2006 Statistics

Second year coordinator Bryan Harsin may only be 30, but the alum proved with last year’s No.2 scoring offense in the nation that he has the pedigree to help Boise get back to dominating offensively. The key will obviously be who emerges from the preseason QB competition and how good that person becomes. All of the candidates are somewhat rough and inexperienced, but that hasn’t stopped the Broncos before from finding diamonds amongst their no-frills recruits. Senior Taylor Tharp set prep records in Colorado and has the inside track, though guys like 6’6 Nick Lomax (son of Neil), who is only a sophomore, and incoming three-star recruit Kellen Moore are the future of the program and will likely see real game reps regardless to break them in for ’08 and beyond. You can bet this offense will still go full throttle with All-American RB Ian Johnson back for his junior year. I-A’s top scorer and its No.2 back (yards per game) is sure to have another great year between the tackles, and look for senior FB Michael Lose to finally get the starting nod to guarantee Johnson holes through which to run. Also assuring this is the return of the entire starting line except their center, where mobile sophomore Paul Lucariello should fit in nicely. The new QB(s) should have plenty of time to find his/their groove. Newly-promoted reserves Jeremy Childs and Vinny Perretta returning make losing all three top receivers less impacting, as does having experienced senior TE Ryan Putnam start to fill the hole there. Coach Petersen is the ex-coordinator, a huge reason to believe why this offense should keep steaming forward even with so much turnover.

Only returning four starters on this side of the ball is much more of a concern. Last year’s 14th-ranked total defense was the reason BSU finished undefeated – think about it…the only way a WAC team can beat a team like Oklahoma when allowing them even a generous 42 points is with a top 15 D. One good sign is that junior Mike T. Williams looks like an upgrade at end, and classmates Phillip Edwards and Joe Bozikovich have shown enough inside to amply fill both starting holes there. This may not be a dominant run defense right away, but there is potential for it to be as good as the last class. The key defensive component hardest to replace will be WAC Defensive Player of the Year Korey Hall at MLB – senior Calgary-native Josh Bean is just as athletic and need only get used to starting before he excels there, too. Juniors David Shields and Kyle Gingg will battle for the start at WILL, with the one not chosen sure to challenge Tim Brady for the SAM spot. The corps is well-sized and fast, and they will be the biggest reason the Bronco’s swarming style of defense works. When the secondary again works well, you won’t be able to miss all-WAC second-team safety Marty Tadman, a heady player who has great intuition so he always seems to be around (or in on) the tackle. Junior Ellis Powers has experience at the open safety job, but a starter won’t be named there until late summer. The corners look solid after the great showing by Kyle Wilson as just a freshman last year. Depth on the outside also looks good. Powerhouse passing offense Hawai’i luckily comes at season’s end to give the back seven time to re-gel. Whether this is a top 50 defense – like it was from 2003-05 – or a top 15 defense like last year will be the difference between Boise making the BCS again or not.