Boise State Football: Report Card Grades for Toledo vs. Boise State

Boise State racked up its 35th consecutive win against an out-of-conference, non-BCS opponent in their 40-15 win over Toledo. This is also the 10th consecutive Boise State senior class to win 40 games in their college career. Both of these team accolades are very impressive considering these stats go all the way back to the Dirk Koetter era. 

The Broncos put up an outstanding 610 yards against a Toledo team that held Ohio State to just 301 at the Horseshoe. This was after a shaky first half for the Broncos, where they lead by only 11 going into the locker room. However, in the second half the game slipped away from the Rockets, and the nail was driven in the coffin after an onside kick was recovered by Boise State and the second-string offense drove down for another touchdown.

On paper this win is impressive given the showing Toledo had against Ohio State, however those of us who watched the game may tell a slightly different story. Here is the Boise State Report Card on how each position performed against this Toledo team. 

Qaurterbacks: Moore, Southwick and Hedrick

Grade: A+

Kellen Moore placed Boise State firmly on his shoulders and carried them to a victory in Toledo. After two dropped passes that hit the receivers in the hands leading to a punt on the opening drive, Kellen Moore rallied his receiving crew for a sideline sit down. He then proceeded to complete 32-of-42 passes, grabbing yet another Boise State record for single game completion percentage with over 30 attempts. 

Toledo had no answer for Kellen Moore. At one point he drove down the field completing all of his passes. Some would say Kellen Moore was in rare form but it has almost become normal form for the QB from Prosser, Wash. His lone mistake was an interception in the second half that did little damage to the Broncos as their defense recovered a fumble on the following Toledo drive.

By the end of the game Moore had racked up an incredible 455 yards passing and five touchdowns in what has become the average day for Kellen Moore. Currently, Boise State is ranked sixth in passing in FBS, and the teams ahead of the Broncos have played three games compared to Boise's two.

Periodically, Chris Petersen would put Grant Hedrick in for a read option play. He was more apt to hand off the ball to Martin this time around which is a bit disappointing as Martin was firmly covered in the run game. I would have liked to have seen Hedrick run the ball once or twice himself as he showed impressive speed against Georgia.

Finally, Joe Southwick wrapped the game up for the Broncos by leading the second-string offense down the field for yet another touchdown.

Between the three of them, Boise State has firmly established itself as a quarterback powerhouse, and Kellen Moore is well on his way to a Heisman Trophy.      

Running Backs: Martin, Harper, Wright

Grade: B+

Doug Martin improved his running over the Georgia game, but really shone on one play where he broke out for 71 yards after catching a short pass from Kellen Moore. His final stats include 19 carries for 70 yards, and he also led in receiving yards with 122 on catches.

Even though Martin had a ton of receiving yards for a running back, his rushing yards were relatively weak against a team he should have easily overpowered. Only averaging 3.7 yards per rush, it was apparent that Doug Martin was in for another fight. It's almost like the Broncos opponents give up on trying to shut down the passing game and focus on defending the running game.  

Despite that, Doug Martin is one of the hardest runners in college football, and I expect him to have a breakout game at some point this season. He once again was stellar as a blocker in the backfield not letting anyone come close to Kellen Moore.

D.J. Harper and Drew Wright made up the remainder of the carries. Harper carried seven times for 35 yards, and Wright carried five time for 29 yards. They had more success on average than when Martin was in the backfield, but that may be because they aren't expecting the run as much. Expect the run game to make improvements in every game, and if Kellen Moore falters, they will pick him up.    

Receivers: All Nine of Them

Grade: A

Once again if you play for Boise State and can catch a pass, you got reception this game. Nine personnel caught at least one pass and eight caught multiple passes for a total of 465 yards. Surprisingly the top receiver was Doug Martin mainly because of a 71-yard pass he caught and ran for a touchdown. The Broncos began to take a few pages from the Toledo play book running a few successful screen passes before opening it up across the middle. At one point, the receivers caught 6-of-6 passes on a scoring drive.

The one low point came in the beginning of the game when two consecutive passes were dropped after hitting the receivers in the hands. However, after that every single receiver stepped up.  

Tyler Shoemaker had a career day, catching three touchdown passes on four receptions. Both Mitch Burroughs and Kirby Moore made incredible catches on touchdown drives, with Kirby's helmet coming off showing an impressive hair care regiment. 

There is still no deep threat right now with the absence of Gerald Boldewijn due to an investigation into his eligibility, but if and when he returns, he will definitely be the 10th receiver Kellen Moore looks to. Until then, look for the current corps of receivers to run quick short routes and make yards up field after the catch.   

