Boise State at Idaho

Written by Matthew Martz

The No. 4 Boise State Broncos is coming off yet another win where they pounded their competition, this time it was Hawaii by a score of 42-7.

Now they will look to extend their unbeaten streak as they travel to Idaho to take on the Vandals on Saturday November 6. Game time is 9:00 PM ET at the Kibble Dome.

When the teams met last November, Boise won the game 63-25 on their way to a perfect 13-0 season record.

Our latest college football odds show the Broncos as -34 ½ over the Vandals.

The Warriors never even proved to be any kind of challenge during their dismantling by the Broncos, failing to score until the fourth quarter while the BSU defense held QB Bryant Moniz to a paltry 127 yards on 17 completions.

Meanwhile, the Broncos Kellen Moore passed for an astounding 507 yards and completed 30 of 37 for three touchdowns. Austin Pettis had eight receptions for 122 yards while Tyler Shoemaker caught another 117.

You’d think the BCS would be impressed by the string of big victories Boise has mounted as it pushes for a national championship.

Boise State has been quite good this year on both sides of the ball. The offense has averaged 47 points for the year to rank second overall. Last week’s 42-point showing was actually its lowest since beating Oregon State back in September with 37 points. The passing has been a huge part of the attack with 327 a game to rank 5^th overall. Moore has thrown for 2,372 yards and 21 touchdowns.

The running backs don’t take any days off either as they have combined for 216 a game to rank 15^th. Avery and Martin have combined for 15 touchdowns of their own.

Defensively, the team could not be much better as they have limited opponents to an anemic 12.6 points a game to rank 2^nd overall including shutouts against San Jose and New Mexico State.

Critics continue to argue that the Broncos’ schedule has been soft lately, but an objective viewer will notice that BSU destroyed everyone they have played en route to their 8-0 record, good for 1^st in the WAC.

As for Idaho, they were roughed up by Nevada last week, 63-17. The Vandals allowed double-digit points in every quarter, while being shut out themselves in the first and fourth.

Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick had a career game embarrassing the Vandals D, throwing for five touchdowns on 320 yards with 20 completions. He hit Rishard Matthews seven times, who totaled 151 yards. Idaho’s main rushers Jackson and Bailey totaled only 51 yards while receivers Veltung and Johnson combined for just three receptions and 117 yards. The steam seems to have run out of the offense, and the defense looked lost against Kaepernick.

The loss was the second straight for the Vandals, as they have lost their last two games by a combined 108-27. Their record stands at 4-5, 6^th in the WAC.

Passing had been a strength, averaging 330.8 a game to rank 4^th; Enderle has completed 199 for 2,506 yards and 17 touchdowns. Jackson and McCarty don’t do a lot of damage on the rush, combining for 148 carries and 666 yards as the team ranks 116^th with 83 a game on the ground.

The Vandals have averaged 28.7 for the year, which is good for 55^th overall, and have allowed 29.3 that is 82^nd. The team has come unglued defensively and needs to get back on track.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Boise State -34 ½ – Boise State isn’t the team for Idaho to figure out its problems against. Boise is perennially a perfect record candidate and does a fabulous job of putting a daunting number of points on the board, while limiting its opponents to just enough to think they’re in the fight. They seem to be able to play as hard as they need to for the win. Expect Boise to romp Idaho yet again as they did last year.

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