Here we go.

Obviously, if you’re in the Craig James camp of “Moore and Martin ftw”, then this won’t matter.

Boise State WR Geraldo Boldewijn, S Cedric Febis and DT Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe won't play as eligibility is reviewed. Huge blow for BSU

— Bronco Beat (@IDS_BroncoBeat) September 2, 2011

For the rest of those predicting a Boise win, that’ll probably come in handy if things don’t shake out that way.

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UPDATE:  The comments section to this news report in the Idaho Statesman is a blast, if you’re into potato-flavored paranoia.  The winner so far is this guy.

Mark Richt is a desperate desperate man and will evidently do anything in his power to win this game and not lose his job. I’ve now become very concerned for Kellen because if Richt is pulling this, who’s to say that he’s not going to try and knock Kellen out of the game and gain that advantage as well. I’m sure that BSU is just playing it safe by not playing those guys, but geez…

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UPDATE #2:  Note to delusional BSU fans – Richt didn’t know about the three players being held out until Petersen mentioned it at their presser.

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Pettis + Young = Green?

No doubt you found it as reassuring as I did to hear Craig James spout off yesterday about how he expected a Boise State win Saturday night because Kellen Moore would take care of business.  James didn’t mention any receivers, though.

No knock on Moore, who’s clearly an élite college quarterback, but you’ve still got to have somebody to throw to.  And that’s one thing I haven’t really heard played up much by the media in all the discussion leading up to the game.  Certainly the losses of Austin Pettis and Titus Young have been mentioned, but not in the apocalyptic terms reserved for A.J. Green’s departure.

But there’s a strong argument to be made that Boise State is in a similar boat to Georgia with regard to its passing game.  Maybe even more so.  Consider these points:

• Austin Pettis had 22 touchdown receptions inside the 20 the past two seasons (most in FBS), and was targeted 27 more times than any other Broncos receiver in the red zone since 2009.
• Titus Young averaged 47.7 yards per touchdown reception last year and was Moore’s greatest threat downfield. On passes thrown 30 yards or more, Moore targeted Young on 20 of 23 attempts.
• Young and Pettis combined for more than half of Boise State’s first-down receptions last season. On third down, they were targeted on 46 of Moore’s 94 attempts.
• Kellen Moore completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns and no interceptions when facing a blitz the past two seasons. He completed 79.0 percent of his passes for 13 touchdowns when targeting Austin Pettis.

Where I come from, that’s a helluva lot of attention and a helluva lot of production.  Maybe Boise’s preparation is so good and Kellen Moore is such a terrific quarterback that the Broncos’ passing game won’t miss a beat in the first game without those two.  If that first game were on the fabled blue turf against, say, UNLV, that’s a likely possibility.  But it’s not.  So I’m not seeing a slam dunk here.

Then again, maybe the bright side of this for Boise is that it may take Georgia some time to figure out which receivers are worthy of being keyed on.  But is that any different a task from what the Boise defense faces?

Friday morning buffet

There was a lot of college football played last night… just not so much good college football.

• Oh, Kentucky.  We knew you weren’t going to be as good on offense this year, but this bad?  At the end of the first quarter, the ‘Cats had amassed one yard of total offense against a Sun Belt team coming off a 2-10 season.
• So which D-1 team’s got the worse defense, Memphis or UNLV?
• Easily the best thing about this Jasper Sanks Q&A:  “I definitely felt like I was an All-SEC-caliber tailback. But you come in with a guy like Quincy Carter, who demanded to throw the ball 40 times a game.”
• Hey, here’s a 61-year old kicker.
• I suppose I should be impressed about this, but I have to consider the source.
• Tell me there hasn’t been a moment when you wanted to do this.
• ESPN’s Edward Aschoff is piqued because he had to wait until Isaiah Crowell finished a tutoring session for an interview, but Crowell’s the diva.
• Maybe it’s not all about the economy:  “They’ll bring you your chicken wings and they’ll bring you your drinks.”
• Ben Dukes reminds us not to buy into the Boise hype.

Your obligatory “keys to the game” post.

I think it’s mandated in the College Football Bloggers Handbook that you have to do one of these posts for the first game of every season.  Since I’m on record as saying this Georgia team is a complete mystery to me right now, it’s the only reason you’re seeing this.

If you want the lengthy version, OBNUG‘s as good a place to start as anywhere.  (Although about those SEC officials – if you Boise State fans hear the name “Penn Wagers” announced, start high-fiving each other.  It’ll be a good night for you on the officiating front.)

