The Boise State spring game will make for good conversation around these parts for the next several days, weeks, and months, beginning now. Here are ten things I took away from watching the offense beat the defense on Saturday.
Joe Southwick was clearly the best quarterback on the field. Not only did he take the most snaps, he made the most out of them. He led two touchdown drives, including the game-winner capped by a scoring strike to Chris Potter on fourth down. He was decisive, accurate, and daring; in other words, he was nothing like I remembered. Hooray for my failing memory!
Drew Wright is a more than capable backup. He showed moves galore on Saturday, including a slick juke outside to score on the opening drive.
Sam Ukwuachu can play. Sure, he's as skinny as a jayvee tight end, but he plays D-line like a whirling dervish. He put consistent pressure on the quarterbacks and showed enough skill dropping in coverage (a la Shea McClellin) that he almost had a pick. Demarcus Lawrence started ahead of him with the ones, but Ukwuachu will be a stellar backup.
Blake Renaud is destined for big things. Renaud made a couple spectacular plays on Saturday. The first, noticed by everyone, was an interception of Grant Hedrick. The second, noticed by far fewer, was his inside-outside rundown of Dallas Burroughs, the fastest high schooler in Idaho history, on a fly sweep. For a man to move that fast and that well being that big (it's like J.C. Percy ate Aaron Tevis) is terrifying.
Kickers! Amirite? Boise State's placekickers missed an extra point (Dan Goodale, off the upright) and had an extra point blocked (Jake Van Ginkel, into Darren Koontz).
Punters! Amirite? Trevor Harman struggled with punting to the point that the crowd was mock cheering when his punts flew higher than 10 yards and longer than 30 in the air. Let's blame the wind because I can only handle one kicking crisis at a time.
Jeremy Ioane = playmaker. Okay, so it was one play, but still. Ioane's toe-tapping sideline interception of Chris Potter (yes, wide receiver Chris Potter) warmed my heart.
What to do with Nick Patti? The true freshman looked like the second-best quarterback at BSU on Saturday. So would he be Southwick's backup? Or if he can't start the season opener should he redshirt for the year? That's a toughie. Fortunately, Boise State pays Chris Petersen millions to do this.
Corey Bell was playing with the ones. Not sure how much to read into spring starting lineups (Bronco coaches say, "none at all, dummy"), but thinking of Bell starting at nickel gets me pretty stoked.
Takeaway No. 10. This one's up to you. What did you learn from Boise State's spring game? Help complete the list in the comments.