The opening game on ESPN between top 20 teams on the Smurf Turf between Oregon and Boise State was billed as an early Thursday night classic. Instead we got more subplots than a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western.
The Good:
Boise State;
Head Coach Chris Petersen prepared his team superbly. Even in the post-game melee Coach Petersen was sharp enough to recognize his player was out of line and didn't blew the punch off as part of the game where emotions are high. This was recognition that his player was not an innocent victim of a right cross to the jaw.
The Bronco defense shut down the vaunted Ducks offense blanking the Ducks for two and a half quarters with nothing but three and with the exception of a safety en route to opening up a 19-0 lead. The Bronco defense did there job throughout the game. Once Oregon got the three first down monkey off of their back and scored a touchdown followed up by a two point conversion the Broncos tightened up on fourth downs, forced turnovers, and continued to overshadow their offensive counterparts who did everything they could to keep the Ducks in the ball game.
On offense Jeremy Avery, DJ Harper, and the Boise State offensive run blocking were good enough to keep the ball away from the Oregon offense for two and a half quarters keeping the Bronco defense fresh and never giving the Ducks O a chance to get into a rythm.
Give credit also to the Oregon defense as they kept the Ducks in the game.
The Bad:
Without a doubt back up Boise State defensive end Byron Haut. It is an absolute disgrace when a player wins a game and then decides he is going to rub salt in the wound of a player. That is like a Mix Martial Artist knocking out his opponent than grabbing a bottle of tobbasco hot sauce and rubbing it into the eyes of his opponent. Lagarrette Blount Oregon's massive tailback made the mistake of disrespecting the Boise State Broncos team and the Broncos made a statement to Mr. Blount on the field and on the scoreboard. Final score Boise State 19 Oregon 8. The big Duck tailback 8 carries negative 5 yards rushing tackled in the end zone for a safety and tackled behind the line of scrimmage on a fourth and short. Enough said, LB was eating a heavy dose of crow and Byron Haut seeking him out after the end of the game to trash talk was despicable. The beauty of sports is that you have tough competition and when you defeat the tough competition the high of sports is that much greater. The game on smurf turf was tabbed the biggest home game in Boise football history. Obviously Byron thought very little of the Oregon Ducks and decided he was going to rub some salt in the wound after the fact letting Oregon's starting running back he wasn't worthy to play on the smurf turf. Byron Haut got exactly what he deserved for seeking out Lagarette Blount with the right to the jaw. Normally players have their helmets on but since Haut didn't break a sweat while warming up the bench it wasn't necessary for him to put the helmet on and do battle. Meanwhile a prideful Blount battled unsuccessfully against a superior Bronco defensive scheme and was subjected to a bench warmer trash talking. Lagarrette Blount deserved all the trash talk on the field during the sixty minutes of play but once the final gun sounded it was time to say good game, thank you for coming to Boise and best of luck the rest of the season. I doubt Haut was giving respect to his opponent the way coach Petersen was pulling him away before the punch ensued.
More bad, Lagarrette Blount losing his cool after the punch. Fact is the big guy sucked all night. He didn't break any tackles, he didn't do much to help his team get on track offensively and he certainly wasn't a team leader when disrespecting his opponent with the "we owe this team and ass whooping for last year". Sure you might owe them something for last year but the term ass whooping the Broncos on the smurf turf has only happened twice in the last 67 games in Boise. Do the math, LB just win the game and show your opponent the respect they deserve.
As for a sucker punch? There was no sucker punch. Byron Haut sought out Lagarette Blount after the game and was dumb enough to not look for what he was asking for. You just don't disrespect and opponent after you win the game. You also don't disrespect the opponent when you stand on the sidelines in uniform cheerleading while players are giving their all to win the game. No doubt Lagarette Blount was trying to win the game otherwise he wouldn't have been so emotional and to have a cheerleader call out afterwards hit the wrong nerve.
The ugly:
Oregon's offense, it was anemic. It couldn't get a first down for the first 38 minutes of the game than when the defense granted it turnovers in the final 22 minutes of the game Jeremiah Masoli found ways to turn the ball over to the Bronco defense. Masoli's third quarter interception was exceptionally ugly as he threw it right between the three and the six to Bronco linebacker Aaron Tevis. As ugly as the play looked credit that one to Bronco home field advantage. The all blue jerseys tend to blend in with the field and for years quarterbacks have lost the camouflaged coverages in the sea of blue.
Chip Kelley's game plan and play calling were exceptionally ugly. The offense could not generate one first down during the first 38 minutes of the game. The Bronco defense was partially responsible, the lack of offensive execution was partially responsible but at a certain point the head Duck has to take some heat for not calling at least one play that would produce ten yards to move the sticks. Chip Kelley seemed confused like a deer in the headlights on the sideline. When the Ducks scored their first touchdown they went for two to make it an eleven point game with a quarter and a half to play. The two wasn't necessary but it was successful and cut the score down to a touchdown, two point conversion and a field goal to tie. When the Ducks were recipients of a Bronco fumble deep in the home team's territory and failed to get a first down instead of kicking a field goal to make it a one score game Kelly went for it on fourth down calling the number of his big back who had negative yardage on the night including being caught of a safety. It was apparent the Broncos were prepared for every possible run situation against the Ducks and Kelley went against himself with the fourth down attempt instead of the field goal. The game would have taken on a different look had the Ducks converted a field goal putting pressure on Boise State to hold on but instead Kelley gave the momentum back to the Broncos on everything but the silver platter.
On the night Boise State proved they are not a team that deserves anyone's disrespect and opening up your career as a head coach on the smurf turf is a much more difficult order than most of the country outside of Oklahoma and WAC conference could imagine. Kelley couldn't imagine much more than Blount's negative five yards rushing.
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