Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Brian Murphy gets people talking, flaming



Everybody's favorite Statesman columnist is back to what he does best: incite anger.

Murphy jumped on a story on FOXSports.com about the Broncos that we linked to this morning regarding their being ranked as the best college football team from the last decade. The story is really not that big of a deal. FOX Sports didn't write it. Some Bleacher Report guy did. Bleacher Report is an open community for sports writers to give their opinions, and FOX Sports picks up an occasional story here and there.

Nevertheless, Murphy found the story important enough to blog about, and needless to say, he disagreed with it.

Still, it's tough to see how a team with one top-5 finish in the polls and no national titles (Boise State) is better than a team like USC, which won back-to-back national titles in the last decade.


Come on, Fox. This is plain ridiculous.

And then all hell broke loose in the comments section. Here is just a taste of the maelstrom of opinion:
I hate Murphy. Even if you feel that way as a local sports writer you have a lot of hate for our team and it is so easy to see in your writing of them. No one likes you in Boise except Vandal fans!

...and...
I do not know how he still has a job. Move to Moscow or Pocatello. OR if you dont have anyting nice to say just shut up

...not to mention...
You are entitled to your opinion and that is fine, you hate BSU, ok. My point again is that I do not think a local sports writer should have your negative opinion and always express teh negative side and view of our local team that most of us love in our local paper. He doesn't fit. I should not get angry every time I have to read his negative views of our team in MY LOCAL PAPER every day. You say then don't read it. It is one of the only things I have to keep up on my team. Most of us want a writer that gets us excited about our team and points out the positives. That is the point.

...and one more for good measure...
PLEASE STATESMAN PLEASE READ THIS. Give us a writer who gets excited about our local team and get us a writer who is excited about writing about them and actually likes them. Get rid of this bum. You would be doing us and from his writing I believe him a favor by doing so.

There were plenty more where that came from. At the time of this post, Murphy's article had racked up 56 comments. To put that in perspective, Chadd Cripe openly solicited comments about the quarterback race in a blog post last week. He got 46 replies.

Fortunately, some good came of this. One level-headed commenter set Murphy straight and gave everyone hope that there is a better alternative out there.
Murph, I am sure you read these comments. Understand that I don't live in Idaho. I live in St. George, UT. There is nothing in the way of Boise State coverage down here. I look to the Statesman to keep me informed. While I applaud you for remaining objective and fair most of the time, I have to agree with the masses this time. You purposely are misleading your readership with this blog entry.


For the rest of you out there who feel like I do, there is a little known website out there that I've found has all the Boise State information one could want. It's called 'One Bronco Nation Under God' and you can access it at www.obnug.com.


I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Murph found this FoxSports.com piece by going to OBNUG himself and seeing the link that was posted this morning.

Glad to see this whole thing could come to a fair and just conclusion.

Boise State #1 football team over last decade? [Murph's Turf] 

Update: Murphy has been compelled to respond.

Fresno State also willing to schedule easy teams

Anyone, anywhere, anytime...especially UC Davis.

Fresno State to play UC Davis in 2009 [ESPN.com]

Utah State preview: board the train to nowheresville

Previewing the WAC seems like a good job for an intern. Unfortunately, we do not have an intern. Ugh. Previously: SJSU, LaTech, Fresno State, Hawaii. Today: Utah State.





  Utah State

  Team motto: "Failure is totally an option"





By far, the high point of last year for the Utah State Aggies was winning in consecutive weeks against Idaho and New Mexico State to finish the season. If that doesn't set the recruiting trail abuzz, then we don't know what will.



The Aggies have even higher hopes this season now that they have momentum and a full roster of players to work with. Could their two-win 2007 turn into a four-win 2008? Talk about a program on the rise!



At this point, head coach Brent Guy will take anything. His tenure in Logan has been short on winning and long on blowouts, and no matter how you classify last season's two-game winning streak, it doesn't change the fact that the Aggies have been just plain bad. If Utah State has plans on contending in the deep waters of the WAC, they are going to have to overcome their fears of sailing one way or another.





Five questions


Does anyone want to play quarterback at Utah State?

