Boise State Football: Grading the Broncos' Performance against Colorado State

No. 5 Boise State made the leap into Mountain West Conference play for the first time in Broncos' history even as talks continue that they are potentially leaving the MWC for the Big East.

Potential conference expansion did not deter the Broncos from decimating the Colorado State Rams, putting up 63 points to the Rams' 13. 

The Broncos racked up a school record 742 yards and jumped to a 35-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of play. Boise State was so fast and dominant that they had seven scoring drives that lasted less then two minutes and the longest drive only took three minutes and 36 seconds.

So as the Broncos reach the Top 10 in the BCS for the fifth time in the last six seasons did they live up to their No. 5 ranking? Here is this week's report card for their game against the Colorado State Rams.

Quarterbacks

Grade: A+

Kellen Moore had yet another career day as he threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns while completing 26 of 30 passes. With those four touchdowns, Moore past former Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang to take hold of the fifth spot on the all-time TD list. 

Moore was extremely accurate and efficient completing 18 passes before finally succumbing to his first incompletion all while engineering six scoring drives of under two minutes. He improved to 44-2 as a starter and just one win shy of Colt McCoy's NCAA record. 

About halfway through the third quarter Boise State had built up enough of a lead to remove the starters from the game. At that point Joe Southwick took over the quarterback duties. Though his main duty was to hand the ball off he did complete one pass on his only attempt leading to a first down.

So for all intents and purposes, the quarterbacks were flawless for this game and really, what else would we expect from Kellen Moore?

Running Backs

Grade: A

If Kellen Moore was flawless then how do we describe Doug Martin's performance against the Rams?

Dominant.

Kellen Moore really didn't even need to show up as the run game was the best it has been in years. Doug Martin ran 20 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He scored the first Bronco touchdown on a 26-yard rush and then a second on a 65-yard break less then a minute and 30 seconds later.

D.J. Harper also had a pair of touchdowns for the night while racking up 63 yards on eight carries, adding to the Broncos 393 total ground yards for the night.

Even when the Broncos sat its starters the running game continued to be successful with Junior RB Drew Wright muscling his way to 79 yards on 16 carries. 

The one misstep was when Mitch Burroughs fumbled the ball on a two-yard rush that lead to a Colorado State touchdown. This gave the Rams momentum going into the locker room but it was all for not as the Broncos' running game continued to be successful while Colorado State was stopped cold.

Once again this offense proved that when both the pass and rush are working, an incredible amount of points can be scored, as they have put up 120 points in the last two games. 

Wide Receivers

I'm running out of words to describe just how good the offense did in this game. The receiving corps is no different. 

Tyler Shoemaker was definitely the standout receiver making nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his touchdown passes were over 50 yards and once again brought Shoemaker to the forefront of the Broncos' wide receivers. 

The eight other receivers also played extremely well with Kirby Moore catching a touchdown pass and magically keeping his helmet on while doing it. 

Mitch Burroughs also had a good game pulling in five catches for 64 yards and Gabe Linehan capped the receivers' evening with a final receiving touchdown. In total, the receivers brought in 349 yards for the Broncos.

Offensive Line

Grade: A+

Even though Kellen Moore was sacked for the second time this season the Boise State O-line did an excellent job at giving him tons of time to make passes and opened up some huge holes for Doug Martin and D.J. Harper.

This was by far the best all-around game the line has played this season and they were without a few starters as well. As I have said before, the key to this offense is how good this line is. They give Moore so much time to make decisions it is impossible for the opposing defense to be effective. 

Though Moore was sacked once and did have a few hurry ups, it was not enough to slow Boise State down. Credit the offensive line for that. 

Defensive Line

Grade: A+

Once again the Broncos defense absolutely destroyed any chance for the Rams to be successful in running the ball. As a matter of fact, the only two touchdowns the Broncos gave up were on trick play passes. 

