Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Ten Best Passing Seasons In Boise State History

I'll start out by saying this list looked a lot different prior to 2008.  The list is more than simply looking at passing efficiency.  In this case, Ryan Dinwiddie's 2002 season would have been #1 if you only look at passing efficiency.  But Dinwiddie missed half of the 2002 season with an injury, and as incredible as he was that half year, that half of a season can't be called the best passing season in school history.  Also, completions, which count heavily in the NCAA passing efficiency, are not nearly as important as yards per completion.

So I believe it more representative to look at all the factors that go into a passing season:  completions, yards, yards per completion, passing efficiency, passing percentage, interception percentage, and touchdowns thrown.  Looking at all those factors, here are those ten seasons:

1.  Kellen Moore, 2010

Moore was sensational in his junior year.  He completed 273-383 passes for a sizzling percentage of 71.3% for 3,845 yards and 35 touchdowns against just six interceptions.  Those numbers rank second in school history for passing efficiency (182.63), sixth for completions, second for passing percentage, second for yards, third for touchdowns and fourth for interception percentage.  Moore led Boise State to a 26-3 win over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl to cap a 12-1 season.  Only a heartbreaking 34-31 loss at Nevada spoiled a perfect year.  


2.  Kellen Moore, 2011

Moore capped off a legendary Boise State career by hitting 326-439 passes (74.3%) for 3,356 yards and 43 touchdowns, with a passing efficiency of 175.19.  His 2011 season ranks first for completions, first for completion percentage, first for touchdowns, third for passing efficiency and fifth for interception percentage.  Moore and Boise State blasted Arizona State of the Pac-12 56-24 in the Las Vegas Bowl.


3.  Ryan Dinwiddie, 2003

Dinwiddie picked up where he left off in 2002, hitting 276 of 446 passes (61.9%) for a school record 4,356 yards and 31 touchdowns.  He ranks third for yards per completion, fifth for completions, 11th for completion percentage, sixth for TD passes and seventh for passing efficiency.  Included in Dinwiddie's 11-1 season was a 50-12 victory over BYU and a 34-31 win over TCU in the Fort Worth Bowl.  Only a two-point, controversial loss at Oregon State stood in the way of Boise State and a perfect season.


4.  Kellen Moore, 2009

Moore really came into his own in 2009, completing 271-431 passes (64.3%) for 3,536 yards and 39 TD's and set an NCAA record with an interception percentage of just .69%.  Moore also ranked second in touchdown passes, third in passing yards and fourth in completions with his 2009 season.  More importantly, he led Boise State to a perfect and modern era record-tying mark of 14-0 and a Fiesta Bowl triumph over TCU.  Moore was a Heisman Trophy finalist for his efforts.


5.  Ryan Dinwiddie, 2002

Although Dinwiddie missed nearly five games with an injury, he was spectacular in 2002.  He returned from the injury with a performance for the ages against Fresno State, leading Boise State to a 67-21 victory in Bronco Stadium.  Entering the game in the second quarter, Dinwiddie completed 19 of 23 passes for an incredible 406 yards and five touchdowns.  As evidenced by the 21.4 yards per completion, Dinwiddie's throws in that highly-accurate performance were not short; many were 30 and 40 yards.  For the year, Dinwiddie was 134-205 (65.4%) for 2,283 yards and 20 touchdowns, and the school record passing efficiency of 188.18.


6.  Bart Hendricks, 2000

Hendricks guided Boise State to a 10-2 mark and second straight Humanitarian Bowl victory.  The Broncos' only two losses were two seven-point losses to the big boys (38-31 to Arkansas and 42-35 to Washington State).  Hendricks was 210-347 (60.5%) for a then-record 3,364 yards and then-record 35 touchdowns.  Hendricks averaged over 16 yards per completion, second-best in school history.  He still ranks third for TD passes, fourth for passing efficiency (170.63), fifth for passing yards and sixth for lowest interception percentage (2.31%).


7.  Kellen Moore, 2008

Moore and the Broncos went into Eugene and beat the Ducks as a freshman quarterback--that never happens.  Boise State finished the year 12-1, with a 17-16 loss to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl their only defeat.  Moore completed 281 of 405 passes (69.4%) for 3,486 yards and 25 touchdowns.  His 2008 season ranks third for both completions and passing percentage and fourth for passing yards.


8.  Ryan Dinwiddie, 2001

Dinwiddie took over as the starting quarterback as a sophomore, and hit 201 passes out of 322 attempts (62.5%) for 3,043 yards and 29 scores.  He ranks fifth for passing efficiency (164.69) and eighth for passing yards and TD passes.


