Though manned with recruits that rarely rate over three-stars, coach Dan Hawkins holds a rather talented full house rife with wildcards. QB Zabransky returns to complete his eligibility, meaning balance on offense will again keep foes guessing. Many have not followed the recent Bronco trend where running now outpaces passing, but it is a new era in the potato capital. Zabransky has all but one of his linemen back, and this beefed up crew will keep the ground game humming. Too many receivers will again mean zany rotations that find different starters weekly. We know the O will click, but what happens on D seems to ultimately dictate where the Broncos land. Trends of slippage on defense have to be addressed if BSU is to again live on the BCS fringe. Can nine returning starters make the D surge again, especially the marginal secondary? This will be key, as will the DL again (as they have for three years) holding opponents to around 100 ground yards per game. Since Boise never ranks above 50th for their recruiting, the Broncos always equal more playing as a unit than when broken down into their sum parts. Oregon State comes in early, and a road trip two weeks later into Bowling Green should give us all insight as to how far 2006’s Broncos can be thrown. State took an early hit in ’05 with losses to Georgia and Oregon State right off…still, Hawkins gets the nod for trying his best to get BSU away from that “small school” or “mid-major” label, so showing up against nationally prominent (and WACster) Fresno is a must. Smurf turf has meant 30 consecutive home wins – the current national standard has BSU ahead of USC in this category.