Allowing only 85 yards on the ground and constantly putting pressure on the Rams' QB highlighted what has become a normal night for this All-Star defensive front. Forcing a fumble in the second quarter that was picked up by CB Ebenezer Makinde topped it all off. 

Currently, the Broncos are eighth in the country in points allowed and that trend looks to continue as it is the Bronco defense, more than the offense in many cases, that is making a big impression across the country.   

Linebackers

Grade: A+

Aaron Tevis had one of the hardest hits I have seen all season. He came flying in and absolutely crushed the Rams' running back just behind the Broncos defensive line. That is the kind of play I loved to see and it set the tone for the Broncos' defense for the entire game. 

The linebackers had a very good game swarming the ball and stopping the screen plays. Both the Rams run offense and pass offense had nowhere to go past the line of scrimmage. 

Byron Hout and Aaron Tevis have played a big part in the Broncos only allowing an average of 14.5 points per game this season.    

Secondary

Grade: B

The Boise State secondary continues to be the weak spot on the Broncos defense and this will be a problem once they get into a BCS bowl. More than a few times the secondary was beat. Much like Toledo, Colorado State receivers were able to get separation but just could not come down with the catch, mostly due to overthrows. 

The secondary needs to tighten up if they want to be successful against TCU and San Diego State. 

They did come down with an interception and a fumble recovery, but even though their stats were excellent, the film tells a different story. Gavins is sorely missed but Ewing-Burtion has stepped up despite being overmatched on occasion.

Finally, they were fooled twice on trick plays. The second time they caught their mistake as they were committing, but it was too late. Boise State prides itself on being smarter and better prepared than the other team. Tricky little plays like that should not work, especially since BSU is the king of trick plays.

One final point: the pass interference call on George Iloka that led to one of the touchdowns was complete nonsense. There was absolutely no interference on that play.

Special Teams

I'm going to separate the Broncos special teams this week, because it is unfair that the grade is bad simply because of an atrocious field-goal unit.

Field Goal Unit: F

Again, the Achilles Heel of the Broncos is the field-goal kicking unit. Coach Petersen and his staff cannot continue to defend this unit when the whole world sees just how bad it is. Missing a chip shot 27 yards out well inside the hash marks is just unacceptable. This is the No. 5 team in the country and we have to worry that extra points wont be made. Something needs to change and soon.

Rest of the Special Teams: A+

The rest of the special teams was stellar for this game. Hunter White blocked a Colorado State punt that lead to a quick score. When the Broncos did punt the Rams were generally pinned deep in their own territory and the return team put up some excellent numbers.

The fake punt that brought the momentum back over to the Broncos was a key play as Tyler Shoemaker broke off a 36-yard run after fooling Colorado State. I think the Colorado State coaches were the only one in the stadium not expecting that to happen.

Mitch Burroughs had a nice 63-yard punt return in the third quarter, so the remaining special teams are performing extremely well.

Coaching

Grade: A

Big East invite, Mountain West Merges with Conference-USA, possible coaching job at Arizona, etc.  All of these things are on the table right now and Coach Petersen and his staff are doing an excellent job keeping his players focused on the game. 

You don't see Facebook posts or Tweets about any of this stuff coming from the players and it is impressive that he keeps them this focused. He did an excellent job keeping the Broncos ahead in their first Mountain West game, not what is potentially their first Big East Game.

That being said, Coach Petersen has got to find a new field-goal kicker.  This guy is killing us.

Intangibles

Grade: A

Much better discipline out of the team this week. Even though George Iloka's reaction to the pass interference call was a bit childish, that was a totally ridiculous penalty.

Speaking of penalties, the Broncos were much improved but still not better then their opponent. Boise State committed five penalties for 55 yards where as Colorado State only had one penalty for five yards. This is something the Broncos are definitely improving on but will need to continue to improve. 

Also, I would like to point out the effort of the second string. Even though the game was already in the bag, the second and third-string players for the Broncos are giving a max effort and the scoreboard reflects that.  Every single player over the past few games has left everything thing they had on the field and that is what makes the Broncos so exciting to watch.