explosive players on the field." Petersen noted that Harper fought through injuries last fall (he was hobbled off and on by a bum ankle). Petersen repeated what he said after spring football, almost verbatim: "I don't think we've seen the best of him yet." Harper scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball as a true freshman against Weber State last August. And he had that all-important 153-yard game in the win at Fresno State last season when Johnson was injured.

Idaho opens fall camp today in Moscow with its quarterback situation decided--Nathan Enderle is the starter and Quin Ashley the backup. But that position is almost a sidebar on the Vandal offense this year. Idaho hasn't had this kind of depth at running back in years, as 1,000-yard rusher Deonte Jackson is supported by redshirt freshman Princeton McCarty and Corey White and true freshman phenom Kama Bailey out of Honolulu. Place those guys behind a more experienced Vandal offensive line this year, and the pressure you saw on Enderle's shoulders last season is mercifully lifted.

Josh Vitters, a Cubs first round draft pick in 2007, has certainly turned around his nondescript cameo with the Boise Hawks at the end of last season. Vitters went into last night's game at Yakima with an 11-game hitting streak, and he made it 12 in his first at-bat with a two-run homer, igniting an 8-5 win over the Bears. Vitters, the third baseman from Anaheim who batted just .190 with the Hawks last season, is now sixth in the Northwest League with a .336 average (Boise's Ryan Keedy is the league leader at .372). Last night's win was the Hawks' 30th of the season against 17 losses.

With the Beijing Olympics opening Friday night, Coeur d'Alene High graduate Matt Brown gladly interrupted his season in the Pacific Coast League nine days ago. Brown is a third baseman on the U.S. A. baseball team. In his eighth professional season, Brown was hitting .326 with 21 homers when he departed the Angels' Triple-A club in Salt Lake City. He just missed a chance to play for the Boise Hawks, as he was drafted in the 10th round by the Angels in 2001, the year after the Hawks and Angels ended their 11-season affiliation.

This Day In Sports...August 5, 2001:

Trailing 12-0 in the third inning and 14-2 in the seventh, the Cleveland Indians stage a stupendous rally and beat the Seattle Mariners, 15-14, in 11 innings at Jacobs Field. The Indians joined the 1911 Chicago White Sox and the 1925 Philadelphia Athletics as the only teams in big league history to overcome 12-run deficits. It was an aberration for the M's, as they won an American League record 116 games that season.

(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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