Boise State Broncos @ San Diego State Aztecs Football Preview

This weekend’s game for the Boise State Broncos figured to be their last obstacle on the road to a 12-0 season and a BCS bowl bid. Now, it will represent something entirely different: a profound mental challenge for a heartbroken team that will have to pick its wounded psyche off the canvas and find the focus needed to play with the passion needed to achieve an important victory.

It happened to Boise State again – a close loss involving missed field goals. In Kellen Moore’s four seasons, Boise State is 46-3. Those three losses have been by a combined five points, and Boise State has missed five field goals in those games. The Broncos’ undefeated season has been broken again, this time a 36-35 loss to TCU. Boise State travels to San Diego State (6-3) as it tries to hold on to second place in the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos need to realize that if they can finish with an 11-1 record and get help from several sources – Tulsa or SMU (against Houston), California or Notre Dame (against Stanford), and spoilers in other power-conference races – they could stay in the running for a BCS at-large bowl bid. The odds are stacked against Boise, but the Broncos need to give themselves a chance to be selected for a premium bowl game instead of the Las Vegas or Poinsettia Bowls, their two most likely destinations at this point in time.

The missed field goal which sealed the Broncos’ fate against TCU last weekend has distracted from Boise State’s biggest problem: an injury-riddled secondary. The makeshift secondary gave up three touchdown bombs of 75, 74, and 69 yards to TCU quarterback Casey Pachall and the rest of the Horned Frogs’ offense, which is normally a run-first attack but found success early and often in the air. Aztec quarterback Ryan Lindley hasn’t been the most accurate of signal callers, completing passes at a 52 percent rate this season. However, with a depleted Boise secondary focusing on San Diego State meal ticket Ronnie Hillman, one of the nation’s leading rushers, Lindley could have some opportunity to hit on big plays like TCU did. Colin Lockett has shown ability to be a big-play threat and is the Aztecs’ leading receiver.

Boise State expects to have the services of Doug Martin back after he was injured two weeks ago against UNLV. Martin and D.J. Harper have combined for 1,246 rushing yards on the season, as Harper ran for 125 yards in Martin’s absence last week. College football’s biggest given has been good quarterback play from Kellen Moore. The lefty threw for 320 yards with no interceptions in last week’s loss, and is completing 74 percent of his passes with only five interceptions in nearly 300 attempts. San Diego State’s best chance to win is to slow down the Broncos’ run game and try to outscore them.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer