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The Boise State football team lost 23 seniors the 2006 Fiesta Bowl Championship season. This left noticeable absences in every part of the Bronco lineup. Some believe that the departure of Korey Hall and Colt Brooks, who anchored the defense as linebackers, will be the hardest hole to fill. Others are afraid of being less than two weeks from kickoff and not having a starting quarterback to rely on.
However, possibly the biggest shoes to fill this season will be at wide receiver. Not only did the broncos lose the top three wide-outs on the team in Jerard Rabb, Drisan James and Legadu Naanee, but they also will be missing tight end Derek Schouman who was fourth on the team in receptions.
The team will be returning number five and six on the leader board with Vinny Perretta and Jeremy Childs. But who else will have their chance to step up and fill this crucial role in the BSU offense?
The answer is in a group of young receivers that are catching on very quickly as to how things are done at BSU.
Tanyon Bissel
Bissel also saw field time last season as a backup wide receiver and special teams player. He is a 5-10 junior from Bozeman Senior High in Bozeman, Mont. where he played quarterback. As a senior he passed for 1,582 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns of his own. He walked on with the Broncos in 2004 and in 2005 made two receptions for 20 yards and a touchdown. Last season he made two more receptions for a total of 29 yards.
Julian Hawkins
Julian Hawkins, a 6-3 junior from Long Beach Poly High in Long Beach, Calif. is moving over from tight end to wide-out this season. He had 20 receptions for a total of 385 yards his senior year of high school before redshirting with the Broncos and spending the next two years as a backup tight end. Last season he had one catch for 42 yards against Oregon State.
Michael Choate
As a 5-11 sophomore, Choate walked on this past spring. As a senior playing for Haviland High School in Haviland, Kan. Choate passed for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns at quarterback while also rushing for 1,500 yards and 50 touchdowns. He then played one season at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan. in 2005 before transferring to BSU and walking on following the 2006 season.
Austin Pettis
Pettis is a 6-3 wide receiver from Lutheran High School in Orange, Calif. His senior year he racked up 1,079 yards and 13 touchdowns from 72 receptions. Though Pettis is only a true freshman this season he is expected to have an early impact on the Bronco passing game.
Titus Young
A smaller receiver at 5-11, Young played at University High in Los Angeles, Calif. where he finished his senior year with 2,000 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns. As one of the Broncos’ best recruits, Young has already caught the eye of the coaches and the veteran players.
“Titus Young. He’s one of our highest recruits and I think he showed it today,” quarterback Taylor Tharp said following the first BSU scrimmage this fall. “He comes out and kind of brings raw athleticism and, yeah, it carried over to the field. He made some plays.”
Coach Peterson also noticed Young’s determination to display how he can help the Broncos.
“Titus is going to be a good player,” Peterson said. “There’s a lot of potential in him and a lot of football in front of him.”
Of course, some are worried about the potential that lies in a receiving corps so young and inexperienced, especially when there is still no distinguished starting quarterback. However, both the coaches and the players have confidence in the leadership of players like Perretta and Childs as well as the talent and strength of these young receivers as a group.
Jake Garcin
