Broncos vs Bulldogs coverageDawg Sports

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011. GEORGIA DOME, ATLANTA GA

BOISE STATE 35, GEORGIA 21

I don't know if you watched the game on Saturday night, if so you witnessed a big statement by the Boise State Broncos.  The game was billed as the 2nd biggest of the opening weekend of the college football season, and absolutely lived up to it's billing.  So how did the teams perform? Who preformed better in each aspect of the game.  Let's talk about the monumental victory for the Broncos and the huge disappointment for the Bulldogs after the jump.

WHEN BOISE STATE HAD THE BALL

BOISE STATE RUSH OFFENSE

The Broncos had moderate success running the ball on Saturday night, averaging 3.5 yards per carry (129 total).  This is not bad considering the enormous front seven they were facing from Georgia.  D.J. Harperwas the star of the Broncos backfield in Atlanta, averaging 5.5 yards on 8 carries, and finding the end zone once.  Doug Martin, the Broncos feature back was kept in check mostly by the Dawgs, only averaging 2.4 yards per carry, 57 total, but he also found the end zone one time on the night.  The other highlight of the rushing attack was the Wildcat offense run by Grant Hedrick, a highly touted redshirt freshman QB out of Independence, OR.  Hedrick pitched the ball the Harper and Martin mostly on the option, but when he kept the ball and took off up field he did a great job, picking up 18 yards on 2 carries.

GEORGIA RUSH DEFENSE

Georgia did on OK job of containing the run on Saturday.  One thing they can hold their heads high about is containing Martin, a Doak Walker Award candidate.  The Dawgs gave up 3.7 yards per carry last season, so their effort against the Broncos, who have a very balanced offensive attack, should be commended.  Their massive D-line looked tired and oversized at times, but pulled themselves together and got the job done when they needed to, except in the red zone.  Georgia let Boise State running backs find the end zone twice from inside the 20.  This was a huge area of concern for the Dawgs last year, as they ranked 85th nationally, and looks as if it may be again this season.  One highlight for the Dawgs was their red zone pass defense.  They picked off Kellen Moore inside the 20, killing a promising drive by the Broncos.  Interceptions of Moore are few and far between and should be recognized and commended.  

ADVANTAGE: BOISE STATE (BARELY) 

BOISE STATE PASSING OFFENSE 

Kellen Moore was up to his usual tricks on Saturday night, picking apart the Georgia secondary and once again placing himself firmly into the Hiesman race, and showing why hes arguably the best quarterback in the nation.  Moore threw for 261 yards on and astounding, video game like, %82 completion percentage (third best in the country on the opening weekend).  Moore averaged a decent 7.7 yards per attempt and 170.1 passer rating, a slight fall off from a year ago, and was not sacked in the game, proving once again that BSU's big uglies can line up with anybody in the country.

The questions about the receiving corps were quickly put to rest as the Broncos got 9 players involved in the passing attack.  Matt miller led the way with 57 yards on 5 catches and 1 TD.  TE Kyle Efaw's performance was just as impressive, the senior hauled in 6 catches for 53 yards and 1 TD as well.  Gabe Linehan, Tyler Shoemaker, and Kirby Moore (Kellen's brother) averaged over 10 yards a recpetion.  Mitch Burrougs, Dallas Burrougs (Mitch's brother), Doug Martin, and D.J. Harper all also contributed to the passing game.

*Geraldo Boldwijn was held out of the game, by the NCAA as his eligibility is reviewed.  This was very disappointing, as i was expecting big things from him in this game, as well as this season.  Who knows if we will see him play this season, or ever again for that matter. You never know with the NCAA.

GEORGIA PASSING DEFENSE

The Bulldogs ran their 3-4 base defense with the remaining four players starting in their secondary, and Kellen Moore picked it apart.  The only bright spot was Brandon Smiths interception in the 2nd quarter.  Moore threw a horrible lobbing pass that hung in the air forever and was just waiting to be picked off.  The Bulldogs pass rush could get no pressure on Moore and had no sacks on the night.  Big-hitter Baccari Rambo was suspended for the game, leaving a huge hole in the Dawg's secondary.  CB Sanders Commings  and S Shawn Williams were the other two starters in the secondary and we didn't hear much from them at all either.  The Bulldogs gave up 180 through the air last season, ranking 16th nationally, but you wouldn't know it from their performance on Saturday.  They played horrible, giving up up 261 yards and allowing Moore to complete on a mind-blowing %82 of his passes, and didn't have a single sack in the game.

The Dawgs got picked apart by Moore, who had a 170.1 passer rating for the game.  There's no other way to say this, Georgia was horrible against the pass Saturday night.  

