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Broncos Open the Stable, Leave Ruston as Winners
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The Boise State football team overcame the absence of star running back Ian Johnson, Saturday night, en route to a 45-31 road win at Western Athletic Conference foe Louisiana Tech (2-5, 1-3).
The Broncos (6-1, 3-0) arrived in Ruston, La. looking for their third WAC win of the season. They would have to earn it with the team’s most productive offensive weapon sitting at home back in Boise.
Johnson suffered a kidney bruise last Sunday in the 4OT win over the University of Nevada and it was unclear all week whether or not he would play at La Tech. When doctors confirmed the bruise midweek, Head Coach Chris Petersen and his staff looked to the rest of the stable.
Red-shirt freshman Jeremy Avery and true freshman D.J. Harper were the next two running backs on the BSU depth chart. Both players had split carries behind Johnson through the first six games of the season. It was apparent Saturday night, however, that one of them would need to step his game up if the Broncos were going to be successful.
“We had a lot of hard discussions this week on how that can change us personnel wise and those types of things,” Coach Petersen said.
Despite an obvious change in personnel and experience, the BSU game plan never wavered. Both players carried the football seven times in the first half. Harper struggled to get going and only gained two positive yards in the half. Avery, however, started running downhill by halftime. He finished the half with 49 rushing yards, which was still no indication of how he would terrorize the Bulldog defense through in the second half.
“I think a lot of players on the team expected it,” BSU wide receiver Jeremy Childs said. “He’s actually a good running back. We weren’t going to lose no beat when IJ went down. But I knew that Avery [and] Harper were gonna step up and make plays when needed.”
Avery delivered. He ran his way to a rushing touchdown and 110 rushing yards.
He provided a big-time threat as a receiver out of the backfield, with four catches for 79 yards and a score. What proved to be most vital, however, was when the Broncos needed to establish their running game, Avery was up to carrying the load.
“I had to just play my game. [there was] no pressure,” Avery said. “It’s all about instincts. Football is basically 100 percent instincts.”
On the Broncos second possession of the third quarter, tied 17-17, BSU Offensive Coordinator Bryan Harsin called Avery’s number four consecutive times. The results were successful. He carried three times and caught one pass. He finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run to push the Broncos back in front, 24-17. Most importantly, however, it showed the Bronco coaching staff that Avery was their guy the rest of the way.
The game didn’t rest solely on Avery’s shoulders. Sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Childs provided another solid contribution Saturday night. He entered the game as the established go-to receiver for the Broncos this season. His two fourth quarter touchdowns reconfirmed the reason why.
With BSU only leading by a touchdown with a little more than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Childs broke an 83-yard touchdown catch-and-run to break La Tech’s spirits about a late-game comeback.
“I had a move in my head of what I was gonna do,” Childs said. “I made a move, trying to sprint to the end zone. I ain’t got great speed, but I was trying to get there as fast as possible.”
The score came on, what Childs said after the game, was a busted route. He said that he broke from his initial post and found his way to the BSU sideline. Bronco quarterback Taylor Tharp found Childs in man-to-man coverage and the rest is history.
“I was supposed to run a route,” Childs said. “I should have run a route. Fortunately, I was thinking to myself ‘I want to make a play’.”
Tharp had another solid outing, throwing for 328 passing yards on 21-of-35 passing. He also tossed five touchdown passes, including a second one to Childs with 3:34 left to go. Tharp also found the freshman duo of Austin Pettis and Titus Young in the game. Young’s score came on a 39-yard pass in the first quarter and Pettis’ was on an 8-yard scoring strike midway through the third quarter.
For the second consecutive week the BSU defense played below its own level of expectations, but still managed to come up with big plays when needed the most. The Broncos allowed the La Tech offense to surpass its offensive season average halfway through the third quarter. The Bulldogs finished the game with 463 yards of total offense after only averaging 315.8 yards per game this season.
“We’re still a little frustrated,” BSU linebacker Dallas Dobbs said. “We want to stop the run a little better, obviously. They had a couple of big runs and that’s not our style of football.”
Dobbs finished the game with nine tackles and an interception that came in the third quarter. Junior Kyle Gingg led all BSU players in tackles with 14, three of which were solo. Perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game came in the fourth quarter. BSU cornerback Orlando Scandrick stripped La Tech’s Joe Anderson to end a Bulldog scoring drive.
“We keep talking about tackling and turnovers with our defense and, you know, that was huge,” Petersen said. “You could kind of see it coming. When he stood him up you were kind of hoping he would rip it out and he did exactly what he’s supposed to do. It was a turning point in the game.”
La Tech did score one final touchdown with 1:29 left. La Tech’s Zac Champion found Brian Jackson for a 16-yard score. The Bulldogs then recovered an onside kick, which gave them one last chance at a miracle. Scandrick played spoiler once again, intercepting Champion and ending the final push. He put together a solid return and looked like he was capable of returning kicks.
BSU will now regroup for the road trip to Fresno State with a short week to turn around and prepare. The Broncos (6-1, 3-0 WAC) travel to Fresno, Calif. Friday to face FSU. Those Bulldogs are also currently undefeated in conference play (5-2, 4-0 WAC).
Jake Garcin