Grading the classes: Utah State

This week, OBNUG will be grading the recruiting classes for each WAC team. Our research may be spotty, but as you can see from the final result, there is no questioning our loyalty.



Utah State

One publication described the Utah State recruiting class as big on warm bodies. I assume this was meant as a compliment.

“We’re excited about this class coming in,” recruiting coordinator Danilo Robinson said. “We’ve addressed some needs that we have and hopefully some guys can come in and fill some holes. We’re excited about this group and are looking forward to a great year from them.

“On average, they’re a little bit taller, a little bit faster and have a little bit more potential to play right away for us. We’re excited about this crop so far.”

I don't even know where to begin with that.

The Aggies won their final two games of the season — both on the road, no less — and carried that momentum into the recruiting process.

Apparently, it paid off.

If by "paid off" you mean that people actually signed with the team, then you would be correct. Twenty-one newcomers were lured with the promise of playing time and approachable Utah co-eds. Want to start a large Mormon family and play some quarterback? Then you've come to the right place.

Twelve of the recruits play offense, including two quarterbacks, two running backs, three wide receivers, and three tight ends. Never mind having people to block for these guys, Utah State seems to be planning the world's largest seven-on-seven drill. Good luck with that.

We want you to succeed, Utah State. We don't like making fun of you all the time. But seriously, help us out a little bit. We're running out of jokes.

Scout.com rank: 119
Rivals.com rank: 101
OBNUG grade: F

Utah State signs 21 [The Herald Journal]

Ode to Marty Tadman

On Valentine's Day, let us all remember one of our personal favorite Bronco football players, Marty Tadman. Who didn't love this scrappy, tattoo-covered, Jesus-loving, ball-hawking safety roaming center field and stepping up to deliver crushing hits on opponents' unsuspecting running backs? Is there anyone? I thought not.

Now, Valentine's Day is supposed to be a glorious and happy day (I'm sure all of you couldn't wait for today to arrive and to deal with your significant other's wildly high expectations that you have no shot of fulfilling. Good luck!). So, push back those tears. Yes, we all wish his freshman year hadn't been wasted due to injuries in the secondary that forced him to burn his redshirt. Yes, we should be gearing up for one more year of highlights from Marty. Today, however, we choose to celebrate our love for one of the best all around and underappreciated players in Boise State history.

So, here's to you, Marty. Good luck in your future endeavors. Thank you for deciding to show up in the Hawaii bowl and be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise ugly game that we would all love to forget. We will miss watching you light up naive opponents as they enter the Boise State secondary. Most of all, we will missing having a clutch player like you (well, as clutch of a player as you can be in football) to lead our defense.

Now go make an NFL roster and light some people up on special teams.

Hattiesburg Roadtrip

Southern Miss has released it's 2008 football schedule and, to my surprise, Boise State is still on it. It's nice to see that Conference USA has found a way to put together a conference schedule and still allow their members to honor the contracts with other non-conference schools. This is a far cry from the fiasco that happened between the MAC and Bowling Green in 2006.

The game will be in Hattiesburg, Miss., on October 11th. Since it's only about 6 hours from my home in Nashville, I have every intention of making the trip. Now the last two road games I've been to have been the debacle in Georgia and the disappointment in Washington. I would also like to attend the Oregon game but I might rethink that for the betterment of Bronco Nation.

Hugs and Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day, Boise State. We love you more than we probably should.

XOXOXO,
OBNUG team

Grading the classes: Fresno State

This week, OBNUG will be grading the recruiting classes for each WAC team. Our research may be spotty, but as you can see from the final result, there is no questioning our loyalty.


Fresno State

Pat Hill and Co. have outdone themselves this time. After what many felt was his best recruiting class in 2007, Hill and the Bulldogs reeled in an even better one in '08.

By recruiting-service standards, Fresno State assembled its best class in football coach Pat Hill's 12 seasons.

Of the 22 high school players signed, nine are considered three-star recruits by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.

That's a best for Hill and places the Bulldogs atop the Western Athletic Conference in recruiting for the first time since 2002 with a class ranked 59th in the nation by Rivals.com.

"This class here is as good of a class [as we've had] on paper," Hill said. "We're doing a better job every year of finding personality types. Now it's up to us to develop them."

I'm not sure what scares me more: Dave Tester's mugshot or Fresno State in two years. But why wait two years? I'm scared of them now.

The incoming class features the future backfield for the Bulldogs in QB Ebahn Feathers and RBs Michael Harris and Ricky Pemasa. But the real damage will come in the form of defensive line prospects. Seven of the 22 newbies are defensive linemen; is the 5-2 defense far behind? I hope so because I learned some pretty sweet ways of exploiting it during my high school football days.

We would grade them higher, but honestly, we're giving everybody F's because we're homers.

Scout.com rank: 59
Rivals.com rank: 60
OBNUG grade: F

Bulldogs' football recruiting showing depth [Fresno Bee]

Bronco Stadium too small

Hawaii led the WAC in attendance in 2007, thanks in part to a successful year but mostly because of its giant stadium. Cheaters. Fresno State was second, averaging over 36,000 per game, and Boise State came in third at 30,338 per contest.

Considering that capacity at Bronco Stadium is 30,000 people, BSU fans were doing all they could to pack the house every game. The stadium just isn't big enough.

Cripes reported in the Statesman this week that the new construction project at the stadium is right on schedule, and when it is completed this summer, it will raise the capacity to 32,000. No doubt the new addition will be wonderful. We can't wait to see it. But we also can't wait to see the South end zone closed in.

Let's get it done, BSU administration. We don't like losing to Hawaii and Fresno in anything.

Construction on Bronco Stadium right on schedule [Idaho Statesman]
UH ranks 51st in FBS football attendance [University of Hawaii]

An open letter to Sean Renfree

Dear Sean,

You are dead to us. We hope you throw 50 interceptions and get replaced midseason by a converted wide receiver.

Sincerely,
OBNUG team

Photo courtesy azcentral.com.