From the looks of things, the answer is "no," followed shortly thereafter by an "Are you kidding me? They're terrible!" First, the Aggies lost quarterback Riley Nelson to rival BYU in what was later termed as upward mobility. Then one of the key competitors in the fall quarterback race, Jase McCormick, up and quit once fall camp started, citing a lack of "interest" (read: winning) in "football" (read: getting Utah State chicks). Can you blame them? Well, Brent Guy probably can because now he is left with senior Sean Setzer holding the reins to the offense. You can loosen your grip, Sean. The offense isn't going anywhere.



What's this new weight room I am hearing so much about?

Utah State is at least doing things right with their facilities and infrastructure. Over the summer, they replaced their athletic director and duped the new guy into thinking that the football program can be a viable income source some day. Sucker. As a result, the Aggies have a brand new training facility that is either state-of-the-art or better-than-whatever-high-school-we-were-at-before. The press release was not clear.



The Aggies are hoping that the upgraded facilities will bring in new recruits, and their hopes are being met at least a little bit this season. USU will have the full allotment of roster players for the first time since people believed Guy was the right choice for the job. In other words, the first time in a long time.



Does Brent Guy keep fresh copies of his resume on hand, you know, just in case?

Hey, we were just speaking about Guy! As a former Boise State assistant coach, we wish we didn't have to poke fun at his win-loss record (6-29) or his striking resemblance to Mr. Belvedere.

 
But when you're a bad head coach with a bad team, the ribbing is inevitable. So, too, is the shaky job security. Though Guy maintains that he is indeed not on the hot seat, the results of his tenure say otherwise. If he cannot at least tread water in the WAC and beat Idaho and NMSU again, the Aggies could be looking elsewhere for unconvincing coaching candidates.



Jake Hutton: superstar by association or statistical anomaly?

The Aggies' "star" linebacker gets credit for being a good player on a bad defense. His stats reflect as much: 102 tackles and a sack only because no one else had the desire to sack and/or tackle. To be sure, WAC offenses will gameplan for Hutton but only because there is no one else to gameplan for and they'd get bored otherwise. The jury's still out on whether or not returning nine starters on defense is a good thing or a bad thing.



Describe in a picture what will happen when Utah State visits Oregon.





Over/Unders
+/- 1 minute, 30 seconds into their first game it takes for the Aggies to lose the momentum from last season

+/- 3 starting quarterbacks, in addition to Jase McCormick, who suddenly decide that football just isn't their thing

+/- 7 thirty-point losses



Are things improving at Utah State? From certain angles, yes. But in the big picture, the Aggies are still the Aggies.



Certainly, building a modern weight facility is a good start. Thick-necked high school seniors will appreciate that. But the product on the field is several years behind in the quest for belonging in the WAC.



With no clear-cut leader of the offense and nothing to scare opponents on defense, the Aggies have the look of a typical Aggies team...except with more guys standing on the sideline. Having a full roster must be great for practice ("We don't have to play both ways any more! Hooray!"), but unless the roster is full of four- and five-star recruits, it won't matter much on Saturdays.



Speaking of not mattering, that's the case for Utah State again. And so long as the Aggie administration is happy with that, Brent Guy should be back to do it all again next year.



Perfect situation
NCAA allows Utah State to play with 13 men, Aggies win three games instead of two



Reality
the offense struggles to score, the defense struggles to matter, USU loses to Idaho, Brent Guy takes head coaching job at Cole Valley Christian High School in Meridian



Final record: 2-10 overall, 1-7 conference

QB battle: Moore vs. Hamdan vs. Lomax(?): Day 9

The most important decision in the history of the world will be made in the next few weeks, and we'll be providing daily updates on all the hype and hyperbole surrounding the Boise State quarterback competition.

Vs . Vs .

Guessing who the starting quarterback will be based solely on the media reports from practice is hard. So with the Broncos' first public scrimmage in the books, we finally have some biased personal opinion to throw into the mix.

There was no clear-cut winner in the quarterback race yesterday. There was really no clear-cut winner of anything. But one thing's for sure is that whoever gets names the starter will have to be good at scrambling, making plays on the run, and handing the ball off.

The Moore vs. Hamdan debate, at least for one day this fall, should make room for Nick Lomax. The hard luck junior had the best efficiency rating out of the three QBs, which should earn him at least a mention in the competition conversation. Although, running against third teamers would make anyone look good. Right, Kevin Sapien?

