News flash: Boise State is good. Scary good.
Playing in their inaugural Mountain West conference game, the Broncos came into Fort Collins as the fifth-ranked team in the nation, and they certainly lived up to their lofty ranking in a brutally efficient 63-13 victory over Colorado State. Led by their Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Kellen Moore, the Broncos completely dismantled the Ram defense, racking up a school-record 742 yards of total offense. Boise State ran out to a 21-0 first quarter lead and was up 35-0 before CSU recorded a first down.
Kellen Moore completed his first 18 passes, finally throwing his first incompletion with 2:59 remaining in the second quarter, en route to a 26-of-30 performance for 338 yards and 4 touchdowns. His favorite target was Tyler Shoemaker, who caught 9 passes for a career-high 180 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown reception. Shoemaker also stopped the little momentum Colorado State had going into halftime with a 37-yard run on a fake punt that led to one of Doug Martin's 3 rushing touchdowns on the day. The senior running back finished with a career-high 200 yards rushing on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns, scoring on runs of 26-, 65-, and 14-yards.
Boise State's offense gets much of the attention, but the Broncos' defense is just as dominant. The Rams went only 1-of-12 on third down and mustered only 231 yards of total offense (147 passing, 84 rushing). Quarterback Pete Thomas completed 10-of-24 passes for only 100 yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception. Both of CSU's touchdowns came on trick plays; tight end Crocket Gillmore threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to full back Joe Brown, and wide receiver Charles Lovett threw a 20-yard pass to fellow wideout Matt Yemm.
What Does it Mean?
Boise State is clearly the class of the Mountain West, especially with TCU struggling to reload after so many members from last year's undefeated Rose Bowl team graduated. While they gained acclaim from the variety of trick plays they used to come back and defeat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, they are not a finesse, gimmicky team. Boise State is a tough, physical team full of smart, disciplined players. Unlike other high-powered offenses, theirs is more of a pro-style offense built around a power run game. They use a variety of formations and shifts to confuse opposing defense and then take advantage of the resulting mismatches. If they need seven yards, they inevitably get eight. It is a diverse offense that can attack in a multitude of ways. Plus, they are stout on the other side of the ball, ranking 8th in the country in points against. About their only weakness is at placekicker. Even that may not help the Broncos' opponents, since the kicking struggles have led Head Coach Chris Petersen to leave his dynamic offense on the field and go for it more often on fourth down.
While the Broncos are criticized for the lack of strength in their schedule, they are a bona fide top-five team and legitimate national championship contender. They are arguably the most disciplined and well-coached team in college football, and they can match up and play with anybody.
For the Rams, it was a painful reminder of how far they have to go as a program. This game was a measuring stick, and they were found to be woefully lacking. Much was made of Pete Thomas being the first returning quarterback CSU as had under Steve Fairchild and how the offense would be much improved, but that has yet to materialize. The offense has yet to really click this season, and the passing game has especially struggled. Thomas overthrew several open receivers yesterday for what would have been sure touchdowns. Had he connected on those throws, the complexion of the game would have been much different. The defense has been a bright spot this season and had shown marked improvement prior to yesterday's shellacking. While Boise State's offense is one of the best in the country, poor tackling and blown assignments made it much easier for the Broncos. Shoemaker was wide open on his big touchdown run, and whenever a Bronco player got into open space, he was gone.
The Rams were 3-1 going into October, but a tough loss to San Jose State followed by the massacre yesterday has left CSU at 3-3. The Rams have struggled the past few years, so one must wonder how much losing by 50 points has damaged the team's psyche and confidence. Recruiting has improved under Fairchild, but it has yet to translate into on-field performance. This is a very young team, so next week's game against UTEP is critical. A win stops the bleeding and buoys the team's confidence heading into the meat of their MWC schedule. A loss threatens to send the team into a tailspin reminiscent of 2009 when they started 3-0 but finished 3-9.
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