Boise State depth chart versus Southern Miss

Here is the Boise State depth chart for Saturday's game versus Southern Miss. Gone is starting tight end Gabe Linehan. Are hamstring injuries the new ACL tears? I'm behind on my trends. People still tuck button up shirts into jeans, right?

OFFENSE

• QB: Joe Southwick, Grant Hedrick, Jimmy Laughrea
• RB: D.J. Harper, Jay Ajayi
• FB: Dan Paul, Connor Peters
• X receiver: Matt Miller, Aaron Burks
• Z receiver: Mitch Burroughs, Dallas Burroughs
• Slot receiver: Kirby Moore, Chris Potter
• TE: Chandler Koch, Holden Huff, Hayden Plinke
• LT: Charles Leno, Faraji Wright
• LG: Spencer Gerke, Joe Kellogg
• C: Matt Paradis, Spencer Gerke
• RG: Michael Ames, Brenel Myers
• RT: Brenel Myers, Jake Broyles

DEFENSE

• DE: Demarcus Lawrence, Tyler Horn
• NT: Mike Atkinson, Greg Grimes
• DT: Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Darren Koontz
• Stud end: Sam Ukwuachu, Beau Martin OR Kharyee Marshall
• MLB: Tommy Smith, Blake Renaud
• WLB: J.C. Percy, Tyler Gray
• N: Dextrell Simmons, Corey Bell OR Jonathan Brown
• CB: Jamar Taylor, Ebo Makinde
• CB: Jerrell Gavins, Bryan Douglas
• S: Jeremy Ioane, Hazen Moss
• S: Lee Hightower, Darian Thompson

SPECIAL TEAMS

• K: Michael Frisina, Dan Goodale
• P: Trevor Harman, Dan Goodale
• KO: Trevor Harman, Dan Goodale
• Holder: Matt Miller, Joe Southwick
• KR: D.J. Harper, Mitch Burroughs
• PR: Mitch Burroughs OR Chris Potter
• Snapper: Chris Roberson, Kevin Keane

Now for some news and notes and wild speculation:

With Linehan out for a month or more (official diagnosis from Coach Pete is a hamstring injury that is more complicated than just a hamstring injury, so ... scurvy?), that puts the pressure on senior Chandler Koch and underclassmen Holden Huff, Hayden Plinke, and Connor Peters. Koch and Peters are blockers who occasionally catch. Huff and Plinke are catchers who occasionally block. But really, any of the above can do any tight end duty necessary, provided they don't contract Gabe Linehan's scurvy.

Boise State will have a nice problem on its hands next season when Jay Ajayi and Jack Fields compete to replace D.J. Harper. Lest I forget, Devan Demas will be in the mix, too. For the time being, it looks like the backup job is Ajayi's to lose, and a pretty easy way to lose it would be to fumble. That seems to be what has cost Jack Fields playing time. By the way, Fields' burned redshirt has netted 14 carries for 51 yards and no touches since Miami (OH). Fields is too good and that redshirt too valuable to keep him off the field too long.

Did you notice when Boise State put Harper, Ajayi, and Fields on the field together against New Mexico? Unless my eyes deceived me, it occurred on the direct-snap play to Harper where he lost five yards on Boise State's first red zone possession. Dangerous formation, if you ask me, assuming it will one day work as intended. Harper also lined up at fullback in front of Ajayi on a couple of occasions and took the handoff from Joe Southwick.

Are Trevor Harman's wobbly, short punts by design? If so, that is some ugly design, a la the OBNUG logo. (Self-referential burn!)

Being one-third of the way through the season is nice because I can project season-long stats by multiplying by three. Math is more fun when it's easy. Here's what people are on pace for.

• Joe Southwick: 2,787 yards, 15 TDs, 6 INTs
• D.J. Harper: 1,140 yards, 9 TDs
• Matt Miller: 75 catches, 804 yards, 3 TDs
• J.C. Percy: 114 tackles
• Demarcus Lawrence: 10.5 sacks

Keep in mind that the soft underbelly of the Boise State schedule awaits, so you can inflate these numbers by a bit.

I am still feeling tremors from that Jeremy Ioane hit on the New Mexico quarterback. Forget abandoning the triple option, I would have abandoned football entirely after that shot.

Lots of offensive line shuffling occurred last week when first Michael Ames went down with an injury followed one play later by Ames backup Jake Broyles. This pressed still-injured Joe Kellogg into action as the Broncos seemingly had nowhere else to turn. Didn't Faraji Wright grow up as a guard? Doesn't Brenel Myers play in an alternate timeline? I don't know the Bronco offensive line as well as I thought.

Your turn

What did you find interesting on this week's depth chart? What do you think about the O-line, wide receivers, and running backs (I know what you think about the quarterbacks)? Share your thoughts in the comments.