Presented by THE JAMES.
Wednesday Weekly…March 5, 2025.
Well, you can look at it this way. Air Force got out to an 8-2 lead on Boise State Tuesday night. And the Broncos’ biggest was 35 points at 78-43. So the Broncos went on a 76-35 run in their 80-57 win over the Falcons in Clune Arena. And that’s exactly what they needed. Boise State was not going to be lulled to sleep in a quiet barn this time. The Broncos shot only 42 percent, but they shot 31 free throws and made 24 of them. And they committed only five turnovers. It must have been tempting to focus on the pomp and circumstance—and intense battle—that awaits the team Friday night. But after the great escape at Fresno State last Saturday, the Broncos weren’t going to let themselves do that.
A SENIOR NIGHT WITH SIGNIFICANT SIDEBARS
Next up is Senior Night on Friday, and what a way to go out for Tyson Degenhart, O’Mar Stanley and Alvaro Cardenas: a sold-out ExtraMile Arena against a Colorado State team that’s fighting for the same thing Boise State is. The Rams want to join the Broncos on the NCAA Tournament bubble and protect their seeding at the Mountain West tourney next week (surprisingly, they’re now No. 2). After all, following Boise State’s 17-point win over Utah State last week, CSU routed the Aggies by 27 in Fort Collins.
SOME POPULAR BRONCOS
About Degenhart, what can you say? An all-timer of a Bronco. Tyson scored only 11 points Tuesday night and attempted just two free throws, but then you notice that he played only 23 minutes. Intentional or not, Degenhart should be fresh Friday for a team that’s on a roll every bit as good as that of the Broncos. And oh by the way, he sits 49 points away from breaking Tanoka Beard’s Boise State career scoring record. If the Broncos have at least three games left—one this week, one in the conference tournament and one somewhere in the postseason—Degenhart would have to average 15.7 points per game.
Memories of one-and-done transfers often fade with time. It’s doubtful that will be the case with Cardenas, who dished out his 200th assist of the season Tuesday night at Air Force. Last summer, his new teammates would tell anybody who would listen that the San Jose State transfer would be a difference-maker. Cardenas has played point guard like no Bronco before him—currently seventh in the nation in assists at 6.8 per game. As for Stanley, he is so close to a rejuvenation. There is still time.
FIESTA BOWL SEEMS LIKE JUST YESTERDAY
And here it is already: spring football starts Monday at Boise State. Bronco Nation will take an occasional timeout from guessing Ashton Jeanty’s NFL destination to focus on who’s going to replace him. The odds-on favorite is Sire Gaines (we’ll see how limited he is in the spring as he comes off that injury last September). But, as former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said after the season, Breezy Dubar was never fully healthy last fall, and he should not be counted out after just 107 yards and two touchdowns in 2024. And then there’s Fresno State transfer Malik Sherrod, a sixth-year running back who won the last two games he played against Boise State in 2022 and 2023. And there’s sophomore Dylan Riley, who got his feet wet last year and looked good doing it. Let the spring begin!
ODE TO THE NORTH END ZONE
Boise State shared a video update on the North End Zone renovation at Albertsons Stadium over the weekend. The project appears to be on-track and on-budget. With that said, it’s a good time for reminiscing. The first time bleachers were regularly installed in the North End Zone was in 1979, and it instantly became a noise source, as those were the only seats that were actually adjacent to the field. At first it was an overflow area, but then it became a thing as the North End Zone bleachers expanded over the years. Like the South End Zone today, that was originally the end of the field that no Broncos opponent wanted to deal with. The new configuration there will have all the modern amenities and will be a crucial new revenue producer. But it won’t be that sure-fire noise source anymore. That’s how progress works, sports fans.
