Boise State vs. Air Force
arbiteronline.com/sports
October 20, 2011
Coach Pete will have his hands full trying to stop AFA’s high-powered option attack.
Mountain West comes to Bronco Country ROBBY MILO/THE ARBITER
Wyatt Martin Sports Editor
No. 5 Boise State will return to Bronco Stadium this Saturday to face off against Mountain West foe Air Force Academy (3-3, 0-2 MWC) at 1:30 p.m. The Broncos head into the game after defeating the Colorado State Rams last weekend in their opening game of conference play. The 63-13 win over CSU marked the first time Boise State has beaten back-to-back opponents by 50 points. Boise also broke a school record for total offense against the Rams, with an impressive 742 yards of offense. The Air Force Academy Falcons come into this battle on a two game skid, losing last week’s game
against San Diego State, 41-27 and dropping a non-conference game at Notre Dame, 59-33. The Falcons are sitting at the bottom of the Mountain West at 0-2, while the Broncos are tied for second with Wyoming at 1-0, trailing conference leader Texas Christian 2-0. Boise State came in at number five in this week’s newly released Bowl Championship Series poll, trailing Louisiana State, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. This marks the third straight season the Broncos have been in the top five of the initial BCS standings. The Broncos and Falcons have each received unofficial footballonly invites to join the Big East Conference this week, in the Big East’s effort to maintain control of their automatic-qualifier BCS
bid. Though the move would not seem to make geographical sense to the teams, the dollar signs that would accompany the deal might. It would also give Boise a chance to play in a major conference and would bring them one step closer to the opportunity to play for a national title. Conference change or not, there’s still football that needs to be played. Here are some keys to Saturday’s game.
Bronco Offense:
Boise’s high-powered offense (499 ypg, 12 FBS, 2 MW) will be licking its chops at the chance to face an Air Force defense that has been ravaged by opponents this year. The Falcons give up an average of 35.5 points (111 FBS) and 435 yards (103) per contest and have yet to face competition like
W O N
Boise State this season. If the Broncos manage to beat the Falcons, senior quarterback Kellen Moore will have a chance to tie Texas QB Colt McCoy for all-time wins in FBS history at 45. Moore is coming off stellar back-to-back performances at Fresno State and Colorado State. The Prosser, Wash. native is also currently tied for second in the nation in touchdown passes with 21. The Broncos should have little trouble putting up big numbers again this week, in their first conference home game in the Mountain West.
Bronco Defense:
The Falcons operate out of a wing-T option formation that currently has them at third in the nation in rushing yards per game
(336). Supplemented with a mediocre passing attack, Air Force is leading the Mountain West in total offense (506 ypg). While these numbers may be a little daunting to some fans, the truth is the AFA has not seen a defense that stops the run as well as the Broncos, who’ve held three of their six opponents under 100 yards rushing. Boise has been able to start games strong, keeping their last four opponents from crossing the 50-yard line before the second quarter. Additionally, the Broncos have managed to force an average of 7.3 three-and-outs per game, keeping their defense off the field and their offense scoring points. As long as Boise State can control Air Force’s option attack, they should have another dominant performance.
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