Monday, October 12, 2009.

Offensive guru Gus Malzahn, as discussed here last Friday, took Tulsa to unprecedented offensive heights the past two seasons. Malzahn is now at Auburn helping turn around the Tigers. But he left behind plenty for the Boise State defensive staff to chew on in preparation for Wednesday night's game on ESPN. The Golden Hurricane attack operates at breakneck pace, using its no-huddle scheme to create space and mismatches for its myriad playmakers. But it's not the lights-out challenge that it may have been a year ago. After leading the nation in total offense the past two seasons, the Hurricane is 35th in the country right now at 414 yards per game

The key to the deal, as it always is with this type of an offense, is the trigger man. Last year it was senior David Johnson--second in the nation in pass efficiency after over 4,000 yards passing and 46 touchdowns--with Mountain View High grad Jacob Bower as a backup. This season there was hope the quarterback would be Bower, if only to better set up a showdown with the team he watched growing up. But Tulsa settled on sophomore G.J. Kinne, a dual-threat transfer from Texas who leads Conference USA in pass efficiency and has also rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Boise State coach Chris Petersen calls Kinne strong and tough with good speed, a guy who is "not shy" about making it happen when things break down. Bower, meanwhile, is 6-for-13 for 83 yards with one TD this season.

The Boise State defense is trying to maintain a modicum of consistency as it heads into Game 6. The only true off-night it's had was against Fresno State. The Broncos may not have looked like world-beaters against UC Davis, but they still held the Aggies to 234 yards. They just didn't turn in any of their trademark big plays. BSU will need playmaking against Tulsa. One streak in definite danger of going down: the Broncos haven't allowed a point in the first quarter in its past six games dating back to the Poinsettia Bowl last December. Conversely, controlling the tempo out of the locker room will be of utmost importance--42 of the 72 points BSU has allowed this season have come in the third quarter.

Boise State, with only a handful of scholarships available this recruiting season, has its fifth commitment for next February's class. Wide receiver Troy Ware of Vista, CA, home of the Altieri brothers, has given the Broncos his verbal. Ware took his official visit the weekend of the UC Davis game and was bowled over by the atmosphere. Of course, that was pretty tame by Bronco Stadium standards. With five commitments, the BSU staff is really in roster management mode. It's in this situation, of course, because the Broncos are the youngest team in the country. They have four seniors--the school with the next-fewest number of seniors has nine.

The polls tell us plenty about what's going on in the minds of college football coaches around the country. Boise State passed LSU and moved back to No. 5 in the AP rankings but got jumped by USC in the Coaches poll and remained at No. 6. It would be one thing to go through a bye week and get leapfrogged by a team that had posted a resounding victory. But the Trojans didn't play Saturday, either. The other interesting Coaches Poll change has TCU going from ninth to eighth, now two spots behind the Broncos, while the Horned Frogs dropped two spots in AP--from 10th to 12th. I guess the coaches gave them bonus points for a road win in freezing drizzle despite beating Air Force by only three points. Big news for Idaho in the AP Poll, as the Vandals got a vote this week.

Bowl teams create their own game-changing events, and Idaho has the look of a bowl team after the way it defeated San Jose State. The pile-moving touchdown run by DeMaundray Woolridge with 1:10 left that gave the Vandals their 29-25 win Saturday night was the enduring play. But the most amazing sequence of the game came at the end of the first half. JoJo Dickson intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards to the Spartan 35-yard-line with one second left. That left Idaho kicker Trey Farquhar just close enough--and with just enough time--to drill a career-best 52-yard field goal to pull the Vandals within two points. After that, Idaho always believed in the second half, even when San Jose State grabbed the lead back. Idaho is now 5-1, and alone atop the WAC with a 2-0 mark.

The dress rehearsals are over for the Idaho Steelheads, and they appear to be ready for the curtain to rise on the 2009-10 season this Friday against the Stockton Thunder. The Steelheads beat Utah in a pair of exhibitions over the weekend, finishing with a flurry each night. Steelies coach Derek Laxdal was pleased with his goaltending, and with his team's potential on the offensive end. "This group of forwards is the deepest I've seen in the five years I've been here," Laxdal said last night on Sunday Sports Extra.

One entirely overlooked local tie in the majors was center stage last night for the Colorado Rockies. Jason Hammel, who pitched at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario from 2001-02, got the Game 3 start for the Rockies against Philadelphia in the National League Divisional Series. The 30-degree night at Coors Field didn't bother Hammel--he once pitched in a quadruple-header in the snow during his TVCC years. The Phillies did, though, getting to him for three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Carlos Gonzalez rescued Hammel from pitcher-of-record status with a long solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Phils went on to win the game, 6-5.

Hammel, a 27-year-old righthander, went 10-8 with a 4.33 ERA during the regular season and won his last two decisions in helping the Rockies capture the National League Wild Card. It was the best of Hammel's four big league seasons--he spent his first three with Tampa Bay before being traded to Colorado in April.

Former Boise State star Troy Merritt made some money over the weekend at the Nationwide Tour's Chattanooga Classic--but not enough. Merritt finished tied for 59th at five-under-par, hampered by a double bogey on the back nine both Saturday and Sunday. In his quest to make "The 25," the top Nationwide money finishers who earn PGA Tour cards next year, Merritt has fallen from 32nd to 33rd with over $144,000 in winnings this season. Nampa's Tyler Aldridge missed the cut in Chattanooga.

The city of Boise and Boise State are much closer to a reincarnation of Public School Field now. "Dona Larsen Park" may become reality by 2011 on the old East Junior High site, thanks to a $2.5 million donation by the David and Debra Larsen Huber Family Foundation. The gift will facilitate the transfer of the BSU track program to Dona Larsen Park, which will also be able to house high school home football games for Boise, Borah, Capital and Timberline. It's a re-creation, if you will, of the old Public School Field, which hosted Boise Junior College and prep events on the same site.

This Day In Sports...October 12, 1979, 30 years ago today:

Magic Johnson makes his NBA debut for the Lakers, scoring 26 points in a 103-102 win over the L.A. Clippers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the game on a last-second shot, and Johnson leaped into Kareem's arms, overcome by his infectious enthusiasm. Magic's legend would be sealed at the end of the season when he moved from guard to center in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, replacing Abdul-Jabbar and scoring 42 points to give the Lakers the title over the Boston Celtics.

(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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