We have taken a pretty hard line this week that San Jose State is a bunch of nothings. But this doesn't mean that we're not scared of tonight's game against the Spartans.
The passing of Kyle Reed does not scare us, for it does not exist. Dick Tomey's head coaching experience and Yonus Davis' being 26 years old don't do it for us, either.
We are scared because Coach Pete wants us to be scared.
All week long, he warned anyone who would listen about how good this San Jose State team is. He threw out facts about their defense and reminded everyone what happened the last two times the Broncos traveled to San Jose. Basically he made it seem like Boise State was going to be in the fight of its life and that SJSU was the toughest team the Broncos would face all season. And when Coach Pete speaks, we listen and tremble with respect.
Whatever you say, Coach Pete. We'll be scared if you want us to be scared. But can we still make a wildly optimistic score prediction?
We just don't see any way that the SJSU offense can be successful against the Bronco "D." Even good offenses haven't had all that much luck against the Broncos, and the Spartans are far from a good offense. Kyle Wilson and Co. will render the pass game irrelevant, and BSU will load the box to stop the run. At least this would be our strategy if the game was played in Madden.
Likewise, a San Jose defense that specializes in mistakes will find the going tough against a BSU quarterback who does not make mistakes. The Spartans have been great at making tackles in the backfield this year, too, but we believe the Broncos will counter this with more running plays using a fullback. A lot of the battle between offense and defense will come down to schemes, and we're pretty sure that Boise State can find a scheme that works.
Limit turnovers, get positive first down yardage, and don't allow big plays. If the Broncos stick to that gameplan, there's no way they lose this game.
Er, um, we mean, "San Jose State very scary. Nationally-ranked defense. Road game." (Sorry, we forgot Coach Pete reads this blog.)
Other predictions for tonight's game:
- The Broncos will score a defensive touchdown. Or two.
- Ian Johnson will not collapse any of his lungs.
- San Jose State will punt multiple times from inside Bronco territory in a vain attempt for field position.
- Coach Pete will make eye contact with Dick Tomey across the field at some point during the game and be forced to wonder, "Is this really who I want to become in 50 years?" Tomey will then forget that he stuffed his playbook into his pants and spend the next five minutes wondering where it is, sending Coach Pete into an early mid-life crisis.
- Executives from the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl will be on hand.
- Jared Zabransky will roam the sidelines looking for interview opportunities.
- Kyle Brotzman will run for a first down on a fake rugby punt. Brad Elkin will run for a water bottle for Kyle Brotzman.
Come on back for the gamenight comment thread tonight. OBNUG's Kevan will be there. He's easy to talk to.
Got your own game prediction? Feel free to put it in the comments so that we can take credit for it next week if it comes true. What are friends for?