Opposing head coaches routinely praise the Boise State coaching staff, and naturally the first thought is directed toward Chris Petersen.

Still, a staff is made up of quite a few more people than just Petersen, and he'd be the first to tell you that. I saw a story from ESPN.com today that was quite interesting. Analyst Kirk Herbstreit has his preseason "Herbie" awards and had Boise...read more

Today was the first day of player interviews leading into Thursday's Oregon game, and it finally means the game is coming up fast for yours truly — it's about time.

The main interviewees were Kyle Wilson and Kellen Moore, who both spoke quite a bit about the Ducks. Wilson talked about Oregon's running threats, mainly, in quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LeGarrette Blount...read more

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen and his players have mostly deflected questions regarding Thursday's game against Oregon, but with it only a few days away, the Ducks are the biggest topic of conversation.

Petersen spoke quite a bit about the hype of the game, its importance for the program, Duck skill players and the physical nature of the two teams.

Check out the audio here.

I just got off the phone after Oregon coach Chip Kelly's 40-minute season-opening news conference, and he had quite a bit to say on the Broncos.

Mainly, he spoke highly of Boise State's experience and noted that despite losses like Ian Johnson, the players coming back still have quite a bit of game time under their belts. He also said it's certainly time to stop thinking about Boise State...read more

As if Thursday's game wasn't big enough, there's been plenty of news all summer long about the talk coming out of Oregon's camp.

There was Jeremiah Masoli calling the loss "embarassing," fellow QB Nate Costa told the UO student paper "they came over here and they really kicked our (butts). And in a way they kind of disrespected us ... ," and now there's RB...read more

Junior middle linebacker Derrell Acrey was named as the starter for Thursday's opener against Oregon after a tight battle throughout Fall Camp.

Though he is the most experienced of the six linebackers that competed for two spots, Acrey wasn't sure of his standing until this week.

"It feels great, I won't lie, but there's no getting comfortable," Acrey said.

Acrey was fifth...read more

The Boise State football team released its first depth chart Friday morning.

No real shocks, but it has Derrell Acrey and Aaron Tevis as the two starting linebackers and Winston Venable as the starting nickel. Tommy Gallarda is listed as the first team tight end. True freshman Aaron Burks is listed as a second-teamer at the X receiver. Here's this first-teamers:

QB: Kellen Moore

HB: Jeremy...read more

Here we are — just more than a week from kickoff. Still, it seems so far away since the Broncos aren't exactly being chatty about the Ducks just yet.

Of course, once Saturday rolls around, it will be all about Oregon as that's the day Chris Petersen will hold his weekly news conference (it's technically the "Monday" of game week).

Folks around the nation are getting into...read more

Apparently, the only known at certain positions for the Boise State Broncos is that there's still plenty of unknowns.

Head coach Chris Petersen held a news conference today, and said the team has not settled on a starting five on the offensive line or a starting duo at linebacker. Last week, linebackers coach Jeff Choate said he hoped to pick his starters Saturday, but if he did, Petersen wouldn't...read more

It's been 33 months since Matt Kaiserman ran the ball against someone not on his own team.

The 2006 Skyview grad grayshirted the 2007 season and did not play last season while he redshirted. Now that he's worn just about every shirt, he's ready to don the blue and orange.

"It's something else," Kaiserman said. "The time has flown by though. I've learned so much...read more

The Boise State football team has its highest-ever preseason ranking in the Associated Press poll.

In the poll, released Saturday, the Broncos are ranked No. 14, while season-opening opponent Oregon is No. 16. The two teams were 16th and 14th, respectively, in the USA Today poll released two weeks ago.

Click here for the full poll.

While Doug Martin stole the show Friday, freshman QB Joe Southwick also made an impact. He hit 13-of-17 passes for 113 yards in the scrimmage.

Though the Broncos would hope not to use one, it appears Southwick has taken the lead for the No. 3 quarterback position. He's looked strong in practices, carries himself very well and throws a great ball from my observations.

"He's an impressive...read more

In last week's scrimmage, the Boise State offense threw for 552 yards, but had 556 less on the ground.

Suffice it to say, in tomorrow's final open scrimmage of the fall, the Broncos are looking for quite a bit of an improvement running the ball.

