Boise State Broncos

At the end of last season, Miami (OH) had QB Ben Roethlisberger leading his team to the a top 15 spot in each of the end-of-season polls, but does anyone remember the second best non-BCS school in 2003? If you said the Boise State Broncos, you’d be correct. Boise State University also finished in the top 25 of the AP and Coaches polls and finished just out of the top 15 in the BCS standings despite playing in the WAC. Some publications expect them to win the WAC again this year (their third in a row), and in my pre-season rankings, the Boise State Broncos start at #22.

The loss of QB Ryan Dinwiddle, the 2003 WAC Offensive Player of the Year, will hurt the Broncos, but senior Mike Sanford or sophomore Jared Zabransky is more than capable of leading the vaunted Broncos offense. The team will return only 11 starters from last season, but the combination of a strong defense, a punishing offensive line, and the experience of winning the last two WAC championships should be enough to push the team to the front. WR T.J. Acree will need to make up for the absence of RB Donny Heck (academic reasons) and lead the offense in 2004. Acree finished last season with 51 catches and seven scores last year and could lead the league this season. OT Daryn Colledge is a three-year starter who will need to lead the offensive line this season. Many coaches in the conference consider him the top lineman in the league. The strong Broncos defense will be led by LB Andy Avalos and DL Julius Roberts, both of whom were named all-WAC first teamers last year. Avalos finished last season with 112 tackles and three forced fumbles and is the pre-season pick for defensive player of the year. LB Jared Hunter broke his leg last fall, but could return to action earlier than expected this season.

The Broncos will have the advantage of playing Fresno State at home on October 23rd in a game that could determine who wins the conference. The games between the Broncos and the Bulldogs are often times the best games of the year in the WAC. The team has lost nine starters from the offensive unit of last season but they’ll return many of the big names that finished with the 12th ranked defense in the nation in 2003. The Broncos also haven’t been beaten in a WAC conference game since the 2001 season (18 in a row, 24 of the last 25). The coaching staff realizes that the team’s success will likely hinge of the success of the new quarterback, either Sanford or Zabransky. The defense will keep the Broncos in a few games that they probably shouldn’t win, but if the team can’t find it’s way into the end zone often, they might not be able to replicate the 13-1 season from last year.

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