BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly…July 31, 2024.
The value of being “pressed into service.” It has certainly paid off for the Boise State offensive line. Two years ago, it was still a much-maligned unit, coming off a season that saw the Broncos average just 3.1 yards per carry. Then came the 2022 season opener at Oregon State, and there was redshirt freshman Mason Randolph having to fill in at guard. At UTEP three weeks later, wide-eyed true freshman Roger Carreon had to start at guard, and it did not go well. Well, Randolph ended up being a Freshman All-American and is now one of the O-line’s anchors. And Carreon? That UTEP game was the only one he played that season, but now he’s a mainstay as a returning starter.
Now there’s Hall Schmidt, likely to start at right tackle, the only open spot on the Boise State O-line (after the graduation of Cade Beresford). Schmidt, a redshirt freshman, has hardly been pressed into service, though. If he gets the job, he will have simply earned it after being the most talked-about offensive lineman in spring football. And there’s depth at that position, with San Jose State transfer Jake Steele and redshirt freshman Kyle Cox waiting in the wings. The Broncos have two good quarterbacks, one of the best running backs in the country and a wide receivers room dripping with potential. But this O-line is the root of it all.
FALL CAMP ESSENTIALS
When the first press conference of Boise State fall camp opens up with an injury update, you brace yourself. But it turns out the Broncos are in pretty good shape. According to coach Spencer Danielson, tight end Kaden Anderson is out for the season, but safety Seyi Oladipo will be in practice despite a broken bone in his wrist. EDGE Jayden Virgin-Morgan, offensive guard Ben Dooley, and wide receivers Cam Camper and Zamondre Merriweather will be limited in camp, but Danielson says they’re all supposed to be 100 percent for the opener at Georgia Southern. Then the discussion immediately pivoted to quarterback, and Maddux Madsen is full-go and begns camp today getting the No. 1 reps. Danielson expects the situation to be fluid between Madsen and Malachi Nelson, though. He’ll name his starter by game week.
PREPPING FOR A STATESBORO SAUNA
One takeaway I had from the presser on Monday: you probably don’t have to worry about Boise State looking past Georgia Southern to the Oregon game in Week 2. It is not lost on Danielson that the Broncos have lost three openers in a row—at UCF in 2021, at Oregon State two years ago, and at Washington last season. Usually the team holds one “inferno” practice during fall camp, turning up the temperature in the Caven-Williams indoor facility and drenching the place in humidity. In a nod to what it’ll face in Statesboro, GA, Boise State has two infernos scheduled. Mid-afternoon yesterday in Statesboro, the temperature was 91 degrees, but the humidity was 57 percent. Highs later this week will be 97—and the humidity ain’t going to drop.
A PAC-2 STRATEGY?
You know I put stock into what Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News says on the Pac-2 situation. Here’s the latest. If Oregon State and Washington State think they can finagle the Mountain West into a reverse merger that doesn’t include everybody, Wilner suggests they evaluate potential expansion candidates based on media revenue. Writes Wilner: “Which MW schools carry above-average valuations? We don’t have access to the Fox and CBS metrics, but San Diego State, Fresno State and Boise State are likely atop the list. The next tier probably includes Air Force, Colorado State and UNLV in some order.” Beyond that, Wilner isn’t convinced any MW schools would be value-adds for a rebuilt Pac-12.” That leaves six schools out. We’ll see if Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez keeps her wagons circled.
ALYSSA MENDOZA STILL IN THE RING
There’s one Olympic athlete on Team Idaho topping the local must-watch list right now: Caldwell boxer Alyssa Mendoza. The Middleton High grad, the USA’s youngest boxer in Paris, defeated Mijgona Samadova of Tajikistan in her Summer Games debut a 3-2 split decision, but it was the finish that will be remembered. Mendoza won it with a third-round flurry, earning the nod from all five judges. She moves on to the round of 16 now, set to face Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu of Brazil on Friday morning at 8:18 our time on Peacock.
