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Youth shines in Blue-Orange game
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The Boise State offense beat the defense 25-9 in the annual Blue-Orange game Friday night at Bronco Stadium. The Blue-Orange game was the last scrimmage of the spring for the Broncos. The point total for the game was calculated through a scoring system that gave both sides points based on positive plays.
The Bronco defense was the story of the night again, holding the offense to under 100 yards rushing for the second straight scrimmage. The Broncos managed only 89 yards rushing on 31 carries, with Ian Johnson leading with 20 yards on 9 carries. Sophomore Keith McGowen led the Bronco defense with six tackles, while fellow sophomore Jason Robinson and freshmen Cedric Febis had five tackles each. Linebacker Darrell Acrey had another solid scrimmage with four tackles and a fumble recovery.
“The main thing we talk about is being consistent, there’s a lot of pressure on us to be able to compete at such a high level,” Acrey said. “We don’t want to be one hit wonders, we want to be able to do this over and over.”
Tackling and pursuing the ball have been the main focus points for the defense all spring. The young players have been taking advantage of the playing time they have been getting in these scrimmages to prove they are worthy of a starting job. The scrimmages show the coaches which players really want to play – who puts in the most effort and who isn’t afraid to take the big hit.
“We really wanted to pursue the ball better and not miss tackles,” Acrey said. “If a person makes a mistake we have to be able to pursue and cover for him.”
The offense was able to score one touchdown in the last minute of the scrimmage on a three-yard touchdown run by freshmen Doug Martin. The touchdown was set up by a 32-yard pass from Kellen Moore to Titus Young, giving the Broncos a first-and-goal. The Broncos gained the rest of their points on three field goals.
Freshmen quarterback Moore led all quarterbacks on Friday going 11-of-13 passing for 99 yards. Senior Bush Hamdan had an impressive scrimmage too, going 7-of-10 passing for 65 yards. Nick Lomax was 6-of-13 passing for 53 yards, while Michael Coughlin was 4-of-9 with 26 yards passing.
“None of us are where we need to be right now, it’s really not the prettiest thing right now,” Moore said. “It’s a process and we will build on it throughout the summer.”
Young led all receivers with three catches for 50 yards. Fellow sophomore receiver Austin Pettis caught three passes for 40 yards.
The offense still has a few kinks to work out on the offensive line, but the quarterbacks seem to be getting better with every scrimmage. The problems with the offensive line should work themselves out this summer. Bad snaps with the introduction of a new shotgun offense seem to be the main problem, but with practice and a little patience the Broncos should be ready for their first game against Idaho State in August.
“It went kinda like we thought it would,” Head Coach Christ Petersen said. “Some good plays, some kinda ugly plays but you put the tape on and we should see a lot of guys making progress. We will put the whole puzzle together when we start up in the fall."
TRENT LOOTENS
Sports Writer
