BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…September 27, 1997:
I recognize that this is a heck of an item to use the day before the Broncos-Cougars game, but let’s add some layers of context to it. Boise State suffers the worst loss in its history—a 58-0 shutout at Washington State. Wazzu had upset UCLA and USC in its first two games, so it didn’t look good from the get-go. But the Cougars, in the middle of their first Rose Bowl season in 67 years, held the Broncos to 115 total yards—their second-lowest output ever. On the other side of the ball, WSU senior quarterback Ryan Leaf toyed with the Boise State defense.
Not that the Cougars were worried about this game, but they were fired up after Boise State kicker Todd Belcastro of Spokane, who wasn’t recruited by WSU, said during game week, "I hate the Cougars. I really do. I'm going to wear my Washington hat on the sideline Saturday after we win. I'm going to sign a football, put the score on it, and hand it to (coach Mike) Price." Belcastro was on the field for exactly one play: the opening kickoff.
Houston Nutt, in his only season as Boise State coach, still tried to put lipstick on the you-know-what after the game, proclaiming how proud he was of his team. Nutt did indeed give the Broncos a pep talk after the game, and they recovered to go 3-4 the rest of the season. Boise State had a bye after the trip to Pullman—then routed New Mexico State 52-10 on the blue turf and edged North Texas 17-14 on the road. In the season finale, the Broncos beat Idaho in the Kibbie Dome for the first time in 16 years, 30-23 in overtime. A couple weeks later, Nutt bolted for Arkansas.
Here’s your positive spin. Not only has a lot happened in the Broncos program since that fateful day (three Fiesta Bowls and 15 conference championships—stuff like that), it was the last shutout suffered by Boise State. Since that day, the Broncos have scored in 342 consecutive games, the sixth-longest active streak in the country. Boise State has, in fact, been shut out only twice in 57 seasons as a four-year school. And I’m reasonably sure they won’t be blanked Saturday night.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
