Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes will be a challenge for the Boise State defense this week. | KSL.com. BOSIE (Idaho Statesman) — If ever Boise State needed to be road warriors on defense, this is it. The football team’s season is essentially on the line Friday afternoon in Logan, Utah, where the Broncos (7-4, 5-2 Mountain West) need to defeat Utah State (6-5, 4-3) to have a good chance at making the Mountain West championship game. A victory, in fact, puts Boise State in decent shape to be in a fourth straight conference title game. However, winning at Utah State is no small order. The Aggies are 5-0 at home this season, and the Broncos are just 2-3 on the road. In all three of those losses, Boise State could manage only seven points. Another hurdle for the Broncos? They’ll be facing the “offensive player of the year in our conference,” according to Boise State coach Spencer Danielson. That would be Aggies senior quarterback Bryson Barnes. Barnes ranks fourth in the Mountain West this year for passing yards (2,503) and yards per game (227.6), third in passing touchdowns (18) and has thrown the fewest interceptions (4) among regular starters. He also has eight rushing touchdowns, which is tied for the fourth-most in the conference, and has run for 644 yards. Barnes, a Utah native, began his career with the Utah Utes in the Big 12 but transferred to Logan ahead of his junior year in search of more playing time. “He’s one of the toughest football players we’ve seen all season for dang sure, maybe in a while,” Danielson said Monday. “… He can do it all. He can make the throw, he can make the run, he can make the check. He’s smart with the football, they don’t turn the ball over. He’s an elite quarterback.” The Broncos will have to keep an eye on Barnes no matter the play call, because he’s as good with his legs as he is his arm. The 210-pound quarterback has rushed for 124 and 113 yards, respectively, in his past two games, and is averaging over 4 yards per carry. Teams have had some success running the ball on Boise State, even though the Broncos held Colorado State to 39 rushing yards last weekend. They gave up 261 yards on the ground to UNLV, 189 to Fresno State and 277 to San Diego State. Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said preparing for Barnes and the run-pass options that the Aggies use is like preparing for Air Force, whose triple-option offense often gives coordinators and defenses headaches. “He does a really nice job with the RPOs, and he can keep his eyes up even when he pulls the ball and gets them downfield late. It’s a lot to practice,” Chinander said on Monday. “You’re practicing some almost Air Force-ish things, and some true zone-read RPOs, and some true quarterback plus-one runs.” Barnes’ two favorite targets are wide receivers Braden Pegan (58 catches for 899 yards) and Brady Boyd (40 for 629). Running back Miles Davis has 689 yards rushing on just 118 carries, good for a 5.8-yard average on the Mountain West’s No. 2 offense, which averages 424 yards and 32.5 points per game. Barnes will face a Boise State secondary that’s got plenty of know-how, but because of season-ending knee surgery for fifth-year player A’Marion McCoy, there are some new faces. Sophomore Sherrod Smith and redshirt junior Demetrius Freeney played in McCoy’s stead against Colorado State last weekend in a game that saw Rams QB Darius Curry throw three interceptions. The Broncos have 14 interceptions on the season, with four apiece from Jeremiah Earby — who had two last week — and McCoy. Ty Benefield has two and leads the team in tackles with 83. Chinander said he expects a savvy quarterback like Barnes to recognize where the top defenders are and try to avoid them. “They’ve got some things to work on and clean up, but I thought they did a pretty good job,” Chinander said of Smith and Freeney. “They played with good technique, most of the game they played physical. … But I thought those guys did a good job. “They operated in all the calls, and I was proud of the way they played.” Boise State at Utah State When: 2 p.m. Mountain time Friday Where: Maverik Stadium (25,513, turf) TV: CBS (Chris Lewis, Logan Ryan) Radio: KBOI 670 AM / 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender) Records: Boise State 7-4, 5-2; Utah State 6-5, 4-3 Series: Boise State leads the series 24-5 Betting line: Boise State by 3.5 Weather: 45 degrees, considerable clouds, 24% chance of rainThe post Trying to make title game, Boise State faces ‘player of the year’ quarterback appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com