Tuesday, October 14, 2008.

I heard Chris Petersen refer to this three times in 18 hours Sunday night and Monday--in the KTVB studios, in his press conference, and at the Bronco Athletic Association luncheon. He was talking about Boise State's 39-27 loss at Aloha Stadium last Thanksgiving weekend. "There was more energy and passion in that stadium in Hawaii than I've seen in a long time, and we'd like to repay the favor." That was the night the five-year streak of Bronco WAC championships came to an end, and a sellout crowd of 50,000 celebrated long and hard on the field when it was done. Petersen says he understands it's a key night for high school football, but there are enough fans to go around to fill Bronco Stadium again. It's already sold out; it's the noise that'll count.

"Take back the WAC" has been a Boise State mantra since the moment those waves of ti leaf-waving Hawaii fans stormed the field and lifted Colt Brennan on their shoulders. And Petersen isn't shy about calling the Warriors what they are. "They're the WAC champs--no question about it," said Petersen yesterday. "You've always got to beat the champs to do what you want to do." It didn't take long for the Broncos to start thinking about that. Remember that their practices for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl last December often took place on a field adjacent to the Warriors while they were drilling for the Sugar Bowl. UH practices ended with a loud chant: "WAC Champs!"

Boise State goes into Friday night's ESPN game with the WAC Special Teams Player of the Week. The honor goes to kicker Kyle Brotzman, and it could be considered a "season-long achievement award." Brotzman had a better game at Oregon than he did in the win at Southern Miss Saturday night. But the sophomore out of Meridian High gets credit for his 32-yard field goal, three extra points, and 39.7-yard punting average...never mind the 12-yard rugby punt in the first quarter. Petersen equates Brotzman's shank with golf--even Tiger Woods hits in the water once in a great while when trying to be creative. Note that on one rugby kick in Hattiesburg, Brotzman rolled to his left for the first time in a game situation, and that one worked. By the way, Brotzman is now 87-for-87 on points-after in his 18-game career.

The reviews continue to be strong for the Boise State defense after holding Southern Miss to 278 yards on the road, especially at the defensive tackle. BSU was missing two starters, Joe Bozikovich and Sean Bingham, but Billy Winn and Steven Reveles again filled the bill, as did backups J.P. Nisby and Chase Baker. The Broncos will have to go without Bozikovich again for another week "or so" according to Petersen, while Bingham appears to be "a go" against Hawaii.

Idaho is circling the wagons in the secondary now that it's confirmed Shiloh Keo is out for the season. Coach Robb Akey said yesterday the junior from Everett, WA, will undergo shoulder surgery. Keo has been an assistant coach of sorts since his injury at Utah State, donning headsets and jumping up and down almost as much as Akey does. Keo might not be missed as much this week as next. This Saturday, Idaho goes to Louisiana Tech, where quarterback Taylor Bennett is saddled with a subterranean pass efficiency rating of 82.4--he's being replaced this week by sophomore Ross Jenkins, who is 4-for-12 for 15 yards and an interception on the season. Next week, however, the Vandals host New Mexico State's Chase Holbrook, who riddled Nevada in Reno.

Former Boise State star Gerald Alexander met up with Adrian Peterson again Sunday, and the result is an end to Alexander's season. The second-year safety put a big hit on Peterson in the Lions' 12-10 loss to the Vikings but suffered a neck injury, and yesterday Detroit placed him on injured reserve. "It just feels like a stinger, but the X-ray says something different. So we're just taking precautions," Alexander told the Detroit Free Press as he stayed behind in Minneapolis. He started the Lions' opener last month but had been coming off the bench since with nagging injuries--he had just seven tackles on the season. Alexander made a couple big plays on Peterson, including a tackle-for-loss in BSU's 2007 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.

Consider Josh Vitters' jittery 2007 season officially erased. The mainstay of the Boise Hawks' 2008 club has been named the top prospect out of the Northwest League by Baseball America. Vitters, a Cubs first round draft pick out of high school in '07, hit just .190 in a seven-game cameo with the Hawks last year. This season he was the only unanimous pick for the NWL All-Star team after batting .328 with five homers and 37 RBIs. Vitters led the league in doubles and tied a Northwest League record with a 26-game hitting streak. And he's only 19 years old.

The quest for many Idaho Steelheads is to get to the NHL, and now they have a teammate who can tell them how to make it happen. The Steelheads have signed forward Steve Gainey, a third-round draft pick of Dallas in 1997. Gainey has had several cups of coffee at the top, playing 33 games sprinkled over five different seasons with Stars and the Phoenix Coyotes. "The success of the organization and the probability of a strong team this season is the main draw for me here with the Steelheads," said Gainey upon his arrival. He says he goes back with new teammates Darrell Hay, Marty Flichel, Derek Paget, and Garett Bembridge. Gainey is expected to be in uniform for Opening Night Saturday versus the Utah Grizzlies in Qwest Arena.

Boise State men's basketball holds its first official practice of 2008-09 Friday night, hoping to take advantage of 32,000 available fans next door. The Broncos will scrimmage immediately following the BSU-Hawaii football game as they start the re-tooling process following massive losses off last season's WAC championship team. Meanwhile, the Broncos have their second verbal commitment for the following season, according to Scout.com. He's Sam Hicks, a 6-8 power forward from Redding, CA. A Scout.com review of Hicks after California's "Three Stripes and Cream of the Crop" tournament this summer said, "He's got a solid body, nice frame and a great approach to the game. He plays hard all the time, he's physical, rebounds in traffic and challenges every shot."

This Day In Sports...October 14, 2003, five years ago today:

It wasn't a record-setting inning per se, but it was historic in baseball lore. The Chicago Cubs, cruising toward their first World Series in 58 years, were five outs away in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against Florida. Minutes later, Wrigley Field fan Steve Bartman had knocked a foul ball away from being out number two, a big error had been added at shortstop, and the Marlins had scored eight runs to stun the Cubs. They couldn't recover in Game 7, and their legions of followers may never get over it.

(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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