Boise State Bombed By Air Force

Where do we begin?  If this were a fight, it should have been stopped long before the game ended for the Boise State Broncos.  Any hope of making a big bowl game drifted away like many of the BSU turnovers.  I suppose we should begin with how did Air Force dominate one of college football's premiere teams?

Let's start with the truth.  The Broncos are not the same team of Coach Pete and Kellen Moore.  What they did was history and now that they are history, that magic may never happen again.  Plus the Mountain West is a lot tougher than the old WAC.  See Colorado State beating Boston College today for details.

This team has had issues since last year when Joe Southwick was injured.  Quarterback Grant Hendrick is not an effective passer.  He was exposed tonight after throwing several interceptions and had to be replaced by a red shirt freshman.  The Broncos had hid their weakness by encouraging Hendrick to run out of the pocket.  Once he loosened up opposing defenses, he gained more confidence in his throws.  The Falcons took away that option and Hendrick made too many mistakes to allow the Broncos a chance to win.

Jay Ajai, while a good runner, is a fumbler.  His two turnovers cost the Broncos any chance to set the tone.  This is not a new issue for Ajai.  We all know that and so do the coaches.  So why haven't they fixed the problem?  Let's not forget that Matt Miller getting injured limited the Broncos on offense.

Perhaps the Broncos believed that playing Air Force was the equivalent to Southern Miss or Louisiana whatever...  The BSU coaches failed to prepare their players mentally for tonight's game.  That's their job and they should be held accountable.  You make the big money, you should hear the criticism and accept it.

Here's how bad was it?  The Falcons last conference win was November 2012.  They won only two games last year.  Their offensive line was out weighed by the Broncos defensive line.  The Air Force Offense consisted of several running plays.  Prior to the game, BSU's defense was dominant against the run.  Not anymore, they've been exposed by a team that rarely passes.

I'm sure the local sports talking heads will attack the fans who dare criticized tonight's unacceptable performance.  Their failed logic is that fans have no right to be critical of a program that they support.  Great programs take their lumps and don't turn on their fans.  The fans have every right to express themselves over tonight's pitiful performance.

The Broncos did not quit which was a good thing despite turning the ball over seven times.  How will they recover?  That's up to the coaches who I'm sure will be watching endless hours of film before next week's Nevada Game.

One does not judge a fighter by how many times he can hit, but how he responds to getting hit.  It is now time for the Broncos to answer the bell.