Moore: 9-of-22 for 137 yards and a touchdown. Looks very much in control of the offense. Seems to always come up big in game situations. Goes through his reads too quickly. Moves well. Has big-play potential.
Hamdan: 5-of-15 for 48 yards. Feels pressure and moves well within the pocket. Throws with confidence. Forces balls into tight spots. Tends to lock on to receivers. Smells like a leader.
Lomax(!): 7-of-9 for 68 yards. Owns the third-team defense. Is tall. Delivers the ball on time and with accuracy. Has virtually no chance of being starting quarterback.

Advantage: Moore.

In the lead...Moore. The freshman jumped over the senior in our minds with his performance in the first scrimmage. He seemed to handle his situations the best out of all four quarterbacks, and he made the right decision on almost every play. With the line the way that it is, Moore looks the best under center because so much of his potential is on the run, outside of the pocket. Hamdan is just a bit behind, but all could change over the next five days.

First scrimmage short on excitement, long on potential



The Broncos' first scrimmage of the fall went about as planned, provided you were planning on few big plays, lots of missed blocking assignments, and absolutely no idea who will be the starting quarterback in 18 days.

The reports from the media kind of made it seem like the end of the world out there, but it's not like Jon Gott was taking his shirt off or anything. Then the newspapers might have had something to complain about. From what we saw of the scrimmage, it looked pretty similar to one of the lackadaisical scrimmages from the spring, except it was hotter. And Bob Behler was there.

Are we panicking? Of course not. If anything, we are stoked because we got to see the Broncos play for the first time in months. They'll have all the issues ironed out by Saturday (the next scrimmage), and we'll be in for a good show.

Here are some observations from the first scrimmage of the fall:

  • Blitz!
The Boise State defense was coming early and often for a good portion of the scrimmage. Let's hope we see this same aggressiveness during the season. The linebackers and defensive backs for the Broncos are some of the most athletic guys on the team, so it makes sense to put them in position to make plays. Derrell Acrey, we're looking at you.
  • Johnson!
The Johnson who stood out in yesterday's scrimmage was not the one you might expect. While Ian Johnson had a decent enough afternoon, safety Jeron Johnson really shined. He had a number of big hits on ball carriers and receivers, and he looked solid roaming the secondary.
  • Blocking!
The final numbers for the running game were 122 yards on 52 carries. And it looked like it. If you enjoy watching running backs blast into piles of big bodies, then this was the scrimmage for you. On the one hand, the defensive line did a good job holding the line of scrimmage. On the other hand, the offensive line did a bad job of creating running lanes, opening holes, or doing its job.
  • Indecision!
We would bet large sums of money on the fact that Coach Pete and his staff are not making any quarterback decision following this scrimmage. First off, they love to tease us. Secondly, no one separated themselves far enough to make the decision easy. One interesting subplot from the scrimmage was the time that walk-on QB Drew Hawkins spent under center. We really don't need a five-man quarterback race right now.
  • Heft!
There are some big freshmen out there. Specifically, we noticed Faraji Wright enveloping people, and we were shocked to see how big Byron Hout's arms were. Along the line, there are several new players with some much-needed size, including Wright, Joe Kellogg, and others. The future looks bright...and beefy.
  • Drops!
Wide receivers dropped an awful lot of passes yesterday, which will probably be the first and only time that will ever happen. As an aside, it sure was nice to see Jeremy Childs lining up alongside Titus Young, Austin Pettis, and Vinny Perretta.

Morning paper: Boise State football links 8/12


There is plenty to talk about regarding the first scrimmage of the fall, and before we get into our take on things, let's hear what the Internets have to say. Aren't we gracious?

Fall scrimmage reports
Hop on the D.J. Harper bandwagon [Statesman]
We're already on it, but thanks anyway for the invitation.

The O-line has some work to do [Press-Tribune]
Rushing for 2.3 yards is far too San Jose State-ish.

von Oelhoffen released by Eagles [Statesman]
Carson Palmer's knee laughs an evil laugh.

Boise State best team of last decade [FOX Sports]
We'll take it even if it's only FOX Sports who's giving it.

Injuries strike Vandal line [Statesman]
Good thing they have depth. Oh wait. Never mind.

Week One predictions [What If Sports]
Boise State should be safe.