The mood around Boise State's first game of the season is decidedly scrimmage-ish. A Division I-AA team must be coming to town.
Sure enough, the Idaho State Bengals are set to have a certain body part that shall remain nameless handed to them on Saturday in ways that it has never been handed to them before. Brought to you by KTVB.
But we at OBNUG are not insensitive to the Bengals feelings. They are a football team, too, and they deserve the same amount of attention as any other BSU opponent...just with more jokes at their expense. Behold everything we know about Idaho State and plan on forgetting on August 31.
Last season's record: 3-8
Last week: The Bengal offense beat the Bengal defense in the final scrimmage of fall practice
Famous Idaho State alumni: Jared Allen, Merril Hoge, farmers
What Idaho State has going for it: The Bengals are supposed to have a decent secondary...decent by Big Sky standards. D.J. Clark and Keith Goins will be the defensive backs least likely to trail Titus Young by five yards on go routes.
Bonus good thing: Idaho State coach John Zamberlin returns for his second year. We're still not sure what kind of effect this will have on Saturday.
Player most likely to be crushed by losing to the Broncos: QB Russell Hill. Get prepared to be overwhelmed by Hill stories in the newspapers this weekend. "He went to Timberline, and the Broncos didn't recruit him!" Yes, we're sure they wish they could have that one back.
Hill looked good in the preseason, he has a year of experience under his belt, and Ryan Winterswyk might even take it easy on him for a play or two. Hey, one can dream.
Interesting fact to impress your friends: Idaho State will start two brothers at defensive end: Jeff and Jon Tuua. Have fun with that tidbit.
Idaho State's best player: WR Eddie Thompson may become the school's all-time leading receiver this season. Boise State's best defensive player: possibly CB Kyle Wilson.
Bottom line: Idaho State is better than they were last year, which could result in a few more wins in Big Sky play this season. Of course, we don't care about Big Sky play, and neither do Bronco coaches. This one will be ugly. And over by halftime.