"It wasn't necessarily that guys were missing blocks or not hitting the hole, it was just that they weren't in the right position...read more

The New York Times' Quad Blog does a great job every season of ranking teams from 120-1. The site has ranked the Broncos No. 17 heading into the 2009 season.

Click here for more.

With the emergence of Ellis Powers last season as a nickel, essentially a linebacker/safety hybrid, the Broncos have adopted a 4-2-5 base defense.

That means there's one less linebacker on the field in most sets. That also means there's quite a bit of competition for one of the two starting spots.

Linebackers coach Jeff Choate said Derrell Acrey, Hunter White and Daron Mackey are competing...read more

Today was the final set of two-a-days and also marked the start of the last week of Fall Camp. The Broncos will practice late Sunday night, then with school starting Monday, will be in regular-season mode.

The schedule will begin to change for the Broncos - Kyle Wilson described his typical slate during his two-a-days to me today.

"Breakfast, meetings, practice, lunch, some time off, meetings...read more

Boise State sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore was named to two more national award watch lists today.

Moore was named to the Manning and Maxwell Award watch lists. The Manning Award is given to the nation's top quarterback after the bowl season, the only major award to do so. The Maxwell Award has been given to the nation's best player since 1935. Moore is one of 33 on the Manning list and...read more

You know the season is coming up real soon when we talk about the "last" of something. In Monday's case, it will be the last two-a-days for the Boise State Broncos during Fall Camp.

The team had two practices a day during the first four days of camp, but they were split between newcomers and veterans. Tomorrow's set will be the fourth two-a-days with the full team.

"It's...read more

It was a big day in the air for the Bronco offense, and the complete opposite on the ground.

The Broncos passed for 552 yards, but ran for minus-4 on 46 attempts.

Here's a few stats for you: Kellen Moore was 16-of-21 for 190 yards, while Mike Coughlin threw for 101 yards and Mike Tamburo had 102. DJ Harper and Drew Wright led with 13 yards apiece.

The receivers had big games: Tyler Shoemaker...read more

Today's first fall scrimmage didn't have one side dominate, and that's probably a good thing.

Typically, the defense or offense is ahead of the other, but both had good moments tonight. The offense made some nice plays in the passing game, with Austin Pettis and Tyler Shoemaker completing long passes. Kellen Moore was accurate, as usual. The defense stuffed the run, for the most part...read more

Of course the Boise State football team would love another trip to a BCS game. I know the fans would, too.

So, how about the Fiesta Bowl again? I enjoyed the trip to Phoenix, and it was a first-class operation. The game was amazing. But would it be the same kind of feeling if the Broncos went again ... and played Oklahoma again?

Well, that's what ESPN is projecting. Click here.

The top play...read more

Most notably in two games last season, there was talk about the physical hits laid down by the Boise State defense.

There was Oregon, with hits on QB Jeremiah Masoli and TE Ed Dickson, and a pair of hits by Jeron Johnson against San Jose State. The Broncos took it upon themselves last season to be a physical defense, and the results spoke for themselves with one of the top defenses in the nation...read more

Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli and center Jordan Holmes grace the cover of the new Sports Illustrated.

I've posted the image to the right. I'm sure BSU fans are hoping for the legendary SI cover jinx...

Interestingly enough, the magazine has Boise State ranked ahead of the Ducks, coming in at No. 9. Virginia Tech, whom Boise State plays next season, is No. 5.

Boise State coaches have talked about hoping for a set lineup at offensive line, instead of the ever-changing group the Broncos saw last season.

In almost every game, a new combination was used. Andrew Woodruff, Jon Gott and Thomas Byrd were stalwarts, but Cory Yriarte, Kevin Sapien, Matt Slater and Garrett Pendergast all got starts. With Woodruff and Gott graduated, there's plenty of competition...read more

There have been some great nicknames around Boise State the last few seasons: Mad Tad, Gumby, Peanut, etc.

Well, with a newcomer, there's a new one that's the leader in the clubhouse for the 2009 season: T-Pain.

Teammates have called cornerback Jarrell Gavins, a sophomore transfer from El Camino (Calif.) College who hails from Miami "T-Pain." T-Pain is a rapper, is also from Florida...read more

The first practice of today's two-a-days wrapped up a little while ago, and it had some pretty good moments.

