As the saying goes, "Fortune favors the bold (and whoever has New Mexico in their conference)." Boldness is a key characteristic of the Boise State football team, as I am reminded of every Thursday during my weekly Fiesta Bowl 2007 viewing. In what ways could the Broncos make bold moves in 2011? I have some ideas.
Bold move No. 1: Start a true freshman at kicker
That true freshman: Jake Van Ginkel (Rees Odhiambo breathes a sigh of relief). The Gink-o-matic was born and bred to be a kicker, and he chose the Broncos so that he could make an impact right away. Fine by me. BSU should let him do that. If he and Dan Goodale are even out of fall camp, the bold move would be to stick with the kid with kicker in his blood. He should want to be on the field for big kicks, and that will go a long way toward covering up the fact he has never kicked in a college game before and that he is too young to remember Boy Meets World.
Bold move No. 2: Run up the score
A popular conspiracy theory as to why the Broncos lost to Nevada last year (allegedly) is that the team was not used to playing 60 minutes of football since the Broncos so often pulled starters early on in blowouts. My bold (and obvious) solution: Don't pull starters. If UNLV is bad enough to lose by 70, let them lose by 70. Otherwise, they're never going to learn that they are terrible at football.
Bold move No. 3: Go completely no-huddle
This is my favorite bold move out of my list of bold moves. Nothing personal, bold moves one and two. Could you imagine the awesome force of a Bronco offense that never huddled? UNLV wouldn't lose by 70. They would lose by 170. Kellen Moore is the perfect QB for the job, and he is in the perfect spot in his career to make no-huddle happen. He's a four-year starter who basically has the freedom to do whatever he wants at the line of scrimmage. And I hear Bronco OC Brent Pease needs to catch up on some things around the house anyway.
Bold move No. 4: Play Billy Winn at end and Shea McClellin at linebacker
The Broncos do this when they play a 3-4 defense, so I vote for playing a 3-4 defense pretty much all the time.
Bold move No. 5: Two words: White helmets
The great white whale of Boise State fashion is the long-rumored and oft-Photoshopped white helmet. Here it is in its natural habitat:
This is the only known photo of the helmet, so of course people claim that it is a Photoshop and the helmet does not really exist. Well, I know a Photoshop when I see one, and this, my friends, is not a Photoshop. Also not a Photoshop: The Rock on a Splash Mountain ride (there are real cardboard people who sit in the back of these rides, I swear).
Your turn
What bold moves do you want to see from the Broncos this season? Where do you stand on running up the score? Does the white helmet really exist? Share your thoughts in the comments.