Broncos land 11th recruit, find Arizona enticing

The Broncos have landed their eleventh early commitment of the summer, DE Kharyee Marshall from Washington High School (Arizona). Expect the Statesman to confirm this recruit in late September.

The 6'2", 215-pound Marshall recorded 106 tackles and 16 sacks last year from his defensive end position. Ryan Winterswyk and Mike T. Williams nod in approval.

Kharyee Marshall profile [Scout.com]
This one goes to eleven [Fight Fight BSU]

Morning paper: Boise State football links 8/14

Woodruff named camper of the day [BroncoSports]
Take that, defensive line!

Recap of evening practice [BSU blog]

It's almost as if you were there.

Sean Bingham and the D-line [Statesman]
The Statesman's position-by-position preview begins.

Jamar Taylor spotlight [Statesman]
Happy to be in Boise so he won't "get in trouble."

Bart Hendricks asks the obvious [ISZ]
O-line should be focus of debate, not quarterback.

It's not easy being a walk-on [Press-Tribune]
Scholarships get the chicks.

Nevada to face BYU in 2010 [ESPN.com]
Oh yeah? Well, Boise State plays Toledo, so there.

Hitting QBs in practice sounds like a bad idea [SI.com]
GaTech QB Josh Nesbitt agrees.

Hawaii QB decision looming [Star Bulletin]
As is the potential for a five-win season.

BSU recruiting: where are all the linemen?

The Boise State recruiting tally looks like this: a quarterback, a running back, two tight ends, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, one wide receiver...and zero offensive or defensive linemen. Strange, don't you think?

The Broncos have been the most proactive team in the WAC this summer, but they have yet to reel in a linemen on either side of the ball. Is this the curse of Ryan Clady leaving early? Is the WAC transitioning into a seven-on-seven conference? Whatever the case may be, the whole situation is making us very curious.

But perhaps we should clarify. Despite the lack of linemen, we could not be happier to have nine verbal commitments in mid-July. This kind of activity is something you normally expect from a BCS-conference school, so it is great to know that the Broncos have such an outstanding reputation in recruiting pockets around the country. Plus, Boise State is really separating itself from the rest of the WAC as a premier destination for football, and with early recruits becoming more and more the norm, the Broncos are at the forefront of the future of recruiting. Taste the revolution, Fresno State!

That said, we would still like to see some linemen.

In our opinion, the line is the most important position on the football field, so we would figure that it would be a focal point of Bronco recruiting classes. We imagine that when all is said and done, there will be plenty of hefty high school kids in the '09 class. But in the meantime, we are left to wonder why no big kids have come out and declared their BSU allegiance yet. Are they riding go carts at Camp Hope or what?

Here are some theories we have on the situation.

1. Linemen are harder to recruit.
   This could be true for a number of reasons: No one knows how big 17-year-old kids will get. The potential of linemen is harder to judge at an early age. There is not as much game tape available on linemen as there is for other positions. There hit-or-miss probability with a lineman is extremely high.
2. Boise State coaches are looking for JC transfers. Certainly, having two years in college under their belt would give any lineman an advantage. Plus, the coaches would be more aware of what to expect when the kids arrive on campus.
3. Linemen aren't born; they're created. Perhaps BSU is not in a hurry because they know they can grow their own linemen whenever necessary. Bronco coaches are notorious for molding players into outstanding linemen.
4. The line is young enough as it is. If this year's young class of linemen pan out, the Broncos will be set for at least a couple more years. Maybe the next recruiting class will be the windfall of big uglies we've been expecting.
5. The line isn't as important in the WAC. To be successful in the WAC, you have to score points and create turnovers. Linemen are not prominently involved in either.
6. The more you weigh, the less decisive you are. We have no evidence of this theory other than Jared Lorenzen's NFL career.

On an encouraging note, Scout.com has a list of linemen who are at least interested in the Broncos. Here some of the top guys:

• OT Charles Siddoway: 6'7", 310 pounds (offered)
• DE Jackson Powell: 6'5", 220 pounds
• OT Gavin Pascerella: 6'5", 260 pounds

The list also includes some junior college players and other big high schoolers, so at least the Broncos are trying. And the fact that we are concerned over a lack of linemen in a recruiting class that still has seven months to fill out and which has absolutely no bearing on anything that will happen on the football field this year, well, it's probably a bit presumptive of us. As always, the Bronco coaches know what they're doing, so we really needn't worry.

Our anxiety would be better spent on the "Q."

Giant Canadian recruit to join Broncos in fall

This headline sounds like something straight out of the tabloids, but it's true. Mike Atkinson, a defensive tackle from Ontario's Catholic Central High, will joining the team this fall to compete for playing time along the defensive line.

He's big, he's Canadian, and he's coming to Boise. Hide the bagged milk!

