Boise State poised to star in own sequel

This is the 11th story in a series on UH's opponents

The cool thing to do is pick this year's Boise State, the next mid-major team to shock the college football universe.

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How about Boise State?

The Broncos are ranked No. 24 -- a spot behind Hawaii, a team that hasn't beaten BSU since it entered the Western Athletic Conference.

The Boise State fan base doesn't like that very much, but the Broncos players and coaches are used to being overlooked. To them, it will be business as usual.

"The expectations are no different than they've always been," coach Chris Petersen said. "This place has always been a good football place. The standards and expectations are always very high."

And they've been met.

Boise State enters the season tonight against Weber State with a nation's-best 13-game winning streak, and the best record since 1999 with 86 wins and 16 losses. The Broncos have been the highest-scoring team in the country (41.7) since 2000.

So the 43-42 overtime win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl was a surprise only to those who weren't paying attention since the turn of the millennium.

The Broncos start their season minus 15 starters from a year ago. That's not such a big problem -- with Boise State, it's always better to look at how many lettermen return, since the Broncos use more reserves in important roles than most teams.

Plus, the starters coming back are a good core to build around.

It starts with junior running back Ian Johnson (5-11, 194), a first-team All-American who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting after rushing for 1,714 yards. Left tackle Ryan Clady (6-6, 319) is also one of the best in the country at his position, and he leads an experienced offensive line for Johnson to run behind.

Quarterback Taylor Tharp (6-2, 210) completed 11 of 13 passes as three-year starter Jared Zabransky's backup last year. His receivers will mostly be new.

The top linebackers are gone, but the Broncos have a strong veteran up front in end Nick Schlekeway (6-4, 262) and in the secondary in safety Marty Tadman (5-11, 182). Tadman is the nation's active leader with 12 interceptions.