Boise State and Oregon State will battle it out in the second game of the season for both teams. The winner will emerge 2-0.
When Boise State has the ball: The BSU Offense
Jared Zabransky's run for Heisman last year was cut short by reality last year, when he was plagued by the same problem Matt Moore had: interceptions. Zabransky's TD/INT ratio was 18/16, compared to Moore's 11/18 ratio. The Beavers will find out if he is out of his slump, or he still is making bad decisions and throwing to the wrong colored jerseys.
Boise State has two main running backs, in Ian Johnson and Brad Lau. If they stay healthy, the Broncos will do some damage running the ball. They aren't too deep in this category.
The Broncos have a very talented, scary, and fast group of receivers. Drisan James is their main guy, but Jerard Rabb and Legedu Naanee are also big threats. They also have three talented Tight Ends, led by Derek Schouman, which the Beavers need to be careful of. They also look talented up front on the Offensive Line. The Beavers will have their hands full with this unit.
When Oregon State has the ball: The BSU Defense
If Oregon State is going to capitalize on any certain part of the game, it's going to be Defense. They don't have a set in stone lineup at Defensive Line. Andrew Browning is the leader of the group at Defensive Tackle, but everybody else is somewhat interchangeable. With more players rotating at lineman, this will mean that everyone will get more rest. I still don't know if they will have what it takes to go up against Oregon State's very talented Offensive Line.
Korey Hall and Colt Brooks are two of the Boise State's most talented defenders leading one of the Western Athletic Conferance's best linebacking corps. They've got both size and speed with David Shields and Kyle Gingg, who are both fast enough to add more athleticism to the group, while backup Josh Bean is a good-looking backup behind Korey Hall in the middle. This is definitely the strongest unit of the Boise State defense.
The Bronco pass defense is sketchy. On paper it looks like they have good talent as far as players, but they usually give up a bunch of passing yards late in games. This could be because BSU has attendancy to get a lead early, and the only logical reason for a opposing team to come back is to go to the air.
Kicker Anthony Montgomery has some proving to do the coaches, while punter Kyle Stringer is one of the best around.
Connecting the Dots
Bronco Stadium is an insanely hostile environment and a very tough place to play. This has to do in part with Boise State's rowdy, cocky, you name it fans. They cross the line at times, and it makes you wonder if this is the image they're trying to create for their university.
Two years ago, Oregon State played Boise State 5 days after getting beat by 1 point to Louisiana State, and then having flight delays that got the team in late the day after. And while we're on the topic of previous years, let's not forget Oregon State's 3 point victory over the Broncos last season, powered by the leg of Alexis Serna. Boise State led 24-14 early in the third quarter, before the Beavers evened the score at 27 with two field goals and a 22 yard Mike Hass touchdown reception from Moore. The game was won on a OSU field goal with 1:03 left by Alexis Serna.
The Prediction:
Oregon State 35, Boise State 28.
Uh huh.
Go Beavers!
--JB--