Rypien has 'a gift' for the game of football

CHAROLOTTESVILLE, VA - Leadership is a quality that Boise State true freshman quarterback Brett Rypien put on display long before he arrived on campus in Boise.

"I've seen that in him as a very young kid," said Tim Rypien, Brett's father, on the morning his son left Spokane for college. "He likes to be in the forefront and he likes to lead. I think that's one of his best traits, personally. He's a very good leader. He likes that role."

As a kid, the younger Rypien naturally gravitated towards the quarterback position. According to his uncle, Mark Rypien, a Super Bowl MVP in 1992, his newphew has always honed in on the details, and made those players around him better.

"As a seventh grader and eighth grader, I'm out there like 'Okay, you need to do this to your feet.' He was totally in-tuned to what was going on," recalled the former Washington Redskins quarterback. "He wanted to do it because he wanted to be the best at what he does. He took it to heart early on.

"The checks and all the little things that make you a great player, make the players around you better, are the intangible things (he possess)."

On Friday night, in his debut as the starting quarterback for Boise State, it didn't take long for 19-year-old Rypien to put his best character traits on display.

Playing over 2,000 miles away from Boise against a team from the ACC, Rypien finished the night with 321 yards threw the air and three touchdowns en route to a 56-14 victory over Virginia.

In doing do, he also became the first true freshman quarterback in the NCAA to win on the road against a Power Five opponent this season.

"He was an ultimately leader out there," said junior Boise State linebacker Ben Weaver. "Being out there as a true freshman, and I know our offense is extremely complicated, so to see him out there and run it the way he did, make the decisions he did, and in some of the situations he was in, it was real exciting."

"I was impressed with his operation," added head coach Bryan Harsin. "I was impressed with him in the huddle. I was impressed with him after a negative series of coming back and getting on the phone, correcting whatever it was we needed to correct, and then just having his mind right. He was very focused."

Clearly Brett was prepared for the moment. Just ask sophomore running Jeremy McNichols, Rypien's college roommate.

"He's a baller," McNichols said with a smile after the game. "He shows up at practice. He gets to the meeting room at 6 a.m., watching film. He's the last one to leave, watching film.

"It was expected and we didn't lose a beat with him," continued McNichols, still smiling.

Obviously one game doesn't make a career, but it was positive start for Rypien, who showed he is capable of leading the Broncos, regardless of his age.

"(He's) real mature. Stepping up in the pocket. If he has to throw it away, (he) throws it away," explained senior cornerback Donte Deayon. "They preach that at practice, to get the mechanics right. Going over it in practice and him relating it to the field is real nice."

"Yeah, I am excited for that position," Harsin said. "I am excited that we had some great production out of it and that's something to build on."

"A lot of the things he's doing now is because who is he," included uncle Mark. "He just has a real niche for the game of football and a gift."