The Broncos were initially looking at Tyrone Crawford, an all-star defensive end for Catholic Central. In talking with Ontario talent scout Ron Dias and Catholic Central coach Jalil Khoury, they turned their attention to Mike Atkinson. The six-foot-one, 330-pound tackle was WECSSAA's defensive player of the year and a member of the Windsor Lancers' high school dream team.

At 330 pounds, the Boise State coaches are expecting Atkinson to play both defensive tackle positions. However, Atkinson might have bigger aspirations. Fight, Fight, BSU has video evidence of the big fella being a potential weapon in the passing game. Scary, eh?

Atkinson heads to Boise State [Windsor Star]

Boise State scrimmage reaction

Friday's scrimmage was a fascinating departure from last year's Bronco football. With a dominating performance from the defense, Boise State gave fans an enticing taste of what may come this fall from the team's most maligned unit. Sure, we like our touchdowns and our Kellen Moore, but we also enjoy knowing that maybe, just maybe, Colin Kaepernick won't run roughshod over us again.

Final stats from Friday's scrimmage:

SCORING: Matt Kaiserman, 5-yard TD run (no kick attempted)
RUSHING: Ian Johnson 3 carries for 18 yards, D.J. Harper 3-16, Matt Kaiserman 5-15, Jeremy
Avery 3-10, Doug Martin 5-10, Jarvis Hodge 2-2
PASSING: Bush Hamdan 7-of-12 for 113 yards, Nick Lomax 6-8-52, Mike Coughlin 4-9-51, Kellen Moore 5-12-52
RECEIVING: Julian Hawkins 4 catches for 50 yards, Toshi Franklin 3-63, Austin Pettis 2-46, Doug Martin 2-26, Tanyon Bissell 2-13, Ricky Cookman 2-11, Titus Young 2-8, Tommy Gallarda 1-23, Kyle Efaw 1-11, Jeremy Avery 1-7, D.J. Harper 1-5, Mitch Burroughs 1-5

Scrimmage stories:

Statesman scrimmage recap [Idaho Statesman]
IPT scrimmage recap [Idaho Press-Tribune]
DBs making a difference [Idaho Statesman]
Hamdan leading QB race? Really? [Idaho Press-Tribune]
Photos from the scrimmage [Statue Left]
Back to square one with QBs [Fight, Fight, BSU]

Boise State scrimmage #2 recap

The Boise State defense came to play in the Broncos' second scrimmage. The offense? Not so much.

The only touchdown of the day was scored by freshman Matt Kaiserman near the end of the scrimmage, and the offense looked very little like the explosive group seen at the first spring outing. Are we worried? Absolutely not! We loved what we saw from the defense, and we can't wait to see how the unit does during the season. Here is some more detail from the scrimmage:

• All four quarterbacks played much more evenly than they did in the first scrimmage. Moore came back to the pack a little, and Coughlin and Lomax stepped up their games. As a whole, though, there were very few fireworks.
• Hamdan and Coughlin made some nice throws on the run, moving out of the pocket.
• Austin Pettis and Titus Young have soft hands. Both made some strong sideline catches, and each had good grabs on fade patterns during drills.
• The defensive line was downright dominant at times. We took particular note of Phillip Edwards and Sean Bingham. Edwards turned away a shovel pass and wreaked havoc in the backfield. Bingham recorded a sack and blew up several plays.
• There were multiple miscues with shotgun snaps.
• The running backs had few opportunities to shine since there was such little running room. D.J. Harper and Doug Martin moved the pile a couple of times.
• Derrell Acrey had some big hits, and he took an interception to the house during a pre-scrimmage drill.
• Kellen Moore might be staring down his receivers.
• The best plays by the offense were seam routes by tight ends and wide receivers. Julian Hawkins, in particular, looked strong running down the middle.
• Brandyn Thompson sat out, leaving the Broncos without their top two corners (Kyle Wilson is also out for the spring). Still, the offense had trouble moving the ball through the air.
• The front seven were stout, but they failed to force turnovers.
• A lot of credit should go to the linebackers. They were reading plays well and putting themselves in good positions.
  
• Four words: Doug Martin. Short Yardage.
  

OBNUG roster update: Defensive line

Spring football gets OBNUG in the mood to speculate, so over the next few weeks, we will be making blind guesses as to who will be starting for the Broncos in the fall. We’ll do it position-by-position. Today: Defensive line.

Defensive Line

Ideal candidate: a mountain


Worst candidate: a girl


Actual candidates: Ryan Winterswyk, Joe Bozikovich, Jarrell Root, Phillip Edwards, Sean Bingham, Chuck Hayes, J.P. Nisby, Mike T. Williams, Billy Winn, Chase Baker, et al

OBNUG’s pick: Winterswyk, Nisby, Bozikovich, Williams

Winterswyk and Williams are fairly obvious choices, although we could see Jarrell Root pushing Williams for playing time. The inside tackles are still very much up for grabs. We’re picking a freshman and a senior; we like Nisby’s strength and Bozikovich’s experience.