ANOTHER VANDAL IN KELLEN MOORE’S CORE
Familiarity breeds confidence for Kellen Moore, and he has gone that route again in building his staff in New Orleans. Moore is hiring former Idaho quarterback Scott Linehan—his role with the Saints not announced yet. Linehan was offensive coordinator in Dallas the first year Kellen was quarterbacks coach there (in 2018)—and during his three seasons as backup QB. Linehan has not coached in the NFL since. Cool factoid: Moore and Linehan grew up 14 miles apart from each other in Washington, Kellen in Prosser and Scott in Sunnyside. Different eras, though, as Linehan is almost 25 years older than Moore. Interesting dynamic.
AND NOW FOR THE NEW HEAD VANDAL
New Idaho football coach Thomas Ford Jr. made the rounds in the Treasure Valley last weekend, and he was ready for this inevitable question: will the Vandals and the Broncos ever play each other again on the gridiron? “From my perspective, and I betcha if you asked coach Danielson he’d say the same thing, we’d love to play,” Ford told KTVB. “I think it’s, No. 1, great for the state of Idaho. That’s going to be a sold-out game, and everyone in the state is going to be tuned in.” All true. It would have to be on the blue turf, of course. But if you’re going to play Eastern Washington, you may as well play Idaho. It’s hard to believe this fall will mark 15 years since the last game between the once-bitter in-state rivals. That was in 2010, the 40th meeting between Boise State and Idaho, won by the Broncos 52-14 in the Kibbie Dome.
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT TIME
The Mountain West could be a three or four-bid conference in the NCAA Tournament. For the Big Sky, it’s all about the league tournament next week in Idaho Central Arena. Montana just clinched a tie for the Big Sky regular season championship Monday night with an 83-72 win over Eastern Washington. The Grizzlies have recent Big Dance experience. But to Idaho and Idaho State, it’s a dream. The Vandals haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament in 35 years—it’s been 38 years for the Bengals. Everybody goes in 0-0 this weekend, though. Idaho and ISU make their debuts on Monday, the Vandals against Montana State and the Bengals versus Portland State.
YOTES ARE RIGHT WHERE THEY WANNA BE
After an 86-69 romp past Lewis-Clark State in Elgin Baylor Arena Monday night, College of Idaho is the Cascade Conference champion for the fifth time in the past seven years. The Yotes now host the first and second round of the NAIA Tournament in Caldwell next week, and regardless of what happens, C of I is ticketed for the main draw March 20-25 in Kansas City. The Yotes’ next win will be their 30th of the season. As for Northwest Nazarene, the Nighthawks are the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Tournament and will play the Seattle Pacific-Alaska Fairbanks winner on Friday in Lacey, WA. NNU is 20-6 overall, only the second time the Nighthawks have reached the 20-win mark since joining NCAA Division II in 2001.
STEELIES AREN’T WHERE THEY WANNA BE
The Idaho Steelheads have some work to do if they’re going to make the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Steelheads need to finish in the top four of the ECHL’s Mountain Division to make the postseason, and they’re currently in fifth place with a 27-18-9 record, three points out of the fourth spot currently held by the Wichita Thunder. There are 18 games left, and after dropping two of three games last week at Rapid City, the Steelies now stay on the road to face the first-place Kansas City Mavericks in a three-game series beginning tonight. But if Idaho could pull off a couple upsets of KC, who knows what might happen? The Steelheads are five points out of third place and seven points away from second.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by VETERANS PLUMBING…we care about your water!
March 5, 1985, 40 years ago today: Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders becomes the first NHL player to score 50 or more goals in eight consecutive seasons in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Those also happened to be Bossy’s first eight seasons in the league. He was chosen 15th overall in the 1977 NHL Draft, and he was not happy, predicting that he’d score 50 goals as a rookie. That he did, and it continued for nine seasons (he also tallied 50 in 1985-86). The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups during Bossy’s run (1980-83).
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
VISIT OUR SCOTT SLANT SPONSOR SITES:
Bacon Boise
Zamzows
The James
AlphaGraphics
Commercial Tire
Veterans Plumbing
