BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly: December 14, 2022.
Bob Behler and I were doing some math yesterday based on the fact that the Frisco Bowl against North Texas will mark John Ojukwu’s 51st career start for Boise State. We both believe that to be a record for a Broncos offensive lineman. The only players who could threaten that perch are Nate Potter, the Boise State tight ends coach who was a four-year starter from 2008-11, and former Green Bay Packer Daryn Colledge, who started from 2002-05. It was during a 31-27 win at Nevada in 2018 that the Broncos staff subbed in Ojukwu for struggling backup Andres Preciado at right tackle, and the Boise High grad got his first start the following week. He’s been a mainstay ever since.
O-linemen are only visible to the passive fan when they’re called for a false start or holding. You never hear Bob Rosenthal announce “pancake block by John Ojukwu” on the PA system. But Ojukwu will certainly get attention if he’s drafted into the NFL. It would be déjà vu for the Broncos, who once had five consecutive starting left tackles drafted between 2006 and 2013 (Colledge, Ryan Clady, Potter, Charles Leno Jr. and Rees Odhiambo). Ojukwu would like to start another streak, joining Ezra Cleveland, who was taken in the 2020 NFL Draft.
PEOPLE AND PLACES IN FRISCO PREP
A plethora of nuggets coming out of Boise State’s press conferences Monday. First, the Broncos will be practicing twice at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ famed headquarters, in advance of Saturday’s game. Connections, connections. (Of course, if Fresno State was playing in Frisco, the Bulldogs would have the same inside track.) There have been no Boise State player opt-outs yet for the bowl game. That includes the team’s No. 1 NFL prospect, JL Skinner, who finished the Mountain West title game on the sidelines with an undisclosed injury. That means the opt-ins would also include George Holani, Scott Matlock and Ojukwu. Meanwhile, interim offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter hasn’t opted out, either. While the other coaches have been out recruiting, it’s been all North Texas all the time this week for Koetter.
AND KOETTER’S SUCCESSOR WILL BE…
Boise State’s offensive coordinator search is apparently still on pace to finish by early signing day next week. Andy Avalos went out of his way to mention the resources being provided by athletic director Jeramiah Dickey, and it’s not hard to read between the lines. The new O-coordinator is going to be paid a lot more than Tim Plough was. It kind of mirrors what hoops coach Leon Rice said after the win at Saint Louis: two top-level administrators (Dickey and Cody Gougler) were there, and it meant the world to Rice. In other coaching news, scheming at the EDGE position for the Frisco Bowl will be seamless, as graduate assistant Jabril Frazier is working with that group, with Kelly Poppinga off to BYU. And speaking of Plough, he’s now the tight ends coach on Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal. A great outcome for him.
NO LAYUP FOR THE BRONCOS DEFENSE
While we sing the praises of Boise State’s defense going into the Frisco Bowl Saturday, the North Texas offense would like a word. Any way you slice it, the Mean Green has had a good season on that side of the ball — even when you compare it to the Broncos offense the last nine games since Taylen Green became the starter at quarterback. UNT is averaging 464 yards per game compared to 425 for Boise State during its surge. And North Texas has been pretty balanced, with 202 yards rushing and 262 passing. The Mean Green has averaged a shade under 34 points per game, while the Broncos are at 32 over the past nine games. The silver lining is the job the Boise State defense did against Fresno State last week, allowing just 245 yards. And there’s this: UNT’s defense is giving up 460 yards per game.
FRISCO PREDICTION FROM ONE PROGNOSTICATOR
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN has predicted the outcome of all 43 bowl games, so let’s scroll right down to the Frisco Bowl and see what we think of what he thinks. “After losing the Mountain West championship game on the blue turf, Boise State must play a virtual road game against North Texas, the Conference USA runner up, which has only a 30-minute commute to Frisco,” writes Rittenberg. “If Boise State has safety JL Skinner and all of its defensive standouts available, it should be able to stress quarterback Austin Aune and a Mean Green offense with depth at running back and wide receiver. I liked how Boise State rebounded from its early season offensive woes, and North Texas, which fired coach Seth Littrell on Dec. 4, has struggled in bowls recently.” Sounds reasonable.
