BSU eyes first road victory at a BCS school
When the Boise State Broncos banished memories of the past to the far corners of their memory banks last winter, they didn't just forget about the successes.
Apparently, they wiped clean the program's failures, too.
The 22nd-ranked football team will chase yet another landmark win Saturday at Washington. Boise State is 0-12 on the road against Bowl Championship Series-conference opponents.
It's the final major gap in a suddenly impressive resume, which includes two wins over Pac-10 teams, two wins over Top 10 teams, five consecutive WAC championships and the famed upset of No. 7 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1. All of that has happened this decade.
The Broncos who were asked this week about the drought either didn't know the stat, or didn't seem to care.
"I don't know about getting the monkey off our back," senior quarterback Taylor Tharp said, "but I know going on the road into Seattle is going to be a huge test for us. … It's another test for us to go out and prove what we can do."
Tharp's last comment hits on an early theme for this year's Broncos. They want to show what this particular group can do — that the 22 seniors on the Fiesta Bowl team can be replaced.
"If we get it done this weekend," freshman safety Jason Robinson said, "we'll open a lot more eyes up."
The Broncos’ 12 BCS road losses include five games decided by a touchdown or less — games they could have won by making a critical play in the fourth quarter.
Getting their first BCS road win Saturday will require poise under pressure and in the face of a hostile crowd, a trait many Broncos regulars must find within themselves for the first time. At least 11 freshmen, five of them true freshmen, are expected to contribute.
“There are a lot of obstacles to overcome,” coach Chris Petersen said. “We’re anxious to see how our guys perform.”
Bettors, at least, think BSU will do just fine. The Broncos are a 3-point favorite — the first time they have been favored on the road against a BCS team.
That’s another stat that doesn’t interest the Broncos.
“It has nothing to do with how good we are, how good they are,” tailback Ian Johnson said. “It’s all perceived. So in the end, it’s nice that someone thinks we’re better than them, but we’ll go out there and we’ll show them what the truth is.” •••
Boise State sold 6,000 tickets to Saturday’s game through its own ticket office.
However, speculation and anecdotal evidence place the number of BSU fans expected in Seattle as high as 10,000 — a gathering that easily would top what the Broncos took to Utah and Nevada last year.
The game is not sold out. The Huskies withheld several thousand tickets for possible season-ticket sales and students, and those tickets are now available. They cost $60 (reserved) or $30 (east-end bleachers). They’re available at gohuskies.com or (206) 543-2200.
The Broncos say the fans could ease the difficulty of playing in a hostile environment — particularly if Boise State starts fast like it did at Utah last year.
Ian Johnson remembers hearing the “Boise … State!” chant in Salt Lake City. BSU won 36-3.
“In the Utah game, you felt the Boise State fans take over,” Ian Johnson said. “Hearing that away at someone else’s house is just amazing.”
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BSU will earn $550,000 for Saturday’s game. It is the only one-time “money game” on the schedule right now. The rest of the games scheduled for the next several years are multi-year, home-and-home deals.
BSU has played a Pac-10 team in 11 of its 12 years in Division I-A, and Oregon (2008-09) and Oregon State (2010, 2012) are on future schedules.
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Here’s a little-known connection between Boise State and Washington, provided by longtime “Voice of the Broncos” Paul J. Schneider.
Washington defensive end Darrion Jones is the son of former BSU men’s basketball standout Danny Jones. Darrion, a sophomore, did not play in the opener because of an injury.
Danny Jones scored 1,090 points for the Broncos from 1974 to 1978. He ranks 12th in school history in scoring.
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You might see conflicting information about the eligibility of Washington players. The Huskies list players based on their standing in school — a redshirt freshman, for example, is listed as a sophomore.
Many media outlets, including the Statesman, have converted the Huskies’ eligibility to match the accepted standard. We list quarterback Jake Locker as a freshman, while Washington lists him as a sophomore.
Read more at www.idahostatesman.com
