http://www.boston.com/sports/colleg.../15/as_others_struggle_boise_plays_like_no_1/
National College Football
As others struggle, Boise plays like No. 1
By
Mark Blaudschun
November 15, 2010
OK, who’s No. 1? We don’t know, no matter what the polls say or whatever argument you want to use for the four remaining unbeatens — Oregon, Boise State, TCU, and Auburn.
But one thing seemed clear after last weekend’s games. Boise
looked like the best team and had the best weekend. The Broncos came into their rivalry game against Idaho Friday night with an attitude and it showed in a 52-14 trouncing of the Vandals. A heated intrastate rivalry is over for the time being, since Boise is moving from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West next season.
Boise’s 49-20 win over Louisiana Tech Oct. 26 wasn’t impressive enough for the voters and computers, which bounced the Broncos from No. 3 to No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.
But in the BCS, if you want change, wait a week and it will happen. Such was the case this past weekend, because not only did Boise have the best week and looked the part, but the Broncos’ competition all had their problems.
Top-ranked Oregon, a scoring machine for the first two months of the season, hit the road and almost became road kill, holding on for a 15-13 win at California.
West Coast sages such as Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times saw a tight one coming, pointing out the schizoid tendency of Cal teams on the road and at home. On the road, the Bears are mediocre. At home? In even-numbered years, Cal hadn’t lost a home game since 2004. Until Saturday night.
If not Oregon, how about Auburn?
The Tigers beat Georgia, 49-31, but it was a tension-filled game, ending a tension-filled week, which will be followed now with two more tension-filled weeks.
Not only did Auburn have to deal with the controversy concerning the eligibility of quarterback
Cam Newton — who is also the Heisman Trophy front-runner — but a win over Georgia would make the Tigers SEC West champions.
The Tigers took care of the Bulldogs, and now have two hurdles between them and a likely spot in the BCS title game. Neither, though, will be easy. First comes the Iron Bowl against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, followed by the SEC Championship game against the East champion, South Carolina.
If not Auburn, how about TCU?
The Horned Frogs may have had the worst week of the contenders. Sure, they remained unbeaten with a 40-35 win over a decent San Diego State team, but they showed some defensive vulnerability, which no one noticed one week earlier when they were taking apart previously unbeaten Utah in Salt Lake City, 47-7.
But Saturday Utah went to South Bend, Ind., and was trounced, 28-3, by what most people thought was a mediocre Notre Dame team. Adding to the Horned Frogs’ weekend was a victory by Texas A&M over Baylor.
With the loss to the Aggies, Baylor’s stock tumbled, and so did the importance of TCU’s win over the Bears earlier in the season.
Which brings us back to Boise State, which looks No. 1 worthy — for this week at least.
Watch your step
Oregon has been very good all season in climbing to No. 1. In their win over Cal, the Ducks were both lucky and good. A potential winning field goal by Cal in the fourth quarter was negated when kicker
Giorgio Tavecchio did a stutter step before attempting what would have been a go-ahead 24-yard field goal. Cal was called for illegal motion. Tavecchio then missed from 29 yards . . . Oregon, which had only three scoreless quarters all season, was held scoreless in the first and fourth quarter by the Bears . . . Newton certainly didn’t hurt his Heisman chances against Georgia, coming up with 299 total yards. Whether the controversy regarding his recruitment hurts him with Heisman voters remains to be seen . . . TCU allowed 35 points against San Diego, 12 more than the Horned Frogs’ first six Mountain West Conference opponents combined . . . Could Louisiana State again be a sleeper in the BCS title game? The once-beaten Tigers (24-17 losers at Auburn) did not even win their division (SEC West). But an Auburn loss to either Alabama or South Carolina and an Oregon loss to either Arizona or Oregon State might put LSU in the BCS title picture.
Badgering a foe
Say what? Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20? Although margin of victory is not a factor with the BCS computer polls, it always is with the voters (Harris Poll, coaches poll) who decide BCS standings. And since the Big Ten will have a three-way tie if Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin win out, and the tiebreaker in that scenario is the highest BCS standing, bigger is better. Consider this: The Wisconsin basketball team did not score more than 83 points in 30 of its 34 games last season, and the school mascot, Bucky Badger, who celebrates TDs with pushups, did 573 of them Saturday.