MWC 2011 Preview: Boise State Broncos

After an up-and-down year, the class of non-AQ football in the West will finally be taking the field as a member of the Mountain West Conference. High off a Fiesta Bowl victory, Boise State accepted an invitation to join the MWC. With the Broncos joining Utah, TCU, and BYU, and a second-tier of teams in Air Force and San Diego State, the new MWC was on the brink of BCS-automatic-qualifying status. Then all hell broke loose, at least for Bronco Nation.

The visionary Larry Scott had the Pac-10 flirting with Texas, but ended up giving a come-on-down to Utah. With its rival departing, BYU felt little allegiance to the conference, and pulled the trigger on an independent path they had considered for years. To make matters worse, the Big East came calling on TCU to raise its profile, and TCU will be off in 2012. We even learned that Boise accepted the condition to join the MWC of not wearing all blue for home-conference games.

So the conference as it stands is far from what Boise State thought it was signing up for.

Despite the off-the-field drama, there is little doubt the Broncos will be the class of the conference this season and into the future. For 2011, Boise State will return 14 starters, seven on each side of the ball.

Moore is the trusty leader of Boise's
ever-prolific offense

The offense will be captained by senior Kellen Moore, who will be a Heisman finalist again this year if all goes to plan. In case the diminutive southpaw is underappreciated, here are his staggering career numbers:

• 38-2 record, including a 12-1 freshman campaign that saw Moore lead the Broncos into Autzen Stadium and beat a ranked Oregon team. The two losses? A one-point bowl loss to top-10 TCU, and an overtime loss to one-loss Nevada when the kicker forgot how to kick.
• 68.2% completion percentage.
• 10,867 passing yards.
• 99 touchdowns to only 19 interceptions.

It’s safe to say the offense is in good hands, as Moore has quietly put together one of the most prolific college quarterback careers of all-time. Who else returns to help Moore? Doug “Muscle Hamster” Martin, the 5’9” wrecking ball who ran for 1,260 yards and 12 touchdowns, and also pulled in 338 receiving yards last season. Another such season should be on tap for Martin, who will run behind returning All-WAC offensive lineman Thomas Byrd and Nate Potter. The biggest question for the offense is the replacement of drafted receivers Titus Young and Austin Pettis. The eyes of Boise are on Geraldo Boldewijn (formerly Geraldo Hiwat), a 6’4” receiver from the Netherlands, to step up and play a key receiving role.

The defense gave up just over a USC touchdown (eight points) last season in conference play, and returns four All-WAC players. The Broncos will also be replacing Ryan Winterswyk and Winston Venable against an overall set of better offenses in the MWC. Even with that, Boise proves itself year after year with smart, tenacious defense, and they should see similar production this season.

The decision to move the TCU game to Boise gives the Broncos a very favorable schedule, with the toughest conference games (Air Force and TCU) being at home. The toughest road test will be the season opener in the Georgia Dome against Georgia. A win in that game will have Boise State on watch for yet another BCS bid; it will be up to them to claim it.

SCHEDULE & PREDICTIONS

Date/Time	TV	Opponent	Zach	Brett
Sat. 09/03/11 6:00 p.m. MT	ESPN	Georgia 1	W	W
Fri. 09/16/11 6:00 p.m. MT	ESPN/2	at Toledo	W	W
Sat. 09/24/11 6:00 p.m. MT	CBS SN	TULSA	W	W
Sat. 10/01/11 12:30 p.m. MT	Versus	NEVADA	W	W
Fri. 10/07/11 7:00 p.m. MT	ESPN	at Fresno State	W	W
Sat. 10/15/11 4:00 p.m. MT	The Mtn.	at Colorado State	W	W
Sat. 10/22/11 1:30 p.m. MT	Versus	AIR FORCE	W	W*
Sat. 11/05/11 8:30 p.m. MT	CBS SN	at UNLV	W	W
Sat. 11/12/11 1:30 p.m. MT	Versus	TCU	W	W*
Sat. 11/19/11 6:00 p.m. MT	CBS SN	at San Diego State	W	W
Sat. 11/26/11 12:00 p.m. MT	The Mtn.	WYOMING	W	W
Sat. 12/03/11 4:00 p.m. MT	The Mtn.	NEW MEXICO	W	W
1- Georgia Dome, Atlanta || * denotes toss-up			12-0	12-0

(schedule courtesy of FBSchedules.com)