2010 NCAA Football Preview: Boise State
Back in 1986 the Boise State Broncos started to become known for their uniquely blue turf field. Their exciting overtime win against the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl established the Broncos as a team to watch. In four years they have won 49 games and lost only four. Since becoming part of the WAC in 2001 they have failed to win the conference only twice; the two times they did not they placed second.
With that kind of success, people start to take notice. If preseason polls are any indicator, the Boise State Broncos finally have; some are picking the Broncos to start the season ranked #1 in the nation.
Leapfrogging over a defending national champion that has most of its pieces coming back is no simple task; until beaten, they are still the reigning champions while the Broncos finished in 6th. However, with the 2009 season in the books it is time for the 2010 season. coach Chris Petersen and the Broncos are determined to stake their claim.
Offence
What can you say about a team that returns every starter on the offensive side of the ball? If they do not accomplish big things than something will have to have gone drastically wrong.
QB Kellen Moore will be a Heisman candidate in 2010. He does everything that voters like to see in a potential Heisman winner. In two years as a starter he has only lost one game. Moore is one of the more accurate quarterbacks in Division I completing 70% of his passes in 2008 and 64% in 2009. In both seasons he has thrown for close to 3500 yards.
With such good numbers already it is hard for him to improve much but he did; in 2008 he threw 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions; in 2009 he threw 39 touchdowns and three interceptions.
All of Boise State's offensive skill players return. Jeremy Avery did well running for 1150 yards on 209 carries in a pass-first offense. Austin Pettis and Titus Young will be looking to put on a show for NFL scouts. Last season Pettis caught 63 balls for 855 yards and 14 touchdowns and Young added another 1041 yards off of 79 receptions with 10 going for touchdowns.
Boise State tied for the lead in Division I in scoring last season, and with the entire unit returning there is no reason why they should not do it again.
Defence
When your team returns 10 starters to their unit there is no reason why there should be any let-down; if anything it should be expected to do better.
The strength in the unit is likely in the front four where they return two all-conference selections in Ryan Winterswyk and Billy Winn. Winterswyk has been one of the more consistent players ever since he stepped on the field in 2007; in three years he has had 43, 40, and 41 tackles. Winn added another 44 tackles last season as well; between the two they had 15 sacks in 2009.
In the secondary they have two more returning all-conference players in Jeron Johnson and Winston Venable. Johnson has been one of the best tacklers on the team with 98 and 91 the last two seasons along with seven total interceptions. Venable added another 63 tackles in his first season as a starter and even returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown.
If there had to be something recognized as a weakness or sore spot it would be the rush defense and/or sack production. However, those two stats are not telling of the teams’ success. Teams are going to try to run more against the Broncos in order to keep their offense off the field. Consequentially, the team will suffer in sack production due to lack of opportunity.
There are some preseason polls that have the Broncos slated as the best team in football over the defending champions, Alabama. With an already proven, powerful, successful team returning intact and with more experience it is easy to see why.
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