WAC Football & Basketball blog

Boise State ran their record to 12-0 in a thrilling 44-33 victory over Nevada. The Broncos still have their sights on a BCS bowl game but must finish the regular season with a victory over New Mexico State to further solidify their chances. With Oklahoma State’s loss to Oklahoma, the latest bowl projections show Boise State facing Iowa in the Fiesta Bowl. In the meantime, BSU is the lone WAC school with a logo Snuggie available for purchase. Fans can buy Boise State Snuggie blankets online through DFN Sports site.

The Boise State Broncos avoided the upset against conference rival Fresno State. The Broncos held on for a 51-34 victory. The Broncos move up two positions in the top 25 rankings to #8.

The WAC dropped to 0-2 in the bowl season with Boise St.’s last-second 41-38 loss to East Carolina in Sunday’s Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Ben Hartman’s 34-yard field goal on the last play of the game won it for East Carolina and capped off a dramatic final two minutes, when the Pirates appeared to have it all but sewn up, but wound up needing Hartman’s heroics.

Boise St.’s offense got off to a slow start, due in part to star running back Ian Johnson being limited by injury, and their only highlight of the first quarter-plus was Austin Smith’s 89-yard kickoff return that gave them a 7-3 lead, which would turn out to be their only lead of the night.

In the meantime, East Carolina produced fireworks upon fireworks in the first half, with their own Johnson having a big first half. Chris Johnson ran for a 68-yard touchdown to put the Pirates up 10-7 in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter had a 46-yard run to step up his own 18-yard touchdown reception, which put ECU up 24-7.

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After the Broncos pulled within 24-14, a fumble by Ian Johnson late in the quarter resulted in another ECU touchdown and a 31-14 halftime lead.

But, the Broncos put that tough first half behind them and made a comeback in the final 30 minutes, giving themselves a chance at overtime.

The second half didn’t get off to a great start, as ECU picked up where they left off in the first half and scored on their opening drive to go up 38-14.

But, the Broncos made it 38-31 with seven minutes to go on D.J. Harper’s 1-yard touchdown run, and after forcing a three-and-out, marched down the field towards a potential tying score.

However, on 3rd and 9 from the Pirates’ 23, Titus Young fumbled on a reception, turning it over to the Pirates, and seemingly sealing the deal, with less than two minutes left on the clock.

But, on second down, Chris Johnson fumbled, and Marty Tadman returned it 48 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

But, the Broncos’ heroics from last season’s Fiesta Bowl weren’t going to be repeated.

Johnson atoned for his first fumble of the season by returning the kickoff 30 yards to the 39, and then, on 3rd and 8, Rob Kaas completed a 36-yard pass to Jamar Bryant to get ECU in position for the game-winning field goal, and Hartman connected to break Boise hearts.

Chris Johnson was named the game’s MVP, as a result of his 408 all-purpose yards (223 rushing, 32 receiving, 153 kickoff return) and two touchdowns.

Taylor Tharp threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos, who finished their season 10-3. East Carolina won their first bowl game since 2000, and finishes their season 8-5.

Before Hawaii can get ready for their pivotal clash with Boise St., the Warriors (9-0, 6-0) have to get past a huge obstacle on Friday night, as they travel to Nevada, where they haven’t won in three previous tries.

Nevada’s chances for the upset are more than fair, as the Wolf Pack (5-4, 3-2) come into the game on a hot streak, with three straight wins, and with a rising star in dual-threat QB Colin Kaepernick and the WAC’s leading rusher in Luke Lippincott, have the offense to keep up with Colt Brennan and Hawaii.

Brennan was cleared to play in Friday’s game after getting a concussion (fortunately, that was all that it was, because it didn‘t look pretty at all) in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 37-30 win over Fresno St. If he has any issues, the Warriors have a reliable backup to turn to in Tyler Graunke, who started against Charleston Southern and has seen action in a number of other games.

If Nevada can pull off the upset, it would make them bowl-eligible, and greatly help their bowl chances. The WAC has only three guaranteed berths, and Fresno St. (6-4, 5-2) seems locked into that third spot, but the Wolf Pack would look pretty attractive to one of the bowls who might need to find a replacement for one of their conference tie-ins that don’t get enough bowl-eligible teams to fill their slots.

If Hawaii wins, it will keep their BCS hopes alive heading into next week’s showdown with the Broncos, which will not only decide the WAC champion, but potentially if the conference will have a BCS representative for the second straight season.

The Broncos (9-1, 6-0) appear to have a much easier task ahead of them this week, as they host in-state rival Idaho, who’s 1-9 overall and winless in conference play at 0-6. BSU has been scoring a lot of points lately, but now that Ian Johnson is back and healthy, that makes their offense all the more difficult to slow down.

