No. 9 Boise State puts perfect mark on line versus Nevada
The ninth-ranked Boise State Broncos try to keep their perfect season intact as they face off against the high-scoring Nevada Wolf Pack in a Western Athletic Conference battle in Reno this weekend.
Boise State is one of five teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision that is still undefeated at 10-0 and as a result is ranked ninth in the BCS standings this week. Except for a five-point win over 17th-ranked Oregon early in the campaign, the Broncos have won every outing by at least 13 points. Last weekend, the team dismantled in-state rival Idaho in a 45-10 decision at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. With the victory, BSU clinched at least a share of the WAC regular-season title and is all alone atop the conference standings at 6-0 with this game and a meeting with Fresno State still remaining on the regular- season docket.
As for the Wolf Pack, they're currently tied with Louisiana Tech in second place in the WAC with a 4-2 record, but are just 6-4 overall. Nevada, which lost to nationally-ranked Big 12 teams in Texas Tech and Missouri in back-to- back games early in the season, has now won two in a row thanks to a 41-17 triumph over San Jose State last Saturday. Like the Broncos, the Pack has one more game left on the schedule, a meeting with Louisiana Tech on November 29th in Ruston.
Against Nevada, Boise State has won 22 games and lost 12 over the years, the most recent of those meetings resulting in a 69-67 quadruple-overtime affair a season ago on national television. The victory was the eighth straight in the series for the Broncos.
Jeremy Avery took the ball and ran with it for the Broncos last week, registering 156 yards on just 11 carries to establish a new school record for yards-per-carry average in a single game at 14.2, a record that had stood at BSU since 1974. But more than just Avery, the team as a whole came alive versus Idaho, recording more than 300 yards rushing for the first time this season and generating in excess of 500 yards of total offense for the second straight game. Ian Johnson, once the power back that carried this group, now has 54 rushing touchdowns for his career, tying him with TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson for second on the WAC's all-time list for rushing scores. Johnson is not that far off from the all-time record of 57 set by Marshall Faulk at San Diego State 15 years ago. But these days Johnson is no longer the featured back because there are so many quality runners that head coach Chris Petersen can turn to. Quarterback Kellen Moore has been a pleasant surprise for this offense, as he finished the Idaho game 23-of-31 for 210 yards. Moore has guided the team to second in the conference and 16th in the nation in scoring with 37.1 ppg despite his youth.
In order for the defense to avoid being overlooked, Ellis Powers put a face on the unit against Idaho last week by picking up a fumble and returning it 45 yards for a score in the third quarter. Powers and his unit allowed the Vandals to pass for 225 yards, but take away the one 81-yard scoring in the opening moments when the squad lost focus for the briefest of moments and really Idaho did very little damage. In fact, Boise State picked off two passes, sacked Nathan Enderle four times and limited the Vandals to just 104 yards rushing overall. With such a powerful offense for the last few seasons in the WAC, the Broncos have had their national identity forged with how many points they score, but this time around the group on the other side of the ball is getting ample attention. The scoring defense is ranked first in the conference and second in the entire nation with a mere 10.3 ppg allowed. Only twice has the program allowed more than two touchdowns, while in six other games opponents have been limited to seven points or less. The pass defense, led by Kyle Wilson with a league-high five interceptions, has 18 INTs overall and just seven TDs allowed.
"We played well,"
is how Colin Kaepernick described his team's efforts against San Jose State last week. "I should have had three touchdown passes that didn't happen."
Kaepernick was being rather hard on himself considering what he and his Wolf Pack teammates had just accomplished in the victory. On a personal level the signal-caller logged his fourth 100-yard rushing game this season and the sixth of his career, while also helping the team to break a school-record for rushing in a single season with still two games to play. "It feels good having this record after only ten games, we just want to add to it to make a record that lasts," said center Dominic Green after the game. Kaepernick posted a pair of rushing TDs, giving him 16 for the season, which is three off the school record set back in 1997, which may be why the quarterback was again named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week. Kaepernick is first in the conference in total offense with his 285.8 ypg, while the team as a whole is first in the nation in rushing with an astounding 325 ypg being produced by the pistol offense."
While the offense was rolling up yards every which way for the Wolf Pack, the defense was trying to set down San Jose State and make it that much easier to cruise to the win that made the school bowl eligible. Forget about the 301 yards and two touchdowns logged by the passing attack of the Spartans and just focus on the fact that the visitors couldn't buy a yard in the running game with minus-23 yards on 16 attempts. A lot of that had to do with the efforts of Kevin Basped who not only had a sack and 2.5 TFLs in the contest, he also forced a pair of fumbles for the home team. Basped is currently tied with Dontay Moch for the team lead with 14.0 TFLs and is second behind Moch (8.5) in sacks with seven after 10 games. The squad is second in the conference and ninth in the nation in both sacks (2.90) and TFLs (8.0) per game this week. Whether its because the offense has generated so many points per game or because the defense gets to practice against the best rushing offense in the nation, the run defense for the Wolf Pack is second-best in the entire country this week, allowing an average of only 63.9 ypg.
