Young confidence replaces veteran experience

When wide receivers Drisan James, Jerard Rabb and Legadu Naanee departed from the Boise State football team after last season, they left a gaping hole in the Bronco offense. The trio spent the season accumulating a remarkable 1,777 combined-yards and 14 touchdowns on 108 receptions. The only thing they left behind was a lingering question mark. It was quickly replaced with confidence in the experience and leadership of junior Vinny Perretta and sophomore Jeremy Childs. Although it is young in academic standing, the duo provides the most experience of any receivers on the BSU roster. Perretta and Childs are the only wide receivers returning from last year’s squad who had more than 10 receptions throughout the season. Beyond receptions, however, Perretta brought even more to the table. On top of his 16 receptions Perretta also carried the ball 53 times for a total of 314 rushing yards. He proved to be a complete package when he completed a five-yard pass to tight end Derek Schouman in overtime of the Fiesta Bowl. While Perretta isn’t going to be tossed into the quarterback race, the BSU coaching staff is sure to call on him for both rushing and receiving again this season. "Both positions are fun," Perretta said. "At receiver right now we don’t have a whole lot of experience. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team whether it’s playing wide receiver or getting a few carries every now and then. I’m just trying to do what the coaches tell me and help this team win some football games." The other go-to-guy this year will be Childs. Last year Childs racked up 152 yards and a touchdown on 14 receptions. In his senior year of high school he caught 85 passes for a total of 1,258 yards and 22 touchdowns. He is one of the best Bronco recruits and definitely had his presence felt on the football field last season. This year he will find himself in a completely different position as a leader of this football team. It is a role that he accepts but does not stress about. "Whatever happens, happens," Childs said. "If I’m the go to guy, I am and if I’m not, I’m not. I’m still going to go out there and give it 100 percent. I’m just going to go out there and do my job and do our job as a receiver group to help this team win." In taking the reigns to the receiving corps Childs has been impressed in helping the younger wide-outs find their way into the BSU system. "We’re just trying to come together as a family and replace the four receivers that left last year," Childs said. "I think we have tremendous talent, especially the young guys (Michael) Choate, Ricky (Cookman), Titus (Young), Tyler (Shoemaker) and Austin (Pettis). Those are some really good young guys that take in whatever we tell them. We just all go out there and try to work hard as a group." Childs and Perretta have a large duty to fill this upcoming season. However, with the talent and drive of the younger receivers the leading duo will have a lot of help in making the Broncos’ passing game as strong as ever. "We have a lot of young guys but at the same time we have a whole lot of talent," Perretta said. "We don’t have whole lot of experience at the position. I’m trying to fill that leadership role along with some other older guys. We’re just trying to help those young guys and show them how to do it at Boise State; how to practice and most importantly, show them how to win."

Brian Luptak

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