ADVANTAGE: BOISE STATE

BOISE STATE BALL MOVEMENT

The Broncos had 24 first downs, and 390 total yards.  Moore threw for 261 yards, completing 28-34 pass attempts for an average of 7.7 yards per attempt.  The rushing attack totaled 129 yards on 37 attempts for a 3.5 yard per carry average.

GEORGIA DEFENSIVE EFFORT

The Bulldogs couldn't stop Moore, he picked their secondary apart.  They did some what shut down BSU's ground game, as seen by the stats listed above.  

ADVANTAGE: BOISE STATE

WHEN GEORGIA HAD THE BALL

GEORGIA RUSH OFFENSE

The Dawgs had moderate success on the ground, rushing for 137 yards on 31 carries, good for 4.4 yards per carry.  With a very thin unit of backs at their disposal Georgia did a great job given the circumstances, especially against a BSU team that prides itself on shutting down the run.  Brandon Boykin got a very rare carry on offense, but it was a monster one.  The CB took the ball on a sweep right and blasted 80 yards for the games opening touchdown.  The freshman Isiah Crowell had a respectable 60 yards on 15 carries.  

BOISE STATE RUSH DEFENSE

The remaining 8 carries for the Dawgs only amassed 30 yards, so the Broncos shut down the run 1/3 of the time, witch shows potential, but there needs to be much improvement in the Broncos front 6.  On the bright side, except for the huge run by Boykin, the BSU did a great job shutting down Georgia's rushing game, only allowing 57 yards on 30 carries.

ADVANTAGE: GEORGIA (BARELY)

GEORGIA PASS OFFENSE

The Dawgs passing game had moderate success on Saturday night.  Murray completed 16 of 29 pass attempts for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Murry did throw one pick.  The beastly TE Orsen Charles had a great game, breaking the 100 yard barrier on 6 receptions.  Charles also found the end zone one time.  Malcom Mitchell, Richard Samuel,Aron White, and Rantavious Wooten combined for 7 cathces and all averaged over 10 yards a catch.

BOISE STATE PASS DEFENSE

Simply put the Broncos secondary gave up a lot of big plays through the air,  Allowing a ton of yards on not a lot of receptions.  This unit needs to step it up as the season goes on.  They did only allow 2 touchdowns to one of the best young quarterbacks in the country, and that should be commended. 

ADVANTAGE: GEORGIA (BARELY)  

GEORGIA BALL MOVEMENT 

The Dawgs had 373 yards but only 13 first downs.  If you over look the 80 run by Boykin, Georgia only amassed 293 yards on the game.  This is evidence of a great shut-down defense for the Broncos, and a struggling offensive attack for the Dawgs.  Murray had a pretty good game, but nothing to get excited about.

BOISE STATE DEFENSIVE EFFORT

As I stated above, BSU only allowed 13 first downs and 293 yards, which is fantastic by any standards.  If you omit the Boykin run UGA only accumulated 213 yards.  In other words, Boise State's Defense dominated the Dawgs. 

ADVANTAGE:  BOISE STATE

WHEN THE BALL WAS TRADING HANDS

BOISE STATE KICKING GAME

BSU didn't attempt a field goal and Dan Goodale was 5/5 on extra points, not much else to say.  The punting game was pretty impressive,  Brad Elkin averaged 40.1 yards per punt, this number is low because he pinned Georgia inside the 20 on 6 of his 7 punts.

GEORGIA KICKING GAME

Blair Walsh attempted one field goal on the night, a miss.  He was 3 for 3 on extra points for the game.  The Dawgs punted 5 times, averaging 47.8 yards per punt, which is pretty good.  There wasn't a lot of action in the kicking game for either team on Saturday.

ADVANTAGE: BOISE STATE (BARELY)

BOISE STATE RETURN GAMES

Doug Martin returned two kicks for 44 yards, while Chris Potter and Mitch Burroughs returned 3 and 2 punts, respectively.  Potter had a 49 yard return, but other than that BSU only had 15 yards on the other 4 punts.

GEORGIA RETURN GAMES

Brandon Boykin also averaged 22 yards per kick return, same as Martin.  He busted a 40 yard return on the Broncos, setting up the Dawgs with great field position for the one and only time in the game.  Georgia returned 2 punts for 4 yards, finding it difficult to establish anything against the Broncos great kick coverage.

ADVANTAGE: BOISE STATE

CONCLUSION AND FINAL THOUGHTS 

Once again the Boise State Broncos delivered in a marquee match up to open the season, the third time in 3 years.  BSU moved up the #4 in the AP poll this week and #5 in the coaches poll after the win.  If this is a sign of things to come, we could very well have a non-AQ team in the BCS title game for the first time ever.

FINAL SCORE

BOISE STATE 35 GEORGIA 21

(My pre-game prediction BSU 34, UGA 20)  CRAZY!!!!

BLEED BLUE!