One quarter was all the Broncos needed to put away the Falcons Saturday night, as Boise State rolled to a 49-14 victory over Bowling Green, thanks to a 29-point second quarter and plenty of fireworks from the offense and the defense.
Tyler Shoemaker had 105 yards receiving, Kellen Moore had 241 yards passing and two TDs, and both Jeremy Avery and Doug Martin scored on the ground. Check out after the jump for some quick-hit analysis, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Boise State's offense could do no wrong for about 15 minutes
This was the offense that Bronco fans know the team is capable of. Kellen Moore was winging it with authority. The running backs were busting through holes. The receivers were wide open, and the offensive line was largely unobtrusive.
And they did it so fast.
Here is the Broncos' drive chart in the second quarter and the first few minutes of the third:
- 4 plays, 59 yards, 1:36, Titus Young TD run
- 3 plays, 78 yards, 0:55, Doug Martin TD run
- 1 play, 25 yards, 0:10, Titus Young TD run
- 3 plays, 55 yards, 1:03, Austin Pettis TD catch
- 2 plays, 74 yards, 0:33, Titus Young TD run
- 2 plays, 11 yards, 0:30, Richie Brockel TD catch
It will take New Mexico State about three years to do that.
Doug Martin is the future, and the future is now
I have waited a year and a half to write those words. And I could not have imaged it feeling any better than it just did.
Did Martin look good or what? He blew past a tackler on his TD run like the guy wasn't even there. He rolled his way to 111 yards on 12 carries. And that was only Doug Martin Lite. Just wait until he gets the chance to wear a team down by the fourth quarter. Oh wait. We're headed to WAC play. So never mind about that.
Even better, I hear this Doug Harper guy had a good game, so that's very encouraging.
Kellen Moore is a pocket passer if ever there was one
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Bronco offense against Fresno State and the Bronco offense against Bowling Green was that Kellen Moore had a passing pocket against the Falcons. And what a difference it made.
Moore looks so much more comfortable from inside the pocket, where he has time to make his progressions, space to step up into his throws, opportunity to read the defense. He is virtually unbeatable when he has the chance to do his thing.
Give credit to the offensive line, which turned in a stellar performance tonight. Garrett Pendergast, Kevin Sapien, Thomas Byrd, Will Lawrence, and Matt Slater looked ten times better against the Falcons than they did against the Bulldogs. Well done, giant people.
Ryan Winterswyk exhibits Ryan Winterswyk-ness
The Broncos' senior (in age, not class, that is probably pretty confusing, I'm sorry) defensive lineman had a rather incredible sack of Tyler Sheehan early in the game, and he wreaked havoc in the backfield on multiple occasions against the Falcons.
On his sack, Winterswyk took an outside rush against the left tackle, was being pushed past Sheehan, stuck out his giant paw and corraled the BG quarterback for the sack. Either Winterswyk's one hand is stronger than the entire mass of Sheehan or ... well ... I actually think that is pretty plausible, so I'm going to just leave it at that.
Welcome back, Tyler Shoemaker
Absent in the stat sheet last week at Fresno, Shoemaker racked up over 100 yards on four catches against the Falcons and looked like the dangerous slot receiver he has been purported to be. He is a wide target running over the middle, and he gets upfield after the catch. There is nothing not to love - unless you're an NFL scout, in which case you'll probably find plenty.
Unsolved mysteries: Tackling
Get Angela Lansbury on the ringer. We need help.
Bowling Green RB Willie Geter - he of the never being heard of - was breaking tackles left and right during the Falcons' long forgotten first quarter sister kisser. As such, I do not feel comfortable giving the defense the Kevan Lee seal of approval.
Jeron Johnson whiffed a couple more times, the linebackers were a little sloppy, and defensive linemen had opportunities to bring down runners in the backfield and failed to do so. Then again, the final score was 49-14, so this doesn't matter nearly that much.
Was 49-14 enough?
Coach Pete went all benevolent on the Falcons around midway through the third quarter with his team leading 49-0. Was it the right decision? Will a 49-14 win play well enough with the poll voters?
I have a theory that voters have some sort of Pavlovian response to teams that put 50 points on the board. "What's that? They scored 50 points? I should probably vote them higher because they obviously have a good offense and I seem to remember that being important. And if they scored 50, then I guess Ian Johnson must have had a good game, which makes me happy."
If 50 points was the problem, then I guess I'll have to blame snapper Chris Roberson (bad snap on field goal), Kyle Brotzman (missed field goal), Jimmy Pavel (missed extra point), and Kellen Moore (four incompletions).
Kyle Brotzman does not have a problem making kicks in big-game situations
He apparently has problems making kicks in any game situation. His wide left from the left has (where else?) was inexcusable, inasmuch as he couldn't blame anyone else. The snap was good, the hold was good, everyone streaming out of BG stadium was respectfully quiet. And ... whammy.
Mark Johnson took a dramatic step backwards ... as did Bowling Green
The KTVB play-by-play man was off his game ... or was he so far off his game that he was actually very much on his game? Either way, he was a good two or three yards off on the majority of his ball spotting, his hyperbole was at an all time high, he made no sense throwing it to commercial break, and he attacked both teams' rosters with a complete disregard for accuracy and a complete homage to D.J. Harper. By the way, did everyone hear that Harper is out for the year with a torn ACL?
In essence, Mark Johnson's announcing was analogous to the way Bowling Green played. The Falcons were noticeably worse than they were last year in Boise. Shoot, they were noticeably worse than they were two weeks ago.
Fortunately, the new Boise State commercial theme song was worse than both of them, so I think it will deflect some attention this week.
Other random notes
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Jarvis Hodge put his imprint on the game. But did you all see Jarvis Harper? That kid is something.
- That Bowling Green game went from sellout to Mikrino and a bunch of Bronco fans pretty quickly, didn't it?
- I'm still awaiting word from Tom Scott on whether or not he would like Richie Brockel to "crunch his numbers."
- What was up with Titus Young's star turn on the KTVB camera? Who was saying last week that Titus Young was mature? Oh, right; that was me.
- No fumbled snaps today. I think that's the real victory here.
- Tommy Gallarda looked like a mama bear running with that football. He's large.