We would like to make two predictions for Boise State's game on Saturday against the Vandals.
- Our heart says: Boise State 83, Idaho 0.
- Our mind says: Boise State 49, Idaho 7.
Our heart's prediction just so happens to be the same score prediction we submit every week in Brian Murphy's pizza pick 'em contest. Our heart just loooooves its Domino's pizza. Our mind's prediction turns out to be the one we post every week to this here website because our mind is much better at remembering passwords and HTML coding than our heart is.
All this to say, we really, really want Saturday's game to be an 83-0 blowout of the Vandals, complete with Ian Johnson running for 200 yards and John Gott throwing a touchdown pass. But our mind is keeping us from following through with that prediction.
It's not like there are no reasons why Idaho can't keep this one close. They have shown toughness over their past few games, battling against Fresno State and San Jose State and beating NMSU. They are coming off a bye week, so they've had 14 days to prepare for the Broncos. The game is in Moscow where Boise State has struggled before, and anything can happen in a rivalry game.
That being said, anything won't happen. These two teams are separated by a gulf that not even the emotion of a rivalry can span. Let's be honest: Nathan Enderle is not going be Kellen Moore because of a rush of endorphins. He'll sooner become Michael Harrington due to a rush of bad decisions.
On offense, the Broncos hold the advantage. Idaho has one of the worst defenses in the country, and they give up more than 200 rushing yards per game. Expect Boise State to control the game on the ground, setting up play action and WR screens out the wazzoo. And then expect the second quarter to start and for the game to be over.
Chadd Cripe found an interesting bit of information: Boise State is tops in the WAC in second quarter scoring differential. The Vandals are last. If this game is not 35-0 by halftime, then the numbers will have lied.
It's not like the Vandals will have any luck moving the ball, either. What Idaho does well on offense is run and survive Nathan Enderle's mistakes. Boise State has showed that it can stuff the run with the best of them, and as far as those mistakes, we could be in store for another week with at least one defensive touchdown.
The odds are severely stacked against the Vandals, and if we keep going with this game prediction, we might just end up copping to our heart's wishes of an 83-0 final score. Instead, we'll give Idaho the benefit of the doubt for being at home. And we'll take our heart out for Domino's pizza if we're wrong.
Other game predictions:
- Kellen Moore: 300 yards, three TDs, one horribly slow rushing touchdown
- Johnson, Avery, Doug Martin, and D.J. Harper combine for over 250 yards rushing and an average of 6.0 yards per carry
- Kyle Brotzman does not punt
- Idaho punter T.J. Conley does
- Nathan Enderle gets knocked out of the game either physically or emotionally
- Robb Akey breaks out the handlebar mustache as the big surprise he and his staff were working on during the bye week