9.  Jim McMillan, 1974

Jimmy Mac hit 192 of 313 passes (61.3%) in 1974 for 2,900 yards and 33 touchdowns.  His yards per completion ranks fourth in school history, so there were plenty of long bombs in McMillan's arsenal.  He also ranks fifth for TD passes and sixth for passing efficiency (164.38).  


10.  Taylor Tharp, 2007

Tharp hit 289 of 423 passes in his only year as starter for 3,340 yards and 30 TD's.  Until a guy named Kellen Moore came along, Tharp owned the school record for completion percentage with a red-hot 68.3%.  His 2007 season also ranks second for completions, and seventh for both passing yards and touchdown passes.  

Ryan Griswold Commits To Boise State

Christmas in July for Boise State.  On the heels of Boomer Sosebee's commitment earlier in the day, Pearland, Texas's Ryan Griswold has given his verbal commitment to the Broncos.
Griswold, a 6-4, 250-pound prospect from Pearland High School who has been playing defensive end, chose Boise State over offers from Houston, Louisiana Tech, Air Force and Louisiana-Lafayette and interest from Iowa State and Arkansas.  Griswold is making the move to offensive tackle this fall to help fill a need there for Pearland, which finished 8-3 last season.

Griswold was First Team All-District last season for Pearland, which won the 5A Texas State Championship in 2010 with a perfect 16-0 mark.  Last year, Griswold helped his team outscore opponents 336-78.

Here are highlights from Griwold:

Friday, July 26, 2013

Sosebee Commits To Boise State

According to the Los Angeles Times, big offensive tackle Jesse Sosebee (6-6, 290) has given the Broncos his verbal.

Sosebee, nicknamed Boomer, was a standout at the Boise State football camp earlier this summer.  The Bronco coaches offered him, and less than a week later, Sosebee has committed to Boise State.

The Broncos won his services over Fresno State, TCU, Texas and Nevada.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Mountain West and Pac-12 Renew Las Vegas Bowl

The Mountain West and Pac-12 have announced an extension of their Las Vegas Bowl matchup, pitting the MWC champ against a team from the Pac-12.  The agreement is for the next six years.

A.J. Richardson Greyshirting

A.J. has not signed officially with Boise State, but he is in rehab, so he will greyshirt this year.  Other than A.J., there are no other members of the 2013 class that are greyshirting, according to Coach Pete.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Thoughts on the Boise State "Depth Chart"

This is the depth chart that Boise State released to the media for Mountain West.  I can already see that it isn't up to date, but beyond that:

Henry and Odhiambo starting are signs that these two who had fans so excited on LOI Day three years ago are living up to potential.  It looks like an amazing line to me.  We'll see, but on paper, one of the best ever.  The holes opposing fans point to on defense will be especially fun to watch.  Again, from the ones listed here, the defense looks every bit as good as last year.  Depth on the D-line is a concern with only six listed in the two-deep.

I do hope that Patti gets some playing time, because the QB battle in 2014 will be one to watch and it's important that whoever gets it is familiar and comfortable in the Bronco offense.

Miller, Boldewijn and Moore is a great starting three for the receivers.  And Ajayi is poised for a lot of yards, God willing that he stay healthy, because that O-line is going to open some holes.

Overall, this Bronco team will be tough to stop this fall.

