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Freshman duo steals the show
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The first fall scrimmage for the Boise State football team went well in the eyes of Head Coach Chris Petersen. However, it didn’t necessarily go exactly as he expected it to. While his offense was efficient and the defense was able to make a few big stands inside the red zone the script didn’t read exactly how BSU fans expected it to.
In the midst of a heated quarterback race, said front-runner Bush Hamdan did not play because of a hand injury. Meanwhile, the spotlight was stole by true freshman quarterback Kellen Moore – a player who will red shirt this season for the Broncos.
Moore completed 5-of-8 passes for 71 yards wit ha 137.05 quarterback rating. Despite a solid performance from senior Taylor Tharp, who went 7-of-13 for 116 yards, it was Moore who received the biggest ovation after a QB sneak for a touchdown late in the scrimmage.
“Kellen, he’s a football player,” Coach Petersen said after the scrimmage. “He might not exactly look the part being that 6-3 type quarterback, but he’s very smart and he’s a crafty player. He’s a gamer. He did that in high school and you saw that here today.”
Moore’s performance won’t change his red shirt status for this season but it did take some of the focus off of Hamdan’s absence from the practice.
“I always want Bush out there pushing me and I want to push him,” Tharp said. “I feel like we push each other. I feel bad he wasn’t out there and I’m sure he’ll get back and still have a chance to be in this thing.”
Afterwards Coach Petersen did make it very clear, however, that missing an opportunity to play today could be a major set back for Hamdan’s progress.
“Taylor did a nice job and I think all the quarterback’s have been doing a nice job,” Petersen said. “We want competition to be like that. Hey, you can’t get hurt because someone could pass you up.”
The Broncos do expect to have Hamdan back in the rotation by the start of next week and he’s expected to be on the field in the second and final scrimmage of the fall Friday, Aug. 17.
Another Bronco youngster who asserted himself into the offensive spot light was true freshman Titus Young, from Los Angeles, Calif. Young led the young receiving corps with five receptions for 67 yards.
“Titus is going to be a good player,” Petersen said. “We’re still trying to figure his situation out as well. It’s fun figuring a guy like that out because there’s a lot of potential in him and there’s going to be a lot of football in front of him. Its just when/where is what we’re trying to figure out in the next week or so.”
Coach Petersen continues to search for a rotation of complementary receivers to go along with sophomore Jeremy Childs. Childs is expected to be a big play threat for the Broncos this season. In Saturday’s scrimmage he caught three passes for 46 yards.
On the other side of the football the BSU defense showed its opportunistic capabilities but did allow the Bronco offense to move the ball consistently. The defense forced and interception and a fumble on the goal line but allowed 351 passing yards and 149 rushing yards during the scrimmage.
In perspective, however, Coach Petersen did say the offense ran upwards of 105 to 115 plays on the afternoon. The defense did sack the quarterback eight times on the afternoon and only allowed two rushing touchdowns.
“I feel in depth isn’t as good as we’d like it to be but there were some positive things out here,” junior cornerback Orlando Scandrick said about the defensive effort. “We got a chance to see where we were mentally and physically. We got some things we need to work on.”
The defense was without the services of senior safety Marty Tadman who sat out with an ankle injury. The Broncos also lost junior linebacker David Shields partway through the scrimmage with a minor, unspecified injury.
“They showed flashes,” Coach Petersen said about the defense. “We were going into score, the offense, and they knocked the ball out. That’s what it’s all about – turnovers. They swelled up real nice a couple times. We’ve just got to get in a little bit better football shape and be able to play long.”
The Broncos have four regular days of practice next week before suiting up for another scrimmage at 7 p.m. Friday night.
Boise State 2007 Pre-Season Scrimmage – #1
August 11, 2007
Scoring
Taylor Tharp 1-yard run (No PAT Attempted)
Brock Jaramillo, 46-yard field goal
Kellen Moore, 1-yard run (No PAT Attempted)
Kyle Brotzman, 43-yard field goal
Rushing Att. Yds YPC TD
Doug Martin 7 40 5.7 0
Ian Johnson 11 38 3.5 0
D.J. Harper 9 37 4.1 0
Jarvis Hodge 4 23 5.8 0
Jeremy Avery 7 19 2.7 0
Tanyon Bissell 2 16 2.0 0
Titus Young 2 12 6.0 0
Vinny Perretta 1 7 7.0 0
Kellen Moore 5 -8 -1.6 1
Nick Lomax 3 -10 -3.3 0
Mike Coughlin 2 -10 -5.0 0
Taylor Tharp 3 -15 -5.0 1
Totals 56 149 2.7 2
Passing Cmp /Att. Pct. Yds Tds Int Rating
Kellen Moore 5 /8 62.5 71 0 0 137.05
Taylor Tharp 7 /13 53.8 116 0 0 128.79
Nick Lomax 8 /13 61.5 93 0 0 121.63
Michael Coughlin 5/16 31.3 71 0 1 56.06
Totals 25/50 50.0 351 0 1 104.97
Receiving Rec. Yds Tds
Titus Young 5 67 0
Jeremy Childs 3 46 0
Ryan Putnam 2 25 0
Austin Pettis 2 43 0
Michael Choate 2 34 0
Chris O’Neil 2 22 0
Vinny Perretta 2 9 0
Ian Johnson 1 42 0
Sherm Blaser 1 21 0
Julian Hawkins 1 19 0
Tommy Gallarda 1 17 0
Evan Surratt 1 5 0
Kyle Efaw 1 1 0
Tyler Shoemaker 1 0 0
Totals 25 351 1
Interceptions No. Yds Tds
Brandyn Thompson 1 0 0
Sacks No. Yds
Jarrell Root 2 -12
Ryan Winterswyk 1 -9
Josh Bean 1 -8
Dallas Dobbs 1 -7
Kyle Gingg 1 -7
Will Lawrence 1 -5
Billy Winn 1 -5
Totals 8 -53
Jake Garcin
