Boise State scrimmage recap: McClellin, defense dominate as usual

Boise State wrapped up Fall Camp with a public scrimmage that the defense controlled from the outset, forcing three-and-out after three-and-out, hassling poor innocent backup quarterbacks, and generally wreaking havoc everywhere they went. Safe to say, Joe Southwick will be seeing Shea McClellin in his sleep tonight.

If you attended tonight's scrimmage, leave your thoughts and impressions in the comments. After the jump, get a look at the starting lineups for each side of the ball, find out which Bronco players sat out, and get my take on some of the most interesting things I saw on Saturday night.

Updated with photos.

Scrimmage stats, courtesy of BroncoSports.com

Scoring summary

• Michael Coughlin 3-yard TD run
• Joe Southwick 3-yard TD run

Passing stats

• Kellen Moore: 8-for-12, 44 yards
  
• Michael Coughlin: 4-for-6, 28 yards
  
• Joe Southwick: 9-for-15, 122 yards
  
• Grant Hedrick: 2-for-5, 11 yards
• Mikey Tamburo: 1-for-2, 6 yards
  

Rushing stats

• Jeremy Avery: 1 carry, 8 yards
  
• Doug Martin: 5 carries, 10 yards
  
• D.J. Harper: 5 carries, 25 yards
  
• Matt Kaiserman: 3 carries, -1 yard
  
• Carlo Audagnotti: 2 carries, 1 yard
  
• Raphiel Lambert: 2 carries, 2 yards
• Jarvis Hodge, 2 carries, 9 yards
  

Receiving stats

• Austin Pettis: 2 catches, 10 yards
  
• Tyler Shoemaker: 2 catches, 11 yards
  
• Kirby Moore: 2 catches, 13 yards
  
• Mitch Burroughs: 2 catches, 12 yards
  
• Chris Potter: 4 catches, 35 yards
  
• Geraldo Hiwat: 4 catches, 48 yards
  
• Aaron Burks: 1 catch, 33 yards
  

The Kevan Lee spiral notebook got a serious workout, so there are plenty of notes to come. Let me explain what you're seeing below. The first-team and second-team is a list of the players as I saw them on the field when those series began. The second-team was on the field first, so chances are that some of the more frequently rotated groupings (LB, DL) got shuffled and may not be 100 percent accurate. The lineup you should read the most into is offensive line. Pretty much everyone was a go from that group.

Meet your first-team offense

                                                                        RB Jeremy Avery

                                                                        QB Kellen Moore

WR Austin Pettis WR Tyler Shoemaker                                                         TE Kyle Efaw WR Mitch Burroughs

                     RT Brenel Myers RG Will Lawrence C Joe Kellogg LG Nate Potter LT Charles Leno

Meet your first-team defense

DE Jarrell Root DT Chase Baker DT Michael Atkinson DE Nick Alexander

OLB Aaron Tevis MLB Tommy Smith NB Winston Venable

CB Jamar Taylor S Travis Stanaway S Cedric Febis CB Brandyn Thompson

Get to know your second-team offense

RB D.J. Harper

QB Michael Coughlin

WR Geraldo Hiwat WR Kirby Moore                                                                   TE Gabe Linehan WR Chris Potter

RT Bronson Durrant RG Spencer Gerke C Thomas Byrd LG Chuck Hayes LT Faraji Wright

Get to know your second-team defense

DE Shea McClellin DT J.P. Nisby DT Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe DE Tyrone Crawford

OLB J.C. Percy MLB Byron Hout NB Hunter White

CB Ebo Makinde S Jeremy Ioane S Jason Robinson CB Jerrell Gavins

Sitting this one out: A whole bunch of people

Some of the most notable names riding the pine for the scrimmage were DE Ryan Winterswyk, S Jeron Johnson, S George Iloka, MLB Derrell Acrey, DT Billy Winn, WR Titus Young, and K Kyle Brotzman.

Some of the other MIAs included DE Kharyee Marshall, OL Jake Broyles, OL Michael Ames, OL Cory Yriarte, K Jimmy Pavel, RB Drew Wright, and WR Matt Miller (on crutches, more info down below).

Lineup reaction

• It was kind of strange watching Thomas Byrd snap with the backups. Joe Kellogg appears to be the No. 1 center, although Byrd did work in with the first team when Kellogg limped off with an injury (didn't look to be too serious).
• I'm not sure how much you want to read into Tommy Smith being with the first team, but you can at least read this: Smith may play more of a role this season than anyone expected.
  
• Charles Leno has overtaken Faraji Wright at left tackle. The Statesman hinted at this in an item buried deep inside their scrimmage preview, and it is most definitely true. Leno and Wright did swap occasionally through the night, bouncing back and forth between the lines, but Leno appears to be on top at this point.
• I think it's safe to say that Jamar Taylor will be the Broncos No. 2 cornerback come Labor Day.
• Jason Robinson would seem to be the team's third-string safety when is healthy. I'm not sure whether that says more about the talent of Cedric Febis or more about the rustiness of Robinson. He looked fine to me at the scrimmage.
• Mitch Burroughs and his football magic seems to still have an edge on Geraldo Hiwat and the other young WRs. Also, for whatever reason, Burroughs seemed to have a noticeable edge on Chris Potter when it came to WR playing time and general involvement. Anyone else notice that or was it just me?

