Monday, October 19, 2009.

The Associated Press story on the first BCS standings was enlightening yesterday. About halfway through it turned to the subject of Boise State and its school record No. 4 ranking--and stayed there the rest of the way. That the Broncos are long shots for the BCS national championship game is a given at this point. Nobody expects that to happen. So the TCU sidebar comes into focus. The Horned Frogs, like BSU, are 6-0 and are ranked eighth in the BCS standings. Jerry Palm is the quoted expert in the story, and if you've ever heard him on Idaho SportsTalk, you know what he thinks. "If I had to bet I would bet TCU eventually does (pass Boise State)" Palm said. "Because they're going to win a better league."

You can almost see the writing on the wall here, as poll voters are going to be all but shamed into playing down Boise State by influential people like Palm. Rules dictate that the BCS bowls need take only one non-BCS school that finishes in the top 12 of the final BCS standings. But that doesn't preclude a second non-BCS team from being selected as an at-large entry. If Boise State and TCU both win out and end up in, say the top seven, wouldn't this be the year for the BCS bowls to take two? There would be a huge national outcry if the Broncos (or Horned Frogs, for that matter) made it to the national title game. But I'm thinking if an undefeated Boise State team that spent virtually the entire season in the top 10 were to be denied a BCS bowl, the brouhaha would be more intense. And BSU would not need to help it along.

Oregon remains Boise State's good buddy as the Broncos hang out amongst elite company. The Ducks debuted at No. 11 in the BCS standings yesterday, having won five straight after their 19-8 season-opening loss in Bronco Stadium. That helps BSU's computer cause. TCU has played two BCS schools this season and beaten them both, but the Sagarin Ratings have Clemson at No. 41 and Virginia at No. 54.

Jimmy Clausen played a courageous game against USC Saturday, but the Notre Dame junior was a little erratic--and that has allowed Boise State's Kellen Moore to move into the national lead in pass efficiency. Moore had a short yardage night at Tulsa, but he produced three more touchdown passes and no interceptions. His rating is now 171.18, almost five points better than Clausen's 166.35. Moore has 16 TD passes against only two picks in the first six games. He's thrown a touchdown every 10 attempts this season, and that's what has put him over the top.

A good sign as the Boise State offense starts to diversify at the season's midpoint: a breakout and some re-breakouts. Tight end Tommy Gallarda, solid blocker all the way along, came into last Wednesday's win at Tulsa with two catches on the season. He had three against the Golden Hurricane--two for touchdowns. The Broncos' other tight end, Kyle Efaw, re-established his impact with three catches for 38 yards, including a 23-yarder on BSU's second touchdown drive. Efaw still awaits his first collegiate touchdown, but he did score his first points as a Bronco on a two-point conversion. And Tyler Shoemaker continued his odd-even pattern, making four catches. All of Shoemaker's receptions this season have come in even-numbered games.

The spotlight's flashing all over the Gem State right now, as Idaho has improved to an amazing 6-1 and is now bowl-eligible with its 35-23 win over Hawaii Saturday. It was the U of I's first WAC win over the Warriors, and it was won with the same grit the Vandals have shown since the bell rung Labor Day weekend. Epitomizing the landmark turnaround is a sequence from the fourth quarter Saturday, when Idaho had a first down at the UH 41. After two holding penalties and a false start, it was second-and-32 back at the Vandal 37. Then on third-and-25, Nathan Enderle hit Max Komar for a 36-yard gain to the Warrior 20 and a first down. Four plays later, DeMaundray Woolridge scored his fourth touchdown of the day, and it was over.

Idaho is now 3-0 in the WAC and sits on top of the standings. The only other teams still to lose in conference play are Boise State and Nevada--the Vandals go to Reno this Saturday. Are there chinks in the Wolf Pack's armor? Nevada had to rally past Utah State in Logan Saturday, 35-32. The other two league games saw Ryan Mathews and Fresno State run roughshod over San Jose State, 41-21, and Louisiana Tech hand New Mexico State a dose of WAC roads reality, 45-7.

The Idaho Steelheads have another one-two punch in goal after a three-game sweep of Stockton to open the 2009-10 season. Rejean Beauchemin, now the grizzled veteran, got the wins in 3-1 and 3-2 decisions Friday and Saturday. And the rookie, Richard Bachman, got the "w" in last night's 3-2 victory. The Steelheads roster is rife with new faces, and you saw these names become instantly familiar to fans: Evan Barlow and Mark Derlago with two-goal weekends, and John Swanson, who took first-star honors last night with the game-winning goal plus an assist. Swanson, a rookie left wing, had served notice with a pair of goals in the Steelies' exhibition games last weekend. The Steelheads now have only one home game in the next 3½ weeks or so--they'll be at Utah this Friday and Saturday.

Coby Karl is being mentioned in the same breath with LeBron James, if only because the Cleveland teammates both tested positive at the end of last week for Influenza A, and were being treated as if they had the H1N1 virus. They did travel with the Cavaliers for exhibition games in Texas over the weekend, though. Karl played 24 minutes at San Antonio Friday night and 24 minutes at Dallas, but he went 1-for-7 from the field each night.

Troy Merritt could have catapulted himself right back into "The 25," the Nationwide Tour's money list leaders that earn PGA Tour cards next year, if only he could have finished the Miccosukee Championship the way he started it. Merritt blistered the Miami course with a six-under-65 Friday and was one shot off the lead. The former Boise State star stayed within striking distance with a 70 on Friday, but sank to a 76-75 weekend to end up tied for 42nd. Merritt made only $2500 and dropped from 33rd to 36th on the Nationwide money list.

This Day In Sports...October 19, 2001:

Boise State picks up its first-ever win over a Top 25 team, upsetting no. 8 Fresno State on the road, 35-30. A standing room only crowd of 42,881 and a national audience on ESPN watched the Broncos fall behind David Carr and the Bulldogs 28-14 early in the third quarter. But sophomore quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie brought BSU back, throwing for 297 yards and four touchdowns, the last one a 54-yarder to Jay Swillie with seven minutes left.

(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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