Offensive Line

Grade A+

There is nothing I can say about this offensive line that has not already been said. These guys create and immovable wall around Kellen Moore once again not allowing a single sack and only the occasional hurry up. The entire line held their blocks though out the whole game, and you could even catch these guys seven to 10 yards down field picking up second blocks in front Martin or Harper as they ran.

Nate Potter will be an NFL lineman, and don't be surprised to see other Bronco linemen make that leap as well. They did a better job of creating holes for the Boise State running backs; however, the Toledo linebackers did a good job plugging them. 

Defensive Line

Grade: B

Coach Petersen said it best when he told ESPN his team needed to do a better job tackling. It was extremely frustrating watching the Broncos not wrap up after they made contact with the ball carrier. Part of this was due to the Broncos’ overpursuing the Toledo backs. Toledo did their homework for this game since they knew Boise State loves to pin its ears back especially on third down. This was exploited and for the first half the Rockets were very successful on third down, tossing screen passes and draw plays. 

That being said, the line still did a great job holding Toledo to only 98 rushing yards and 15 points while forcing two turnovers. I fully expect the line will shore up its tackling issues and continue to be dominant.

Linebackers

Grade: A

The linebackers were once again the unsung heroes of this Bronco defense. When the line got a little antsy and began over-pursuing, it was the linebackers that held their ground. This kept the Toledo offense from breaking off any big plays. They were also instrumental in disrupting the offensive line yet again, causing some Toledo linemen to miss their blocks. Make no mistake, the Bronco linebackers may not get their names called as much, but they are a key part of the defense.

Secondary

Grade: B

There were a few times where the Bronco secondary was burned again. Luckily the Toledo recievers can not catch a football. This will not be the case in the future. TCU and San Diego State have deep-threat receivers who may be able to outrun Boise State's secondary, so this is definitely an area they need to work on. 

On the other hand, they contained the short passes very well and only allowed 251 passing yards. For as strong a defense as the Broncos are supposed to have, this is not a great stat though. The No. 4 team in the country should be able to stifle the deep threat as well as contain short passes. The return of Cedric Febis seemed to have made little difference, but he will definately be a factor in the future.

Special Teams

Grade: D-

This is quite possibly the worst special teams performance I have seen by the Broncos in years, and yes, that includes the Nevada game last year. Two missed extra points, a failed fake field goal and kicking the ball out of bounds setting up good field position that Toledo took advantage of. 

Thankfully the Bronco offense is strong enough to score a ton of points; however Boise State has relied on special teams to win the game at least once every year. If these kickers do not step up, it could be a very scary situation in the future.  

The Boise State punter did an excellent job but was rarely used and the punt return team almost had a few inadvertent mistakes due to the ball touching them as they ran down field. There were very little opportunities on the punt return team not because of BSU, but because of how bad the Toledo punter was. 

Coaching

Grade A-

Coach Petersen had his offense ready for this game once again, as for the defense? They need a little work. The one unknown the Broncos really need to work on is field goal kicking, and I believe this coaching staff has zero confidence right now. 

It is because of that I would say the lone bad call was on the fake field goal. Everyone knows Boise State has a weak kicking game right now, so when the Broncos lined up to kick a 52-yard field goal every one knew it had to be a fake. Brent Pease should have just placed the ball in Moore’s hands, and he would have had a better chance at coming up with a first down. 

Other than that, the coaching staff did a good job of not changing anything or over-thinking the game once it became apparent that Kellen Moore was going to have an excellent game.  

Intangibles

Grade: A

Other than maintaining the intangibles from my past report card, the Broncos did step up when it came to ignoring the obviously hostile surroundings. The Toledo fans were coming very close to disrupting the Bronco offense while throwing yellow footballs when Boise State was near the student section. One of the yellow football almost hit Kellen Moore on one of his touchdown passes. 

On three of the extra point attempts, a green Frisbee would fly near and even through the uprights. The ESPN commentators even commented on the poor sportsmanship of the Toledo fans. Kudos to the Broncos for having the discipline to ignore the fans and continue to be successful.

Overall Grade

Team Grade: B+

The bottom line is Boise State won...by a lot. But Boise State fans are spoiled, and the mistakes the Broncos made were not that critical.  Other than a potentially shaky situation in the kicking game, Boise State will step up and win every game this season. I expect them to be much better next week when they face Tulsa in their home opener.