Thursday, October 1, 2009.

A week ago we were talking about a guy who had just launched 62 passes in his previous game, completing 43 of them. Bowling Green's Tyler Sheehan was a slinger extraordinaire up to that point. Well, UC Davis quarterback Greg Denham has aired it out with a vengeance as well this season, averaging 53 pass attempts per game. He threw 67 times against Montana three weeks ago, completing 43 for 362 yards in an upset bid that fell just short, 17-10. The Aggies also have their answer to Bowling Green's Freddie Barnes, as wide receiver Chris Carter already has 33 catches this season to lead the FCS (Division I-AA). Carter had a school-record 18 grabs in the Montana game.

But Boise State demonstrated last week that it's in a zone of its own defending the pass. Sheehan managed only 137 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions on 16-of-29 passing. And Barnes was restricted to four harmless catches for 24 yards. "I thought our secondary was disciplined, read their keys, and didn't bite on anything easy," said coach Chris Petersen. That's the way the whole defense has been paying for over a year now (save for a few Ryan Mathews hiccups a couple weeks back). The going promises to get tough Saturday night on the blue turf for Denham and Carter.

Now, back to that No. 5 thing. The Broncos ended up on the front page of SI.com yesterday as the national media seem to be increasingly consumed by Boise State's sudden surge into the Top 5 of both polls. SI.com's Stewart Mandel wonders if some one-loss teams will start leapfrogging the Broncos, or if an undefeated TCU or Houston might do the same toward the end of the season. Mandel's take: "Boise is a legitimate top 10 team. This particular squad is more complete than the 2006 team that beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, thanks to a big-time quarterback (Kellen Moore), a powerful running game (though the loss of No. 2 tailback D.J. Harper hurts) and, most importantly, a defense that's already shown it can slow down an explosive Pac-10 offense.

"That said, realistically the Broncos would not take down a Florida or Texas in a championship setting, and there will probably be any number of other teams with better résumés. But the pollsters have set a precedent by ranking Boise this high this soon. If they suddenly turn around at the end of the season and blatantly manipulate the rankings to exclude the Broncos, the BCS is going to have yet another credibility issue on its hands."

ESPN.com's Pat Forde covered Boise State's 49-14 win at Bowling Green and Cincinnati's 28-20 triumph over Fresno State on the same day last Saturday, and he writes about the Broncos and Bearcats on a wide range of subjects. It mainly has to do with big things that could await each team in January--and job offers that could await Cincy coach Brian Kelly. Writes Forde: "Those concerns are fewer at Boise State, despite the excellence of coach Chris Petersen. He's watched his two predecessors leave Boise for misery, with Dirk Koetter being fired at Arizona State and Dan Hawkins under pressure in his fourth year at Colorado. So Petersen seems content to churn out winners in Idaho, improving his head coaching record to a silly 39-4."

Forde continues: "The biggest of those 39 was the epic 2007 Fiesta Bowl, of course, but starting this season by dominating Oregon might be the second biggest. Certainly, that victory has only grown in stature with each passing week as the Ducks regroup. Their 42-3 mauling of California on Saturday was as much a victory for Boise's prestige as it was for Oregon's."

Louisiana Tech finally looked like everybody thought it would last night. And Hawaii? The Warriors did not look ready for prime time, getting run over by the Bulldogs on ESPN2, 27-6. Hawaii yielded seven sacks and lost quarterback Greg Alexander to a leg injury. Alexander had been the FBS leader in pass efficiency but went 20-of-34 for 199 yards and two interceptions. The La Tech offense, meanwhile, rediscovered its lost ground game, rushing for 352 yards. It was the first time the Warriors have been held without a touchdown since they lost 69-3 at Bronco Stadium in 2004.

Dan Hinxman in the Reno Gazette-Journal wonders if there's something in Boise's water. After all, Hinxman points out, "Nevada has 10 turnovers and just one takeaway through three games this season. The turnover total is four more than the Wolf Pack's touchdown total. Maryland, which defeated Nevada, 42-35, in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl last December, is 1-3 and has 13 turnovers and 11 touchdowns. The Terps lost to Rutgers, 34-13, at Maryland on Saturday. Our take(away): It should be no surprise, then, that these two teams are a combined 1-6." The big concern at Nevada is not going 0-4 with bitter rival UNLV coming to Reno Saturday.

Former Boise State star Ryan Clady was part of one of the more bizarre scenes in Week 3 of NFL play. During the third quarter of Denver's 23-3 domination of Oakland, Clady and Raiders linebacker Richard Seymour got tangled up away from the play, and Seymour pulled Clady's dreadlocks to the point that he was flagged for it. Those shenanigans overshadow the fact that Clady is one game away from tying the longest streak in NFL history without allowing a sack to start an NFL career--he's currently at 18 games. The Broncos are home Sunday against the Cowboys. By the way, Clady has yielded half a sack (not a full one). He shared it with left guard Ben Hamilton last year. The guy who got through? Seymour, when he played for the Patriots.

The Idaho Steelheads report for training camp tomorrow, with their first official practice set for Sunday at Qwest Arena. There's an interesting dynamic surrounding the Steelies--winning seasons are a habit, but so now are early exits in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Steelheads have been swept in the first round of the playoffs the past two seasons. Fans will have to wade through what should be a good regular season to see what happens in the spring.

Former Boise Hawk Ricky Nolasco has been on the cusp of joining the National League's elite pitchers all season. ERA consistency has been a problem, but last night he showed what could be again with a club record 16 strikeouts in Florida's 5-4 win at Atlanta. At one point Nolasco struck out nine Braves in a row, one short of the big league record set 39 years ago by the Mets' Tom Seaver. Nolasco is 13-9 for the season, but his ERA is still 5.09.

This Day In Sports...October 1, 2005:

One of the wildest games in Boise State history, as the Broncos erase a 20-7 halftime deficit with a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown, a 69-yard return of a blocked field goal for a TD, and a rare defensive two-point conversion on a return of a blocked extra point to stun Hawaii, 44-41. Quinton Jones had the school-record punt return, while Daryn Colledge knocked down both kicks and Orlando Scandrick scored on both runbacks. The victory at Aloha Stadium was BSU's 27th in a row in the WAC.

(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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