The Broncos beat every team in their division by double digits, but because of two cross-division road losses by a combined 4 points (one of them in OT) they will miss out on the inaugural MW championship game. A missed field goal does them in again. Well, I hope they get the New Mexico bowl against a Pac 12 team. A win in that would turn a rebuilding year into a success. It was nice to see the defense improve so much over the course of the year. If they can hang onto Lawrence, and get better at corner, I think the D will be really strong next year. That linebacking corps is looking great against the run, and the safeties are looking very strong in general. Darian Thompson is looking like a potential super-star. At QB, Hedrick has a head start, but he needs to get a lot better at reading the good defenses if the Broncos want to be competitive next year. He struggled badly against the two good defenses he faced, although, to his credit, he improved greatly against both in the second halves of those games. It will be interesting to watch the QB battle this coming spring and fall -- Hedrick, Patti, Finley, and even Greene will all be here for spring ball. The trouble will be getting them all enough reps to fairly evaluate them. The top two receivers are back, and Miller, if he stays healthy, is going to threaten almost every receiving record on the books next season. SWR keeps improving, and could become a true deep threat next year. If Dallas Burroughs is anything like his brother Mitch, he might be poised for a big Senior year, too. The RB position is in great shape with Ajayi, Baltazar, and Demas all coming back. Congrats to Ajayi tonight for becoming the first Bronco to rush and receive for over 100 yards in the same game since 1995. That guy is a beast. If he sticks around through his senior year, he could end up being one of the best Bronco RBs ever. There are plenty of TEs back too, although that group was pretty disappointing this year. That is an area that needs stronger play. The only big offensive question mark next year is the O line, with 3 starters graduating. The right side is in good hands with Henry and Odhiambo (if they can stay healthy), but the left side is going to have a lot of fresh faces, and having a new center is always a scary proposition. Well just have to keep our fingers crossed on that. On the whole, it was not a good year by Boise State standards, but 8-4 would make most programs in the country very happy. This was the first season that the Broncos lost more than one conference game since 2001, so that was disappointing. But they were solidly in both of those games, and could easily have won either (or both) of them, both on the road. Next season, they get all of their tough conference games at home (Fresno St, SDSU, Utah St, and Colorado St). They also get BYU at home next season, so the home slate looks really strong. We will learn a lot about the team in the CfA Classic in Atlanta against Ole Miss to start the season. Hopefully that will go a lot better than the openers of the last two seasons. No matter how it goes, though, Ill keep cheering them on. Theyve been a lot of fun to watch, winning no fewer than eight games for 15 straight seasons now. Not too many fan bases have seen that kind of consistent success out of their team. Go Broncos!
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 08:30:40 +0000
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