By Chadd Cripe
ccripe@idahostatesman.com
Bowling Green will bring some tricky schemes to Bronco Stadium on Saturday.
On offense, the Falcons run a spread offense and will line up three different starters at quarterback — quarterback Tyler Sheehan, wide receiver Anthony Turner and wide receiver Freddie Barnes.
The Falcons also operate without a huddle for nearly the entire game.
Turner was the starting quarterback in 2006 and he played tailback in 2007.
“You’ve just got to pay attention to where he is and everybody needs to know he’s a threat when he’s at quarterback because he’s a physical, strong runner,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said.
Defensively, the Falcons like to move their linemen around — looping tackles around to the outside, for example. Senior end Diyral Briggs (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) has five sacks in two games against Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
“I think their defense is the scarier part of their team for us,” Boise State tailback Ian Johnson said. “They like to move around a lot. … These things are unorthodox for us to say the least.”
•••
Other highlights from Johnson’s weekly press conference:
On having a second-week bye: “It definitely felt like it was more of a scrimmage the first game, not because of the opponent, but because of the amount of time you had afterward and the attitude you had afterward. It was nice to have the time off, but we like once we get rolling to keep rolling.”
On the offensive line: “Of all the groups in the last game they were the one that stood out in my mind — very few mistakes, very assignment sound, they were burying guys, they were playing like a big, dirty bunch of 300-pounders, and I love it.”
On Nevada tailback Luke Lippincott, the defending WAC rushing champ, missing the rest of the season with a knee injury: “That’s one of the things we know being ballcarriers — we’re hunted every single play. We’re expected to go out there with a certain intensity. It really is just one play away, but you can never play scared because when you play scared and realize all these things that are against you, that’s when they start affecting you. … I’m really discouraged to know he’s not going to be playing.”
You can listen to Johnson here.
•••
There’s a chance freshman left tackle Nate Potter will make his much-anticipated college debut this week, but he might not be able to play a full game. Potter has missed a bunch of practice time over the past year with various injuries.
“He’s not going to be in game form,” Petersen said. “There’s no way.”
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A running QB? Uh oh
I know BSU's got a lot of new linebackers, but if there's one thing I remember about last season, it was that they had no semblance of defense against running QBs. Jake Locker (of UW) and Colin Kaepernick were given free reign of the field.
On the plus side, I'll be interested to see how many total plays we'll see in this game, since neither Sheehan nor Moore are particularly fond of huddles. This could be one of the most intense games in the nation for this year. I expect to see six QBs, ten tailbacks and more packages than Catholics on Christmas.
Good warmup for Oregon
but I imagine the coaches would have preferred BG in week two and a bye in week three. I expect BSU will beat BG by a couple of TDs, and go into Eugene as a 8-10 point dog (depending also on how Oregon-Purdue goes, obviously).
A warmup for Oregon? BSU
A warmup for Oregon? BSU will be lucky to stay within 3 TDs plus getting hit hard play after play. When it's time to play Oregon, the Broncos will still be licking their wounds from BG. Hello??
I love your...
optimism and outlook, however I have to disagree. I believe Bowling Green's true colors were shown against Minnessota. I believe their win over Pittsburgh just showed that Pittsburgh was overrated. BSU will win again on the blue and will take the win over Bowling Green as meaning that they beat a team that beat a top 25 team, therefore they are or should be a Top 25 team. They aren't, but a win over Bowling Green will make them think so.
tomellen
I know your a Bronco hater, but you got this one right. Pitt is way overrated (or was) and Bowling Green got beat by a so so Minnesota team at home. Also, BSU doesnt deserve to be in the top 25 when they will get whacked next weekend.
Warmup???
It always amazes me how close to the actual spread that the oddsmakers in Vegas get. I guess it's because it's their business and millions of dollars ride on their ability to pick the spread of the game....oh, by the way, BSU is a 16 1/2 point favorite over BG.
It's not the spread, it's the mobile QB
I think Boise will do fine with the all the different line-up changes BG throws at them. Like mentioned above, I think it's the mobile QB we as bronco fans need to worry about. It seems like BSU has had trouble with mobile QBs for a few years now, not just last year.
With that said, it seems like the team is more athletic this year so hopefully that helps.
It could very well be a shootout between the offenses. If the defense can keep BGs no huddle offense off the field then BSU can control the tempo of the game.
jerry lambert
please go take your meds..bsu will beat BG by three touchdowns, mark my words.
I think that
BSU will win this game against BG, but it will be close until the 4th. BSU has problems with mobile QB's because they don't like to go one on one and so they spread the defense out on the field. Well not with smaller teams, but every time we've played a faster and stronger team from higher conferences that's how they do it. We don't have a chance one on one, so they let the QB run but they have better coverage downfield. Makeing the QB run all game long with almost no chance to throw the ball down to his receivers, while BSU is waiting on the linebackers, and the front line to make a sack and put more pressure on the QB. This is how I see it. I won't get mad if you'all disagree. LOL>
BYU still overshadows all of it.