Saturday Snapshots On Mountain High: Part 2 – Live updates to follow

Boise State at San Diego State (+19) – San Diego, Calif.

FINAL

Boise State wins/doesn’t cover 52-35

Boy, the Broncos sure have to be kicking themselves – pun intended – for last week’s loss. Had Boise State won they path to the BCS Championship would have nobody in way. Oregon lost to USC, Oklahoma lost to Baylor, Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State and the Broncos would have been just behind LSU at no.2.

After San Diego State scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to 16 points with 6 minutes to play, the Broncos need a touchdown to salt away the victory. A 22-yard run by Doug Martin, which included a vicious yet picture-perfect stiff-arm extended the lead and the game was essentially over.

San Diego State did come down on its final possession and punched in one final score, Adam Muema’s second rushing touchdown of the game, and the Aztecs can at least take solace in the fact that they covered the 19-point spread.

Final Stats of Note:

Boise State
Kellen Moore: 28/40 366 yards, 4 TD 1 INT
Doug Martin: 36 carries for 129 yards, 2 TD
Tyler Shoemaker: 10 receptions for 130 yards, 3 TD
2 Turnovers Resulting in 7 points
Time of Possession: 35:04
Average Starting Field Position: own 40 yard-line

San Diego State
Ryan Lindley: 31/50 350 yards, 3 TD 1 INT
Adam Muema: 13 carries for 119 yards, 2 TD
Colin Lockett: 8 receptions for 149 yards
Gavin Escober: 8 recptions for 113 yards, 2 TD
3 Turnovers Resulting in 21 points
Average Starting Field Position: own 20 yard-line

6:25 Fourth Quarter – Boise State 45, San Diego State 29

San Diego State’s Larry Parker picked off a Kellen Moore pass on the Bronco’s first possession following the Aztecs’ 13-play 97-yard drive. San Diego State is desperately trying to make this a game late and was able to convert the turnover into points

An 8-play 37-yard drive was capped by Adam Muema’s 5-yard rushing TD. The two-point conversion was good, and it appeared as if the Aztecs recovered the ensuing onside kick.

Alas, the ball was touched early, Boise State takes over and from here they should be able to run down a lot of what remains on the clock.

10:12 Fourth Quarter – Boise State 45, San Diego State 21

Thanks to a Boise State personal foul penalty on a San Diego State punt, the Aztecs kept possession and quickly scored. Ryan Lindley just connected with Gavin Escobar for a 40-yard touchdown, the pairs’ second of the game.

Escobar now has 7 catches for 108 yards – the same total running back Adam Muema has rushing on nine carries. I’d like to think San Diego State can make this a game late, but I just don’t think they have enough time let. We’ll see though…

Third Quarter – Boise State 45, San Diego State 14

As we closed out the third quarter, the Aztecs had just taken over inside their own 10 yard line. This has been a game filled with poor field position for San Diego State. The Aztecs have started at or inside their own 10 yard-line four times.

Meanwhile, the most interesting development for Boise State during the third quarter was a 30-yard field goal that extended the lead to 45-14. What made the kick interesting is that it was kicked by Michael Frisina and not Dan Goodale. I’m not sure what is wrong, if anything, with Goodale but they could just be giving Frisina a chance late in a blow-out.

Halftime – Boise State 42, San Diego State 14

Kellen Moore has been absolutely spectacular in the first half. Not only is he leading the Bronco offense, he has also played a role in the special teams game as well. Facing a long fourth down outside the Aztec 40-yard line, Moore lined up in shotgun, 8 yards deep, seemingly going for it. But a quick kick by Moore – who’s left-footed as well – downed at the 3-yard line. The Aztecs could do little with the ball and punted.

Boise took over with 1:21 remaining and the ball on its own 31 yard-line. I told Kyle Kensing that I’d bet him $5 that Boise would score in less than six plays. Good think Kensing declined the bet because five plays later, Moore hooked up for the third time with Tyler Shoemaker on a 24-yard score. Moore was 4-5 on the drive, including three strikes to Shoemaker.

Now, some half-time stats:

Boise State
Kellen Moore: 21/31 243 yards, 4 TD 0 INT
Doug Martin: 17 carrier for 52 yards, 1 TD
Tyler Shoemaker: 9 catches for 116 yards, 3 TD
0 Turnovers

San Diego St.
Ryan Lindley: 11/19 160 yards, 1 TD 1 INT
Adam Muema: 4 carries for 81 yards, 1 TD
Gavin Escober: 4 catches for 57 yards, 1 TD
3 Total Turnovers resulting in 21 points.

