Boise vs Mich St....
*let's get this one out of the way........
You NEVER
look to fade Boise....IN THIS TYPE GAME
*as a home favorite....vs a team they have beaten like a rug for years.....sure
but here ...when not expected to be much.....vs a team that has disappointed...when expectations were high?
better be VERY careful.........
Broncos lose a ton....(7 players invited to NFL Combine..... no talent?)........return 5/3 or so
besides obvious ....also lose OC (to Gators)...ST coach (to Wazzu)....and DB coach (to A&M)
Main issues are ......QB (no shit)......LT......DE.......and Safety .....and punter
others not as bad as you might think.....one thing that Peterson likes to do is play a lot of people....so many have played a lot of snaps.....Broncos rotate a lot on DL/LB
*Peterson does not discuss injuries...and they were off the radar a lot mid-season.......so most don't realize they were really banged up....(OL...DB esp)
QB?...doesn't look like that Joe Southwick is the man to me....unless he improves a ton......best bet maybe incoming Fr Nick Patti (5-11/190.....4.49)...the Florida 8A Player of the Year.....arrives on Boise campus today in fact....too short to get many offers.....was going to Michigan when RR was there.....UCLA only big school that offered ........besides USF and UCF seems like.....
DJ Harper was granted another year.....so will return at RB....and could be pushed by Soph Jay Ajayi....if he stays outta jail (last seen busted for stealing sweats at Wal-Mart)......huh?
OL really returns 3 that started/played a lot.....
RT Leno and LG Kellogg full time.....C Yriarte started 8 when that Thomas Byrd got hurt.........
Most WR's are back....they lose Shoemaker and TE Effaw....but get FB Dan Paul back (injured all year with groin...ouch)........should be much better here actually...if they find someone to get them the ball
Defensively ...replacing the entire starting DL/LB...is never good but replacements are not bad at all....DL bigger....260 > 315 - 315 < 280
*Boise recruited heavily here last few (as well as OL).....preparing ahead for big losses (2012) in trenches ......
Secondary returns 30 starts or so (Boise runs 4-2-5).....and should be fine
Spartans with 5/8 or so back.....including 4/5 OL and most productive RB Bell....they do lose one of the best QB/WR tandems in school history in Cousins and Cunningham.....
due to injuries mainly....MSU didn't run all that well LY.....ranking 11th in B10......
Defense is one of the nation's best.......(maybe THE best) ...returning 9/12 tacklers........including that beast DE Gholston
MSU with C Michigan next..Boise with bye.... so far
Both should struggle to move it....MSU seems like the obvious choice here.....with great D + strong OL and very good RB......Broncos with way too many question marks ....
BUT.....gotta go with Boise here....in a small leap of faith that Coach Pete will get it done.....yet again......as we have seen them do many times before...in other situations where they were (seemingly) at a talent/match-up disadvantage....
this one should be a very low scoring game.....UNDER....maybe looks like the best play (1H maybe better)....with a strong lean/small play on Boise...........
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Humble when ambitious - gracious when successful - resilient when you fail.