Offensively, Austin Pettis had a few great catches, including one in a short-yardage drill, deflecting a pass that was a bit behind him with his left hand, then catching it in the end zone on his back. There also was a huge hit by Jeron Johnson on freshman running back Malcolm Johnson...read more

Today's practice was the first with the full Boise State roster hitting the field at the same time and the first in full pads.

Putting the newcomers with the veterans is always interesting, and Sunday was no different.

"The biggest thing with this is for the older guys to bring the energy and show the younger guys how we do things around here," offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said...read more

When Boise State sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore spoke earlier this week, he said one of his main goals in 2009 was to take more of a leadership role in his second season as the starter.

"Last year, there were older guys, J.C. (Jeremy Childs), Ian (Johnson), Vinny (Perretta), and they sort of took most of the lead and I tried to slide in there while I could," Moore said.

After a big...read more

Junior defensive end Ryan Winterswyk established himself as one of the WAC's top pass rushers last season with 48 tackles, 11.5 for losses, and 4.5 sacks.

With Mike T. Williams graduated, Winterswyk is now the most experienced member of the defensive line, and he focused on a few things over the offseason to get even better.

"I worked a lot on my change of direction, getting low at certain...read more

Certainly one of the most scrutinized positions this fall will be the offensive line. It doesn't take a successful coach like Chris Petersen or me to explain that it all begins up front for a football team.

After using a different combination of linemen in nearly every game last season, the Broncos are looking for a bit of consistency out of the group.

"It was good and bad," offensive...read more

Boise State sophomore receiver Tyler Shoemaker is primed to make a bigger contribution in 2009 after catching seven passes for 110 yards and two TDs last season.

The former walk-on from Mountain View is slated to be the starter at the "H" receiver position Julian Hawkins (26 catches) vacated. Shoemaker had a strong spring, capped off with a three-catch, 138-yard, two touchdown performance...read more

The Boise State football team is ranked No. 16 in the USA Today preseason coaches poll. Oregon is No. 14.

Click here for the poll.

A name Boise State coaches talked about quite a bit a year ago was Hunter White. The linebacker was coming off a redshirt and was poised to contribute defensively, as well as on special teams.

White had 25 tackles, with two coming for losses, and bulked up over the winter. He had a strong spring and is now listed as the starter at middle linebacker ahead of junior Derrell Acrey.

"He had a great...read more

This morning's storm forced the Boise State football team to change practice venues from East Junior High to the Caven-Williams Indoor Complex on the BSU campus today.

While practice was humming along around 10:30 a.m., the power went out, and the backup bank of lights came on for about 30 minutes. Though it was not nearly as bright as normal, the team kept going, and didn't lose much of...read more

During Wednesday's evening practice, the newcomers took the field for the first time, joining a few other players who redshirted last season or are underclassmen.

I definitely had my eye on the two new quarterbacks, Joe Southwick and Mike Tamburo. Many recruiting experts said the Broncos got a steal in Southwick, and he looks the part. He's got a strong arm and puts some nice movement on...read more

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen just wrapped up his first news conference of the fall, covering an array of topics, with quite a few focused on the first day/week of practice.

Naturally, he got some Oregon questions and deftly avoided any sort of bulletin board material. Petersen also said Titus Young has done what the team has asked since his suspension last season and doesn't expect much...read more

The first practice of Fall Camp for the Boise State football team wrapped up a few minutes ago.

It was a solid first practice, with the defense having a few nice plays, though the offense got a few nice catches, including one fullback Richie Brockel made on his back on a pass from Mike Coughlin.

The quarterbacks were sporting black jerseys instead of the typical red. The newcomers practice at 4...read more

Mike Maynard, who has been the head track and field coach at Boise State the past nine seasons, has accepted the men's head track and field coaching position at UCLA.

Maynard will oversee all aspects of the men's program as well as coach both the men's and women's throwers.

After taking over the Bronco men's and women's programs prior to the 2001 season, Maynard led Boise...read more

OK, Bronco fans...tuck this away. Print it out. Copy and paste it. Tell all your friends. Whatever, but get ready to plan ahead. Here's the color schemes for 2009's home football games:

Oregon (Sept. 3) - Alternating sections of blue, white and orange.

Blue: Sections 7, 10, 24, 27, 30, 101, 104, 107, 110, 124, 127, 130

White: Sections 5, 8, 11, 25, 28, 102, 105, 108, 111, 125, 128 and...read more