Shea McClellin in midseason, QB-killing form

McClellin was a handful all night long, pressuring the QB from defensive end, causing a ruckus on stunts and twists, and nearly breaking Joe Southwick's arm over his head. On one of McClellin's three sacks, the junior sped around the end, flushed Southwick out of the pocket and to his left, and caught up to the backup QB just as Southwick cocked his arm to throw. The resulting smash sent the ball flying and embedded Southwick in the turf.

Joe Southwick is a gambler, Michael Coughlin is an Edward Jones financial analyst

I'm not going to make a pronouncement about the backup quarterback because there really wasn't a clear enough separation between Southwick and Coughlin at the scrimmage. If Coughlin getting first crack with the second-teamers is an indication of the depth chart, then so be it. But I imagine that we will get the week-in, week-out QB changes that Bryan Harsin hinted at this offseason.

For what it's worth, I did notice a distinct difference between the two passers at the scrimmage. Joe Southwick is a big-play, risk-taking quarterback who is not afraid to air it out and take chances. He provided the biggest gain of the night on a deep bomb to Aaron Burks who hauled the ball in along the sideline. I couldn't see Michael Coughlin attempting that pass. We fans grouse about Coughlin's garbage time performance because it is so lackluster, but I think we're mistaking lackluster for safe. Coughlin would be a solid quarterback. Southwick would be an exciting quarterback. Which one would you rather have if you were the coach?

D.J. Harper is back, alert my fantasy team

The first play of the scrimmage was a seven-yard run by D.J. Harper. It was classic Harper - decisive, quick, and powerful. He looked good in his extended time on the field, and as far as I could tell, coaches weren't holding him back at all.

The Mitch Burroughs Experience coming soon to a city near you

Burroughs earned the loudest cheers of the night when he broke loose for an 80-some-yard punt return touchdown late in the scrimmage, the first time any Bronco had been in the end zone. And then, as if on cue, Burroughs followed that up by dropping a sure TD throw from Southwick on a beautifully executed post pattern.

New jersey numbers, update your NCAA 11 football rosters accordingly

• DE Tyrone Crawford - No. 67
• SS Jeremy Ioane - No. 10
• QB Grant Hedrick - No. 14
  
• WR Matt Miller - No. 40
  
• TE Kyle Sosnowski - No. 86
  
• DB Hazen Moss - No. 18
  
• CB Bryan Douglas - No. 46
  
• C Greg Dohmen - No. 71
  
• WR Anthony Clarke - No. 10
  
• LB Junior Alvarado - No. 53
  
• PK Dan Goodale - No. 41
  
• LB Robbie Lusk - No. 14
  
• WR Alexander Miles - No. 84
  
• LB Travis Saxton - No. 60
  

My first look at some new players

DE Tyrone Crawford. He is every bit as solid as people said. Wearing No. 67, I kept mistaking him for a defensive tackle, but his speed and power were definitely DE-worthy. He was in on several plays and had some pretty solid pass rush moves to boot. Watching him bull rush Charles Leno was terrifying.

SS Jeremy Ioane. The true freshman is just so fluid in his movements. He has the build of a Jerrell Gavins, except maybe a little more stocky. He didn't get the chance to display any of his killer hits, but he did make a play on one or two passes.

QB Grant Hedrick. While his offense never got much of anything going, Hedrick was quite fun to watch as he eluded the rush and stepped up to make throws. One scramble in particular was thrilling as he took off up the middle, broke to the sideline, and was pushed out of bounds 40 yards later. The play was called back for holding.

Miscellaneous notes

• In the Statesman story I linked above, they mention TE Gabe Linehan as one of the breakout redshirt receivers who could have an impact this year. Linehan had a catch or two in the scrimmage, and the Broncos used him split wide from the line of scrimmage, more like an Efaw than a Gallarda. He has the build of a stocky wide receiver, so I'm intrigued to see how Boise State uses him this fall.
• True freshman WR Matt Miller, Montana's Mr. Football, will miss the season with a torn Achille's suffered this week in practice.
• We got to see the Broncos twice get down to goalline situations. The play call both times? Option.
  
• A crowd of 12,500 showed up. Halfway through the scrimmage a wind storm blew into the stadium, which could explain Brad Elkin's 80-yard punt a few minutes later.
• Kellen Moore may not have scored with the first team offense, but he did have his moments of Kellen Moore brilliance. He was sharp in the two-minute drill and would have had some serious scoring opportunities were it not for a fourth down pass where he overthrew a wide open Tommy Gallarda and another fourth down where Byron Hout batted down Moore's attempt.
• Speaking of Byron Hout, he is really good. I was a little surprised to see him hit the field with the second team, especially since Derrell Acrey was sitting out.
  
• There was nothing too exotic from either side tonight. The defense ran a 3-4 look at one point, and the craziest thing the offense did was a five-WR set. That is, unless you count Grant Hedrick's fumbled snap screen pass but I don't think that was planned.

[Note by Kevan Lee, 08/22/10 3:10 PM MDT ]

Scrimmage photos

Thanks to OBNUG reader Crissie for these shots of the scrimmage.