Tuesday, October 13, 2009.

Call them excuses if you like, but there are some things to consider when delving into Boise State's less-than-stellar effort against UC Davis--and the prospects for a better one tomorrow night at Tulsa. One is injury, another is leadership, and yet another is scenario. And they're all intertwined. There was one senior on the field as a regular against UC Davis: Richie Brockel. The Broncos missed the talent and leadership of the injured Kyle Wilson in the secondary, as they yielded more than 200 yards passing for the first time this year. And the scenario? The No. 5 thing and the absence of an FBS opponent were distractions. They shouldn't have been, but they were. BSU is allowed a mulligan for that. I'm thinking the Broncos get their competitive edge back against the Golden Hurricane in a very intense atmosphere.

"The main lesson we have to focus in on is not worrying about how it's supposed to be," said coach Chris Petersen. Seems like a few guys were versus UC Davis. "All it takes is one guy to be not just right," Petersen said. Boise State can focus on the "what is" tomorrow night--another sold-out venue loaded for bear, and on display to the nation on ESPN. As hot as Tulsa's been the past few years, sellouts at Chapman Stadium are rare. The Golden Hurricane is looking at this as its calling card. (Have we heard that before? East Carolina, anyone? TCU?) The 2009 version of the Broncos seems to be responding to situations like this, though.

No word yet on where Tulsa coach Todd Graham will be tomorrow night, but if ESPN's cameras have troubling finding him on the sidelines, they'll just zoom in on the press box. Graham decided to coach from up high last month and liked it during the Golden Hurricane's win at New Mexico. "From a strategical standpoint, there's probably a lot of advantages to being up there," Graham said in a report by The Associated Press. "You sit there. It's a quiet room, you've got a headset on, you're watching, you can see the scoreboard, you can see everything that's happening on the field. You can manage the clock and do all those things."

Graham said he was on the sideline for the opener at Tulane in case new starting quarterback G.J. Kinne needed hands-on instruction. Another reason for Graham's move upstairs--he has a degenerative disk condition that causes him chronic pain in his neck and back, and he eventually will need surgery. But he said he said at the time he was prepared to spend the season on the sideline. That all changed when Tulsa fell behind Oklahoma 31-0 at the half. Graham returned to the sideline to communicate with his players--and the officials.

The musical chairs continue in SI.com's bowl projections from Stewart Mandel. After going from Oklahoma to Oklahoma State, back to Oklahoma, and then to Kansas, whom does Mandel think will be the Big 12 representative in Glendale? He writes: "Toward the end of the Nebraska-Missouri game I regrettably tweeted that Kansas remained my pick to win the Big 12 North. In the words of Gob Bluth: 'I've made a huge mistake.' The Huskers have a far more favorable remaining schedule--and a much, much better defense. Even if they lost in the Big 12 title game, their famous traveling horde would be widely welcomed by any bowl committee." Oh, he still has the opponent as Boise State.

Idaho has certainly moved into uncharted territory with its 5-1 start this season--as in, national publicity. Stewart Mandel chimes in this week at SI.com. "What's interesting about Idaho is that, prior to this decade, the Idaho-Boise State rivalry had been fairly even, and in fact the Vandals won three straight lopsided games from 1996-98 when the two schools first moved up to I-A," writes Mandel. Whoa Nellie (or is that Mandellie?). The Vandals did rout the Broncos 64-19 in 1996, but they actually lost to BSU in overtime in 1997 before winning by one point in OT in 1998, the last time the Broncos experienced a conference loss on the blue turf.

Okay, back to our story. Mandel says, "Obviously, the two programs have gone in opposite directions since then. But is it really all that crazy to think a school that once churned out such coaches as (Dennis) Erickson and John L. Smith has found itself another unsung gem in (Robb) Akey? We may soon find out." This Saturday's game could only reinforce that contention, as the Vandals are favored by 12 points over Hawaii in the Kibbie Dome. By the way, Nathan Enderle will get the start at quarterback this week despite being replaced by Brian Reader for Idaho's winning drive at San Jose State.

The final days before Opening Night are always a tumultuous time on an ECHL roster. While Idaho Steelheads coach Derek Laxdal decides exactly who to place on the list he submits to the league tomorrow, he gets some pleasant surprises. One is forward Michael Neal, assigned by the NHL's Dallas Stars. The 20-year-old winger began the season in the AHL with the Texas Stars and played in three games. He's the younger brother of Dallas forward James Neal. The Steelies take the ice for real Friday night against the Stockton Thunder in Qwest Arena.

Former Idaho Stampede star Mike Taylor made history a year and a half ago, becoming the first D-League player ever drafted into the NBA. From there, he posted a solid rookie season for the team that selected him, the Clippers, getting 15 minutes a game and averaging over 5½ points and two assists. But now he's trying to stick with Memphis, and it might be a long shot. Taylor played less than nine minutes in the Grizzlies' loss to Dallas Sunday night, scoring two points with three assists. Then he logged less than six minutes last night, scoring two more points in a defeat at the hands of Orlando. The one-time Iowa State standout helped the Stampede to the 2008 D-League championship, contributing 14½ points and 3½ assists per game.

Casey Kotchman didn't have much of a chance to mingle with his old teammates in the American League Divisional Series. Kotchman had to watch mostly from the bench as the Angels swept his current team, the Red Sox. The son of former Boise Hawks manager Tom Kotchman, with whom he spent a lot of time in the summer in Boise during the 1990's, got into all three games late but had just one at-bat, going hitless. Casey didn't exactly tear it up for Boston after his midsummer trade from the Braves, batting .218 with one hone run in 39 games. With the Red Sox likely to overhaul their roster this winter, we'll see where Kotchman lands next spring.

This Day In Sports...October 13, 1960:

One of the all-time great World Series moments--Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a home run in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 to beat the New York Yankees, 10-9, for the world championship. The image of Mazeroski jumping up and down as he rounded third and then leaping into a sea of Pirates at Forbes Field has lasted through the ages.

(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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