QUARTERBACK 
16 Joe Southwick, 6-1, 202, R-Sr.
9 Grant Hedrick, 6-0, 200, R-Jr.
8 Nick Patti, 5-10, 200, R-Fr.
TAILBACK 
27 Jay Ajayi, 6-0, 215, R-So.
21 Jack Fields, 5-9, 198, So.
WIDE RECEIVER 
2 Matt Miller, 6-3, 218, R-Jr.
18 Aaron Burks, 6-3, 200, R-Sr.
WIDE RECEIVER
17 Geraldo Boldewijn, 6-4, 215, R-Sr.
81 Dallas Burroughs, 5-8, 171, Jr.
SLOT RECEIVER
34 Kirby Moore, 6-3, 206, R-Sr.
11 Shane Williams-Rhodes, 5-6, 158, So.
TIGHT END
87 Gabe Linehan, 6-4, 238, R-Sr.
86 Kyle Sosnowski, 6-2, 245, R-Jr.
85 Holden Huff, 6-5, 221, R-So.
LEFT TACKLE 
78 Charles Leno Jr., 6-4, 294, R-Sr.
70 Steven Baggett, 6-3, 275, R-Fr.
LEFT GUARD 
77 Spencer Gerke, 6-3, 297, R-Sr.
73 Travis Averill, 6-3, 292, R-Fr.
CENTER
65 Matt Paradis, 6-3, 293, R-Sr.
77 Spencer Gerke, 6-3, 297, R-Sr.
RIGHT GUARD 
72 Marcus Henry, 6-3, 296, R-So.
66 Mario Yakoo, 6-3, 320, R-Fr.
RIGHT TACKLE
67 Rees Odhiambo, 6-4, 309, R-So.
76 Jake Broyles, 6-5, 299, R-Sr.
DEFENSIVE END 
8 Demarcus Lawrence, 6-3, 244, R-Jr.
53 Beau Martin, 6-2, 258, R-Jr.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
55 Tutulupeatau Mataele, 6-3, 280, Jr.
69 Tyler Horn, 6-5, 264, Jr.
NOSE TACKLE
43 Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, 6-3, 303, R-Sr.
55 Tutulupeatau Mataele, 6-3, 280, Jr.
STUD END
69 Tyler Horn, 6-5, 264, Jr.
41 Kharyee Marshall, 6-2, 240, R-Sr.
WEAK-SIDE LINEBACKER
36 Tyler Gray, 6-4, 223, So.
51 Ben Weaver, 6-0, 233, R-Fr.
MIDDLE LINEBACKER
13 Blake Renaud, 6-2, 249, Jr.
45 Travis Saxton, 6-1, 220, R-Jr.
STRONG-SIDE LINEBACKER/NICKEL
32 Jonathan Brown, 5-10, 215, R-Sr.
38 Corey Bell, 5-11, 208, Jr.
CORNERBACK
1 Bryan Douglas, 5-9, 170, R-Jr.
18 Chaz Anderson, 5-10, 183, R-Fr.
CORNERBACK
30 Donte Deayon, 5-9, 151, So.
16 Deon’tae Florence, 5-9, 171, R-Jr.
SAFETY
10 Jeremy Ioane, 5-10, 189, R-Jr.
28 Dillon Lukehart, 6-0, 202, R-So.
SAFETY
35 Darian Thompson, 6-1, 201, R-So.
37 Ebo Makinde, 5-10, 179, R-Sr.
KICKER
41 Dan Goodale, 5-10, 193, R-Jr.
26 Tyler Rausa, 5-8, 191, So.
KICKOFF SPECIALIST
41 Dan Goodale, 5-10, 193, R-Jr.
14 Trevor Harman, 6-3, 207, R-Sr.
KICKOFF RETURNERS
11 Shane Williams-Rhodes, 5-6, 158, So.
81 Dallas Burroughs, 5-8, 171, Jr.
PUNT RETURNER
11 Shane Williams-Rhodes, 5-6, 158, So.
HOLDER 
2 Matt Miller, 6-3, 218, R-Jr.
16 Joe Southwick, 6-1, 202, R-Sr.
PUNTER 
14 Trevor Harman, 6-3, 207, R-Sr.
18 Sean Wale, 6-1, 183, R-Fr.
LONG SNAPPER 
46 Kevin Keane, 6-0, 205, Jr.

Read more here: http://blogs.idahostatesman.com/live-chat-with-boise-states-joe-southwick-charles-leno-at-1030-a-m/#storylink=cpy

Bad News for Sosnowski

I was really pulling for this guy--loved watching his Dad play here.  Kyle is out for the year with an injury to the patella (kneecap).

Kendal Keyes, who committed to Boise State, has decided to join his brother at UNLV.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Boise State's Ryan Clady Signs Extension With Denver

The Denver Broncos locked up star tackle Ryan Clady for the next five years, signing the former Bronco standout to a deal worth $33 million.  Clady has been by far the biggest star ever from Boise State, and it's great to see a great guy be rewarded for his hard work.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Charles Leno and Demarcus Lawrence Get Spots on Watch Lists

Two more Broncos were honored with positions on Watch Lists for college football's top awards.  Left tackle Charles Leno was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List, which is awarded annually to the country's best interior lineman, while junior defensive end Demarcus Lawrence earned a spot on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, which is given to the nation's top defensive player.  Would only seem fitting that a Bronco win the Bronko Trophy...

Gabe Linehan Named To John Mackey Watch List

Boise State's Gabe Linehan, who was injured a good portion of last season, has earned respect with a spot on the John Mackey Watch List.  The annual award gives recognition to the top tight end in America.