KRISTIN IS BEAMING
Boise Olympic icon Kristin Armstrong is one proud onlooker from afar, as two cyclists she coaches grabbed medals at the Paris Games last weekend. Chloe Dygert trained in Boise under the watchful eye of the three-time Olympic gold medalist, and Dygert was the first American athlete to medal at the Paris Games on Saturday. She had to settle for bronze after a fall on the rain-slicked course. Dygert’s next event is the women’s road race this Sunday, followed by the team pursuit next week. Then Haley Batten of Park City, UT, who’s also coached by Armstrong, took silver in women’s cross country mountain biking on Sunday. It was the best finish ever for an American rider in that event.
ELSEWHERE AROUND PARIS
Rexburg’s Chari Hawkins begins competition in the women’s heptathlon on Thursday, and Boise High grad Matteo Jorgenson rides in the men’s road race on Saturday after his top 10 finish in the Tour de France. Former Boise State star and new Broncos assistant coach Marisa Howard runs the first round of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on Sunday. What a week it’s been for Howard after her Olympic sendoff last Saturday at Dona Larsen Park. She’s the first female Boise State alum to ever claim a spot on the United States Olympic track and field team. And Great Britain’s Lizzie Bird, who like Howard is coached by Boise State’s Pat McCurry, will also be competing in that event.
SAINT MARY’S DOESN’T SHY AWAY
You’d think Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett wouldn’t be keen on returning to Idaho Falls to face Boise State. Last December, the Gaels took a 63-60 loss to the Broncos and were 3-5 afterward. Then SMC won 21 of its next 22 games, including a triumph over Gonzaga. The Gaels ended up taking the West Coast Conference over the Zags and were a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bennett obviously feels Boise State is good for the Saint Mary’s resume, not bad. And so the rematch is set—the Broncos and Gaels on a neutral court at the Mountain America Center in I.F. on Saturday, December 14.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE HAWKS’ AUGUST
The Boise Hawks entered their home series against Idaho Falls last night riding an eight-game winning streak, their longest in 20 years, and were in the first place in the Pioneer League’s second half standings. But I’d like to look down the road here, as the Hawks are 13 days away from their first series with the Oakland Ballers, the most celebrated independent baseball team of the year. The Ballers have drawn in disenfranchised fans of the A’s, who are in their final season in Oakland, and have attracted an outsized amount of warm and fuzzy publicity in the Bay Area.
But the bloom appears to be off the rose. The Ballers fired their manager, Micah Franklin, last Sunday, just 54 games into the season. The San Jose Mercury News reports that last Friday, player agent Lonnie Murray publicly criticized the organization on the social media platform X for mistreating her clients. Murray accused the organization of mishandling a shortstop’s injury and claimed the team did not set up a visit with a doctor. She also posted that players were housed by the team in groups of four to a room when they were told it would only be two per room. Sounds like the B’s are on a shoestring.
THE CAP’N IS BACK
One of the longest-tenured Idaho Steelheads in history has re-signed with the organization for a seventh season. It’s the captain, A.J. White, of course, who teased retirement Tuesday before his big reveal. As a 31-year-old forward last season, White still tied for the Steelheads lead in scoring with 66 points while playing in 71 of the team’s 72 games. White, winner of the ECHL’s Sportsmanship Award last season, ranks second all-time in games played (416), goals (113), assists (197), and points (310) in the Steelies’ ECHL era.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by POOL SCOUTS…perfect pools, scout’s honor!
July 31, 1997: The baseball trade that set the table for history (or infamy?). The Oakland A’s deal slugger Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals. McGwire at that point had 34 home runs and would hit 24 more with the Cards, for a season total of 58. The next year, of course, he got in a groove in St. Louis and broke Roger Maris’ 37-year-old single-season record in a 70-home rampage that at the time may have saved baseball…but now remains shrouded in a dark cloud.
(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.)
