Friday, October 9, 2009.

Forgive the Boise State and Tulsa coaching staffs if they're found rifling through notes they took in the summer of 2008. Bronco coaches have long spent time during the summer visiting other college and pro organizations to feed their never-ending thirst for knowledge. Last year, Chris Petersen and some assistants went to Tulsa to exchange ideas with coach Todd Graham and his group. That was before they knew they'd be playing each other this season. "We exchanged some ideas offensively," Graham told the Tulsa World. "We have of lot of respect for what (Boise State's) program has done. We got to spend a little bit of time with them and talked some football. They have similar philosophies, and that was the attraction."

One of the attractions for the Boise State staff was then-offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the yard-chewing guru who had gone to Tulsa after a falling-out with Houston Nutt at Arkansas. Malzahn was coming off a season during which the Golden Hurricane led the nation in total offense. Keep in mind that was 2007, Hawaii's Sugar Bowl season with Colt Brennan. Tulsa led the nation in offense again last year--then Malzahn went to Auburn, where he has the undefeated Tigers on the rise. Bronco coaches picked the brains of the Hurricane staff and vice versa. Now they're trying to remember what the other guys might know.

Boise State faced Tulsa four times during the years when the two programs overlapped in the WAC, with the Broncos winning each time. But the last two were donnybrooks. In 2004, BSU's first undefeated regular season, the Broncos had to rally past the Hurricane 45-42, winning it on a 46-yard Tyler Jones field goal with three seconds left. The year before, instead of running out the clock with a 20-13 lead, Boise State went down and scored a touchdown with 49 seconds left. All that did was give Tulsa the ball back for an 80-yard TD pass on the next play from scrimmage and allow for a shot at an onside kick. The Broncos did recover the kick and got the win, 27-20. It was the following Monday that Dan Hawkins, questioned at the BAA luncheon about that strategy, came up with his famous "Gandhi didn't take a knee" quote.

All is well at this point with the Boise State defense, statistically speaking. The Broncos have sizeable leads in the WAC in total defense, allowing less than 274 yards a game, and scoring defense, yielding 14½ points per. Individually, you'd have to say it's a balanced effort. BSU doesn't have a single player in the top 10 in tackling in the WAC. Nor the top 20, nor the top 30, nor the top 40. Boise State's leading tackler, Jeron Johnson, is tied for 49th in the conference with his 23 stops.

This is the essence of Richie Brockel. The Boise State senior captain is one of 10 finalists for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. "CLASS" stands for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," as the honor focuses on the total student-athlete. Brockel graduated from BSU in August of last year and is set to earn his master's degree in accounting in December. Other familiar names among the finalists are Florida's Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy of Texas, TCU's Jerry Hughes, and Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan.

I'm trying to figure out this point spread. San Jose State over Idaho by 3½ points? Even in Spartan Stadium, how can that be? SJSU is 1-3 and cannot score--and the Vandals have proven they can put up points quickly when they need them. San Jose State coach Dick Tomey still is unsure at quarterback, although Jordan LaSecla will get the start tomorrow. The Spartans are managing just 256.8 yards a game on offense. That's not good, even considering their losses have been against USC, Utah and Stanford. Idaho's the team with the momentum, coming in at 4-1 and seemingly on a crash course with its second bowl game in school history.

The WAC gets another head start this week when Nevada hosts Louisiana Tech tonight on ESPN. I won't even start on the attendance issue, other than to say, if the Wolf Pack couldn't fill Mackay Stadium for Missouri... But on the field, we'll find out a lot about the progress the Pack has made after racking up a stunning 773 yards on UNLV last Saturday. And we'll find out what Louisiana Tech's pounding of Hawaii last week really means. The other key matchup has Hawaii trying to upend Fresno State with one hand tied behind its back, as walk-on sophomore quarterback Bryant Moniz replaces the injured Greg Alexander.

Oregon fans have been waiting to see how Nate Costa would do at quarterback, as they've been alternately thrilled and not-so-thrilled with Jeremiah Masoli. Now Costa will get his shot tomorrow as the Ducks face a big road test at UCLA (although coach Chip Kelly hasn't officially ruled out Masoli and his injured right knee). Against Washington State two weeks ago, Costa took his first snap for Oregon since November, 2006. He's had his knee surgically repaired three times. Boise State fans hope the knee holds up--be it Costa's or Masoli's--so the Broncos' win over Oregon on Opening Night retains its glow.

Idaho State finally gets to play a team in a similar boat Saturday. The Bengals go to Sacramento State, another perennial also-ran in the Big Sky. But--oh no, look at this. The Hornets are going to be revenge-minded. ISU's only victory of the 2008 season was over Sac State in the season finale at Holt Arena, 36-33 in overtime. And the Hornets are coming off a road win at Portland State last week. Bengal quarterback Kyle Blum is questionable after a concussion suffered last Saturday in the loss to Eastern Washington. That could thrust former Timberline High standout Russel Hill back into the starting lineup for ISU.

The Idaho Steelheads play the Utah Grizllies 14 times in the upcoming season. What's a couple more times in exhibition games? The Steelies and Griz face off tonight in Logan and tomorrow night at the Manchester Ice & Event Centre in McCall. Then things get serious, as the regular season opens a week from tonight in Qwest Arena when the Stee;heads host the Stockton Thunder. By the way, I thought that "Darrell May instead of Darrell Hay" angle was cool. But it's done now. May was released yesterday.

The Shields Era is not over for Boise State men's tennis. The Shields brothers, Luke and Clancy, have both completed their much-decorated Bronco careers. Now, coach Greg Patton has lost two assistant coaches. So Luke, a three-time WAC Player of the Year, and Clancy, WAC Player of the Year in 2009, are set to become the General's assistants. Also joining the staff in January will be former Bronco captain Beck Roghaar, currently an assistant at UNLV.

This Day In Sports...October 9, 1989, 20 years ago today:

The San Francisco Giants win their first pennant in 27 years, ending Chicago's latest World Series dream by beating the Cubs in the National League Championship Series. Will Clark hit .650 in the NLCS to win MVP honors, leading the Giants into a Bay Bridge Series against the Oakland A's.

(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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