Ole Miss v. Boise State

[donovan]

Well....reality needs to set in. So here are my thoughts.

1. Mr. Billybud has been correct for as long as I have known him...Mid Major schools need to be in their own group and the Big Boys theirs. Not sure it was ever the schools fault, the system encouraged it. But with the new Power 5, this may be self correcting.

2. Boise State had a great run, it is not over, but the days of being talked about have faded. They, like so many other smaller schools will not be able to get the bigger faster and stronger. They just need to be competitive in their own league and play OOC against similar conferences.

3. The 37 people that seemed to be in the stands tonight will eliminate Boise State from future "kick off" games......

4. The big difference tonight. Boise State was physically not ready....has not been that in the past. No QB. That will not be remedied quickly.

5. Boise State will not win the MWC, some other good schools that will come forth. Its ok..just time to be real.

6. Ole Miss will not be a competitor in the SEC.

7. It is going to be a long season for me. Oregon State, Boise State, Washington State. Very long.

8. I like fantasy better than reality.....but time to get real.

9. Coach Harsin needs to make some very tough decisions....this team will not take him where they need to go.

10. I dislike it when Mr. Bilybud is right, as gracious as he may be. Especially when I was just hoping he was wrong.

[billybud]

Boise has been a good team...certainly better than many P5 teams....

They held it close into the 3rd qtr. against a good Ole Miss team....I don't know why the dam broke, but the Boise defensive backs were leaving guys open and missing tackles.

Boise's pass rush was great to watch....it was a case of do or die...once Ole Miss could figure out how ro pick up a blitz and buy some time, their QB started hitting his targets.

[Cane from the Bend]

7. It is going to be a long season for me. Oregon State, Boise State, Washington State. Very long.

Amazing how 1 turnover can make such a difference.
A secure fair catch on that punt, the Cougars ice the game.
An adrenaline filled haphazard attempt at a return; fumble.
Then the Rutgers D was giving up huge yards.
Then, they got to the quarterback ... sack.
Washington St just couldn't recover.

I was only able to catch the tail end of this game ... I started watching on Rutgers' drive that they punted the ball. I was out of the room when the punt was made, but could hear the commentary saying the ball came free, and Rutgers had it.

This was exciting. This is what College Football is.

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[donovan]

The morning after always brings a modicum of perspective. Boise State will be Okay in their conference. The QB situation is an issue...you can not throw that many picks. Mostly you can not get that tired at the end of the game. In the past, it was hard to know who was playing for Boise, they ran players in and out like a great hamburger chain in California.

Washington State will be Okay. Leach is a good coach, we all know past issues....so I think they will contend.

Good to have the season start. Couple of good games this Saturday...and I think they need to be watched....Ocean out of one eye, screen out of the other.....when does it get better.

[Eric]

Boise State would have been fine against Ole Miss had it not been for one position: QB. Not saying they would have won, but it probably would have reduced the game to a coin flip. As a matter of fact, I think if Boise had somebody like Kellen Moore behind center, these last three years would have been as dominant as the late 2000's. If Arizona State didn't come in late in the game and grab Taylor Kelly, it would have changed college football history, and I don't that's an overstatement. The Broncos probably would have continued to crash the BCS with somebody like Kelly because lately they have had the defense and the athletes at receiver, and Ajayai is a next-level RB.

I don't think this game proves Boise doesn't belong any more than their wins over Virginia Tech, Oregon (twice), Georgia, or Oregon State showed they "belonged." I think they are fine, except for the most important position at football since Hedrick is such a bad passer. But, the jury will be out on Harsin if he can keep up the success of his predecessors in the coming years, especially in the ability to find diamonds in the rough in recruiting.

[Eric]

Yeah I passed out during the Rutgers/Wazzu game. I had been up since 6:00 that morning so I knew I wasn't going to make it by the time the game hit halftime. I was disappointed with the Cougars as they probably needed this game to go bowling since the Pac-12 North is so stacked. Halliday continued being an all-out mistake machine, so nothing new there. Washington State has some up and comers at WR though, so that will be fun. I can't believe though that this is year three and Leach hasn't found an arm he likes more than Halliday, whom he inherited from Paul Wulff. Halliday gets a ton of yards, but the misreads he makes over the course of a game cost his team more than he helps. We all know that a generic QB with Leach can average 450 yards a game.