All would appear to be well at this point for the Boise State defense. The Broncos lead the WAC in fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed, pass efficiency defense and interceptions. But there's one frustrating number. BSU is tied for 96th in the country in sacks--with only six. Ryan Winterswyk has three of them, but he yearns for more, not to mention a little help from his friends. "We've talked about that--it's a game-changing statistic," says Winterswyk. Tonight at Tulsa, they face a scramblin' playmaker, G.J. Kinne, who's prone to more sacks because of his will to hang on and make things happen. The Texas transfer has been sacked 19 times in five games.

If the Broncos can't get that pressure on Kinne, Damaris Johnson becomes a major concern. Johnson is more than Tulsa's answer to Titus Young--a receiver, a fly sweep-type rusher and kick returner--he's the Golden Hurricane's centerpiece. Johnson has Tulsa's top-three longest plays this year, and they run the gamut. He had a 73-yard kick-off return vs. Rice, a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown against Tulane and a 63-yard TD reception against Sam Houston State. So, with Kyle Wilson back for Boise State tonight, does that mean the senior star shadows Johnson on every snap? Definitely not, said coach Chris Petersen. "That's the quickest way to get dialed up."

Bear with me--I've got more numbers. If Boise State isn't disciplined on defense tonight, Tulsa can pounce. It's what they do. The Golden Hurricane led the nation in total offense the past two years with these eye-popping figures: 544 and 570 yards a game, respectively. The Hurricane has topped the 50-point mark 10 times in Todd Graham's 2½ years as head coach. And how about this one? In 2007, Tulsa became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in a single season. With that said, the Broncos relish nights like this. Does the Opening Night victory over Oregon ring a bell?

Let's move over to the Boise State offense. A lot has been made of Tyler Shoemaker's odd-even oddity. The sophomore from Mountain View High has zero receptions in Games 1, 3 and 5. And he has eight grabs for 168 yards and a touchdown in Games 2 and 4, including his first career 100-yard game at Bowling Green. By that token, Shoemaker is due tonight. Then there's Kyle Efaw, third on the team in receiving behind Austin Pettis and Titus Young. The sophomore from Capital has 11 catches for 126 yards, which is fine. But you get the feeling Efaw is in line for a big-time breakout. He is, by the way, still looking for the first touchdown of his college career.

The Scouts Inc. analysis of the Boise State-Tulsa game at ESPN.com says it could be a big Kellen Moore night. It points out Moore's ability to spread the ball around to Pettis, Efaw ("developed into a strong pass-catcher working the middle"), and Young ("can turn a short throw into a long gain"). "This does not bode well for a Tulsa secondary that has struggled to limit big plays since losing its leader, free safety Charles Davis, to a season-ending knee injury."

One down, four to go in Idaho's quest to notch wins over the WAC teams it had never beaten in four years of conference play. After their initial WAC win over San Jose State, The Vandals set their sights on Hawaii Saturday in the Kibbie Dome, a game that sees them as a once-unthinkable 12-point favorite. Idaho follows that with Nevada on the road and Fresno State at home two weeks after that. Those are two teams that have had their way with the Vandals--but maybe not this year. The other team Idaho hasn't ever defeated in WAC play? You-know-who, of course. Too bad Idaho doesn't play Washington State this year. Do you think Robb Akey would have fun with that?

There's a little separation now in between the upper and lower echelons in the WAC, the former of which includes Idaho. Nevada and Fresno State appear to have their acts together, while Hawaii does not. The jury is still out on Louisiana Tech and San Jose State. New Mexico State may be 3-3 after edging Utah State, but it's a deceiving 3-3. The Aggies beat the other Aggies last Saturday despite being outgained 429 yards to 230. You have not heard the last of USU.

The plot thickens in the Cody Hawkins/Dan Hawkins saga at Colorado. After benching Cody during the loss to Texas and burning the redshirt year of true sophomore Tyler Hansen, Dan indicated that was a permanent move. But at his press conference yesterday, Hawk basically said that anything can happen with Cody. "He's still going to have a role, and I think there is a very good chance you could see both of them (against Kansas Saturday)," Hawkins said. "They will both be ready to go." That has ignited the message boards down in Boulder--in a most negative way. Hawk is off to a 1-4 start in his fourth season with the Buffaloes and is 14-28 overall at CU.

This is the most challenging stretch yet in Chris Carr's NFL career. The former Boise State star, signed by Baltimore in the off-season for his kick-returning ability and supporting role in the secondary, is being questioned on both counts. Carr is having to at least share--if not totally hand over--his kickoff return duties to Ravens rookie Ladarius Webb while retaining punt return chores. And Baltimore coaches are concerned about his ability to match up in man coverage against big receivers (Carr is only 5-10). The Ravens have to figure out the defensive issues quickly, as they face Brett Favre and the Vikings Sunday in the Metrodome.

You'll see below that today's "This Day In Sports" flashback is the wild Boise State-Nevada game of two years ago. A Scott Slant reader named Jeff wanted me to wish his daughter, Anabella, a happy second birthday today. Jeff says she was born a couple hours before kickoff. "I was able to watch the whole thing and enjoyed every minute of it," says Jeff. "The nurses wanted to give my daughter her first bath close to the end of the game but I told them they would have to wait until it was over. Little did I know it would be so long before it really was over. They came back three times to see if it was over yet. That was the best day of my life."

This Day In Sports...October 14, 2007:

The most exciting game in Bronco Stadium history. Nobody who saw it--in person or on ESPN--will argue. Boise State beats Nevada 69-67 in quadruple overtime, then the highest scoring game since Division I-A started keeping official records in 1937. The game was tied at 44 at the end of regulation, and each team continued answering the other into the fourth OT. It was then that Ian Johnson scored a go-ahead touchdown and Taylor Tharp hit Jeremy Avery for the required two-point conversion. The Wolf Pack scored in the bottom half of the period, but Bronco linebacker Tim Brady sacked Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick on the two-point conversion try to end the game.

(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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