In the other two games on the schedule, San Jose St. (4-6, 3-3) travels to Louisiana Tech (4-6, 3-3) in a battle for fifth place, and New Mexico St. (4-7, 1-5) looks to keep 0-10 (and 0-6 in WAC play) Utah St. out of the win column in an all-Aggie battle in Las Cruces on Saturday. San Jose St. QB Adam Tafralis will try to reach career marks of 7,000 yards and 50 touchdowns (he’s currently at 6,837 yards and 49 touchdowns in his four seasons at SJSU), while New Mexico St.’s Chase Holbrook will look to reach the 8,000 yard and 60 touchdown mark (he’s currently at 7,795 yards and 58 touchdowns in two seasons)

Brennan Ties Record, Hawaii Remains Unbeaten

Colt Brennan tied the NCAA record for most career touchdown passes in Saturday’s game against Fresno St., but didn’t get the chance to break it before he was knocked out - literally - early in the fourth quarter of a 37-30 win.

He tied the record on a 5-yard touchdown toss to Davone Bess which made it 31-7 Hawaii in the second quarter and tied him with Ty Detmer atop the charts with 121 touchdown passes.

He got two opportunities to break the record, but was intercepted in the end zone by Marcus Henry to thwart a scoring drive in the third, and on the following drive, Hawaii had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Dan Kelly.

He was knocked out with 10:43 left when he took a hit from Fresno St’s Marcus Henry. It looked scary at first, but after laying on the ground for several minutes and being attended to, he was able to walk off with assistance, though he was obviously woozy.

His concussion likely won’t keep him out of Friday’s game at Nevada, a game that will be seen nationally on ESPN2.

Speaking of television, I watched much of the Fresno St. game, and while Brennan didn’t have his best night, he looked sharp on most of his throws and put together a nice night, going 28 of 39 for 396 yards. He and the Warriors did, however, miss three touchdown opportunities deep in the red zone (one via the interception, and two where they were forced to settle for a field goal), which would have made for even more of a record night, and having the win sealed well before Fresno St‘s late comeback.

Brennan will need to shake off the cobwebs and have a strong game in Reno to maintain his Heisman candidacy and more importantly, keep Hawaii unbeaten going into the big showdown with Boise St. on Nov. 23.

BCS Hopes Still in the Balance for Conference Leaders

Despite their win over Fresno St., Hawaii (9-0, 6-0) stayed put at #16 in the updated BCS standings, whereas Boise St. (9-1, 6-0) moved up to 18th after shutting out Utah St. 52-0 in Logan.

At this point, you would like to see more movement, but it should happen in the next couple of weeks for either team if they win out.

That #12 spot (or higher) is where the Warriors or Broncos want and need to be, but if they come in 13-15, they could get in if Connecticut could knock off West Virginia for the Big East title, as the Huskies (currently #24 in the BCS) might finish outside of the top 16.

Both teams are in a decent position in the Harris poll and the coaches’ poll, but need a little help in the computer rankings, where Boise St. has a 28.00 average (high of 12th, low of 38th), while Hawaii has a 29.25 average (high of 12th, low of 34th). Those numbers should change for the better in the next few weeks, and if they do, one of those teams should end up in the BCS bash.

Petersen, Jones in the Running for Coach of the Year Honors

Boise St. coach Chris Petersen and Hawaii coach June Jones were both named semifinalists for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award last week, while Petersen was named as a semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year award.

Both coaches deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done thus far. After a BCS year last season, Boise was expected to play second fiddle to Hawaii, but is still in the running for the WAC title and another BCS berth, despite having to break in several new starters, including at QB, and dealing with Ian Johnson’s injury issues.

Jones has done an excellent job building up the Hawaii football program since he took over after an 0-12 season in 1998. His hard work has culminated in what has been a perfect season thus far, which has the Warriors ranked in the top 15 in both major polls and in the running for the WAC title and a BCS bowl berth.

Weekend Scores

Hawaii (9-0, 6-0) 37, Fresno St. (6-4, 5-2) 30
Boise St. (9-1, 6-0) 52, Utah St. (0-10, 0-6) 0
San Jose St. (4-6, 3-3) 51, New Mexico St. (4-7, 1-5) 17
LSU (9-1) 58, Louisiana Tech (4-6) 10

Hawaii’s BCS hopes will be decided in a four-game stretch to end the season, and that stretch starts with a visit from Fresno St. The Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1) will come to the island intent to ruin Colt Brennan and the Warriors’ dreams, but it won’t be easy.

Boise St. will look to keep Utah St. winless, as the Broncos take a trip to Logan to take the 0-9 Aggies. Utah St. has been competitive in several of their defeats, so the trip will be anything but a vacation for the Broncos.

New Mexico St. pays a visit to San Jose St., looking for their fifth win of the season, while the Spartans will look to snap a three-game losing streak.

There is one non-conference tilt, as Louisiana Tech will pay a visit to Baton Rouge to face the #2 Tigers. Will the Bulldogs give their in-state foes a hard time, or will they be easily brushed aside as LSU makes a run towards the BCS national championship game?