5:45 2nd Quarter – Boise State 35, San Diego State 14

We’re a little more than midway the second quarter and the Aztecs have had no chance stopping the Boise State offense. San Diego State started the quarter with the ball on its own 5-yard line but went three-and-out and punted. Kellen Moore responded by completing three passes on the ensuing drive including a 41-yard strike to Dallas Burroughs on third-and-9 from mid-field. Two plays later and Kyle Efaw hauled in a 9-yard pass from Moore for a 28-7 lead.

Ryan Lindley quickly responded on the Aztecs next possession completing two passes for 83 yards, the second a 30-yard hook-up with Gavin Escobar to cut the deficit to 14.

But the Broncos came right back. They chewed up nearly six minutes on a 13-play 75-yard drive that finished with Doug Martin rushing in from 10-yards out. Now the Aztecs start their next possession on their own 33 yard line with 5:45 remaining.

First Quarter – Boise State 21, San Diego State 7

A week ago, each Boise State football game came with immense pressure. The Broncos were expected to contend for a BCS Championship berth but only if they can make it through the season undefeated. Early on, the Broncos faced few challengers – the offense was addicted to scoring touchdowns. And yet for the second year in a row, the Broncos national championship hopes and their undefeated season fell by the wayside after missed field goals.

Tonight, I expected the Broncos to come out fired up – ticked off after losing a week ago. I imagine Kellen Moore has to be frustrated after beign unable to bring his team all the way back last week.

It was evident throughout the first quarter that Kellen Moore was not going to let the Broncos fall behind. Shea McClellin picked off a Ryan Lindley pass at the 24 yard line on the Aztecs third play from scrimmage. From there, it took Boise only four plays to score with Moore hit Tyler Shoemaker for the 5-yard score.

The Moore-to-Shoemaker connection proved to be Boise’s recipe for success in the first quarter. Moore completed 7 of 11 passes for 72 yards. Shoemaker hauled in 6 catches for 59 yards including two touchdowns of 5 and 14 yards on the Broncos first and third scoring drives. Mitch Burroughs scored on an 11-yard run for Boise’s second score.

San Diego State has been plagues by turnovers and bad mistakes. Lindley threw the interception on the opening possesion which resulted in seven points, they gained only 26 yards on their second possession and Brandon Davis fumbled a punt return which resulted in seven points. The one brightspot for the play of redshirt freshman running back Adam Muema, who started in place of the injured Ronnie Hillman. Muema rushed for 82 yards on 5 carries and busted off an 81-yard score to bring the score to 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.

UNLV at Air Force (-24) – Colorado Springs, Colo.

Pick: I’m sure that if you talk to any of the 28 Air Force seniors taking the field for the final time at home today whether they see this potential sixth win and bowl eligibility as evidence of a successful season. At 5-5 (1-4) the Falcons can get bowl eligible with a win, but for a team who was expected to contend for at least a second-place finish in conference and potentially a Poinsettia Bowl berth as a result, the sixth win coming in the team’s 11th game is quite the disappointment.

A year ago yesterday, Air Force beat UNLV 35-20 for its eighth win of the season before accepting an invite to the Independence Bowl where they knocked off Georgia Tech. The Falcons finished tied for third in the conference, along with San Diego State and BYU, just behind Utah. With Utah and BYU jumping ship, Air Force was considered a team that was an outside threat to challenge TCU and Boise State for a conference championship.

After losing to TCU the second week of the season, Air Force seemingly righted the ship beating Tennessee State and than Navy, though not without controversy. The next week against Notre Dame however, the Falcons suffered a demoralizing defeat at the hands of the Fighting Irish and a once promising season began to unravel. Losing to San Diego State and then Boise State in the ensuing two weeks and suddenly Air Force was 0-4 and at the bottom of the Mountain West.

Interestingly enough, Air Force’s one conference win came against New Mexico – a team UNLV was unable to beat last week. Now, with Air Force at 1-4 in conference and UNLV 1-3, a loss to UNLV would be another embarrassing mark on this already disappointing season.

The Rebels, on the other hand, suffered an embarrassing loss of their own last week to New Mexico. Near the end of the Bobby Hauck’s second year of rebuilding the Rebels have shown flashes of promise, including a 40-20 victory over Hawai’i, a 38-35 victory over Colorado State and a strong first half against Boise State. But when you lose to a team that hadn’t won in more than a year, it doesn’t bode well for long-term confidence in your ability to rebuild. A win today on the road would do wonders for Hauck’s support in Las Vegas.
Air Force wins/doesn’t cover 41-25