Boise’s Bar Set to The Max

by admin on Nov.29, 2011, under Home insurance

Early on, it was a commonly asked question Saturday in the press box at Bronco Stadium for Boise State’s game against Wyoming. Whether it was Kellen Moore’s last pick-6 (2009 against Louisiana Tech), last scoreless first quarter for BSU (10 games ago, vs. Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl) or last time BSU had a hail-mary touchdown to take a halftime lead (beats me) the one question this corner wanted to know was this:

When was the last time Boise State consistently looked like just another team?

With the Kellen Moore era at Bronco Stadium drawing to a close — only six more shopping days ’til it’s over — it’s a fair question. Especially when one considers Boise State’s last five outings, all of which featured large stretches of ordinary, average play.

That Boise State lost only one of those games — albeit the only one in which they were seriously tested — shows how wide the gap is between the Broncos and most of the Mountain West Conference.

That this is even a topic of discussion shows how high Boise State has set the bar in recent years. Even after the Broncos blew open Saturday’s game with four consecutive second-half scoring drives — three of which ended in touchdowns —another question lingered:

What took you guys so long?

There were attempts at explanations — from the insistence of some in the media that possibly the early starts aren’t particularly appealing to the Broncos, to Wyoming’s defensive philosophy, which gives up plenty of small gains in lieu of big plays, and waits for opposing offenses to trip up. Wyoming entered the game ranked second nationally in turnover margin, and Moore was the biggest culprit in that regard with his aforementioned pick-6.

Even Las Vegas has taken Bronco excellence for granted. The Broncos were favored by 34 points entering Saturday’s game, and that followed lines of 30, 42, 16.5 and 18.5 over the previous four weeks. Internet IPOs and whole life insurance are better investments than the Broncos, if you catch my drift.

The pollsters won’t quibble over such details, and won’t punish Boise State for not being as dominant as expected. The Broncos have earned at least that much, so as to not split hairs over a 22-point win vs. a 42-point one.

But what will this team look like next season after Moore leaves? Doug Martin and his back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons? The other five senior starters on offense, or the eight on defense?

The bar has indeed been set high at Boise State, but Bronco fans can rest a little easy knowing this: Even a moderate lowering of said bar will still likely leave it too high for the rest of the MWC to scale.

Patrick Sheltra is the sports editor of the Times-News. He can be reached atpsheltra@magicvalley.com, or you can follow him on Twitter @TimesNewsSE.

Source: http://magicvalley.com