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BSU Avoids Media Buzz
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After nearly two weeks without real football practice the Boise State Broncos took the practice field again Saturday. BSU is within 20 days of the biggest game in school history, while head coach Chris Petersen is approaching his biggest challenge at the helm as well. Petersen’s 13th career game as a head coach will be against a former collegiate National Champion, Bob Stoops.
As a team Oklahoma boasts a Big 12 championship trophy. The Sooners have also qualified for a BCS game in five of Stoops’ eight seasons as head coach. Stoops led Oklahoma to a national title in 2000. BSU, on the other hand, only played one major conference opponent in 2006 (Oregon State), which means coach Petersen and the Broncos will be swimming in uncharted waters in Glendale.
“They’re one of the storied programs in the country,” Petersen said at a press conference Friday. “Anytime you study them it becomes even more impressive with all the things they’ve done in the past. It’s a great opportunity for our program to be talked about and to get an opportunity to compete with these guys.”
Despite the recent national buzz about Boise State Petersen wants to make sure his team remains focused on their long term goals. Petersen said he feels making it to a BCS bowl game is an accomplished goal, but the team also wants to win that bowl game. So with less than two weeks before the team will leave for Arizona Petersen is trying to harp on ‘taking care of business’.
“I don’t want to make this thing bigger than it is,” Petersen said. “If we listen to (the media) all day long, it’s bigger than the Super Bowl. I just want to make sure everybody coaches at their best and plays at their best. If you start getting caught up in the hype I don’t think those things happen.”
One of the general consensus opinions about the game is that BSU will be playing the under dog role against Oklahoma. Outside of Boise most people in the college football community are picking Oklahoma as the favorite to win the Fiesta Bowl. The under dog title comes as no big surprise to Petersen, however. He said he is more confident as the under dog than if his team was entering the game with high expectations from the rest of the country.
“The bigger the challenge the better we’ve played all year,” Petersen said. “I’m expecting these guys to play the best game we’ve had all year.”
Both teams will be battling long lay-off’s, which can have a big effect on a team’s offense primarily. The Broncos haven’t played full contact football in weeks and expect to have some rust built up by game day. According to Petersen, the rust is something both teams will be dealing with and he doesn’t see it as a bigger advantage to either team.
“I think it will affect both teams because I think it’s very hard when you lay off as long as we have, to get that game speed,” Petersen said. “You do lose something. Sometimes it takes a quarter to get that rhythm back, especially offensively."
Jake Garcin