THE DEFINITION OF ‘CRUISE CONTROL’
Boise State coach Leon Rice probably had a good feeling about last night’s game against New Orleans in ExtraMile Arena. Rice, who held Marcus Shaver Jr. out, was deep into his bench before halftime, and the reserves responded in a 91-50 rout of the Privateers. Redshirt freshman Kobe Young especially took advantage of the opportunity, leading the Broncos with 16 points and going 3-for-4 from three-point land. Eleven of the 12 players who got into the game scored, and all played lock-down defense. New Orleans, trailing 42-28 at the break, scored the first bucket of the second half. The Privateers then went scoreless for more than 10 minutes as Boise State went on a 24-0 run. The Broncos shot almost 55 percent from the field and went 12-for-24 from deep while winning their eight game in a row.
THE SAINT LOUIS GAME – THIS YEAR AND LAST
Talk about good prep for the Mountain West meat grinder ahead — Boise State survived a defensive slugfest in its previous game, a quality 57-52 road win at Saint Louis last Saturday night. The Broncos did it despite shooting less than 31 percent from the field, but they held the Billikens to about the same while executing an epic defensive game plan against the nation’s leader in assists, Yuri Collins. The only Bronco with a remotely hot hand was Chibuzo Agbo, who put up a game-high 18 points and drained a trio of three-pointers. One of them capped a 13-2 run midway through the second half that turned the tide in Boise State’s favor.
That matchup stirred memories of the Broncos’ big pivot last year against the Billikens in ExtraMile Arena. After a disastrous loss to Cal State Bakersfield, coach Leon Rice sat Devonaire Doutrive and gave Tyson Degenhart the first start of his career. A sour Doutrive played 13 minutes and scored one point in the 86-82 overtime loss and was dismissed a couple days later. Degenhart scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds in 37 minutes, and the next time out he’d help launch the Broncos school-record 14-game winning streak.
A LEERY EYE ON THE EXTENDED FORECAST
Eastern Michigan may have played in something like this before. San Jose State may not have. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl kicks off next Tuesday afternoon, and the current forecasted high is 34 degrees. The good news: that’s warmer than what we’re expected to get this weekend. How the quarterbacks handle it will be key. The Spartans’ starter is Chevan Cordeiro, who’s had a solid season after transferring from…Hawaii. Cordeiro has played in a December game on the blue turf, though. In the Mountain West championship game in 2019, Cordeiro relieved starter Cole McDonald. But the kickoff temp that day was 48.
POCATELLO’S ‘LITTLE HAWK’
The weekend began with breaking news Friday that Cody Hawkins is the new head coach at Idaho State. Everybody knows his pedigree — the son of former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins who has been working for his dad as offensive coordinator at UC Davis. Former Bishop Kelly quarterback who went on to become Colorado’s QB, often uncomfortably, when Dan was head coach of the Buffaloes. This is as tough an assignment as there is in college football. The Bengals have not been to the FCS (then Division I-AA) Playoffs since 1983. But if anyone can get it done at ISU, it’s Cody.
R.I.P. PIRATE
Mike Prater pointed this out Tuesday on KTIK: Mike Leach the Mississippi State coach and former Washington State coach who passed away Monday night, got his first break in the profession from former Boise State head man Lyle Setencich. After the Broncos posted the first losing season in school history in 1986 (at 5-6), Setencich resigned under pressure and would take the top job at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was there that Setencich gave Leach his start, and Leach would reciprocate by hiring him as his defensive coordinator at Texas Tech. Setencich was DC for the Red Raiders from 2003-07. As for Leach, he didn’t always treat his players the best publicly. But they sure seemed to like him privately. And we’re going to miss the soundbites.
CELEBRATING ‘THE ROOSTER’
The Idaho Steelheads return home tonight with the best record in the ECHL at 17-3-1, set to open a three-game series against the Rapid City Rush. It’s an occasion Lance Galbraith would have celebrated, and the Steelheads will celebrate him by retiring his No. 71 jersey in a ceremony before Saturday night’s game in Idaho Central Arena. Galbraith, affectionately known as “The Rooster,” passed away on April 15 in a single-vehicle car crash in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. He played parts of four seasons with the Steelies in the mid-2000s and was a key part of both of Idaho’s Kelly Cup championships in 2004 and 2007. It will be a good time, just as Galbraith would have wanted it.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…December 14, 1920:
Notre Dame football star George Gipp dies of pneumonia in South Bend, Indiana. Years later, Fighting Irish head coach Knute Rockne would deliver a pregame speech telling his team of a final conversation he had at Gipp’s deathbed, where the player is said to have told Rockne to “just win one for the Gipper.” Notre Dame would rally for an upset of undefeated Army in that 1928 game at Yankee Stadium. Gipp’s line would later be immortalized in the 1940 movie "Knute Rockne: All- American," starring future President Ronald Reagan.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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