Me, I’m keeping it simple.  For all the talk about what’s on the line for both schools, about the two quarterbacks, about Crowell’s debut, I’m going to stick with two keys.

The first is line play.  I don’t think Georgia has to be dominant on the lines to be successful Saturday night, although that certainly wouldn’t hurt.  But it does have to hold its own there so that Murray and Crowell have a chance and so that the linebackers can lead the defense to improve on last year’s abysmal third-down showing.

The second is psychological.  As Barrett Sallee puts it,

Georgia’s season and Mark Richt’s job do not – I repeat DO NOT – hinge on the outcome of the Boise State game. As a matter of fact, as long as the Bulldogs don’t get blown out, and figure some things out in the process, the game will serve as a nice primer to the SEC season, which begins in earnest for the Bulldogs the following week between the hedges against South Carolina. With that said, if Georgia gets in a hole early, look out! The culture of losing crept into Athens last year, which is a dangerous thing for any football team. If Georgia doesn’t come out looking sharp against the Broncos, the wheels could come off really quickly, and that’s not good news for anybody in Athens.

If I’m Boise State, I’m doing everything I can to throw that early knockout blow.  If Georgia starts to doubt itself, this game will be over soon after.  On the flip side, if Georgia can weather the early storm (watch those turnovers, fellas) and find itself in no worse shape than a close contest after the first quarter, I like the Dawgs’ chances as the night wears on.  Overall, they’re more physically talented and they’re deeper than the Broncos.  They’ll be in the game as long as their heads are.

Let’s hear what you guys think.

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UPDATE:  Doug, you ignorant slut.

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UPDATE #2:  Similar thoughts at OTA.

Wednesday morning buffet

One. More. Day.

• Groo wonders if we’re looking at an uptempo game Saturday night.
• Andy Staples’ college football fan’s prayer is pretty good.
• “We have forgiven Stephen for his transgressions,” Spurrier said.  Stop it, you’re killing me.
• SEC beat writers pick upsets and surprise teams.  It’s good to see that they really don’t have any more insight about this stuff than we do.
• In yesterday’s presser, Mark Richt said he’s seen noticeable results from the new S&C regime.
• Speaking of Richt, Rivals manages to put him on the hot seat, yet list him as one of the twenty best coaches in the country.
• If you’re interested, OBNUG has a detailed look at the Boise State depth chart for Saturday night’s game.
• Darren Rovell says adding Texas A&M won’t do much for the SEC’s TV contract situation.  All the more reason to think there’s a 14th team invite out there, right?
• Phil Steele’s computer likes Georgia over Boise State.  Steele himself, alas, doesn’t.

If you’re looking for a straw to grasp today…

Chris Petersen pays respect.

Petersen says Georgia is "bigger and faster" than Boise State, and than Boise State normally sees.

— Bronco Beat (@IDS_BroncoBeat) August 30, 2011

Of course, that could simply be his version of Dooley complimenting Directional A&M’s long snapper as being the finest in the country.

Tuesday morning buffet

September 1st is just around the corner, so dig in.

• The peculiar case of Bacarri Rambo just gets curiouser and curiouser.
• Michael Elkon explores the impact of Steve Spurrier on SEC football.
• Here’s a list of the top 25 running backs in SEC history.  There’s a noticeable drop off after the first four, if you ask me.
• Paul Johnson thinks there ought to be a law that punishes college athletes for taking improper benefits, even after they’ve left college.  (In related news, Paul Johnson is an asshat.)
• A Mountain West blogger who’s never watched Georgia play (“From what I’ve read, Glenn and Jones are supposed to be pretty impressive and will anchor Georgia’s O-line.”) previews the Boise State matchup and – surprise! – picks the Broncos to win.  You gotta love the Intertubes.
• Georgia Tech was willing to move the Georgia game to this season’s opener at the Dome – if the Dawgs were willing to play at Tech in 2012.
• This will come as a complete shock to you:  “A team’s preseason ranking has a modest but statistically significant effect on its B.C.S. ranking at the end of the season, even after controlling for its quality of play as determined by computer systems. “
• Nick Saban didn’t have time for that shit with Will Muschamp’s momma.

Monday morning buffet

With an extra dash of Bronco for flavoring…

• To hear them tell it, Boise State didn’t lose to Georgia in 2005 just because Jared Zabransky had a meltdown.  They prepared the wrong way, too.
• This will come as a shock to HeismanPundit, but Gary Crowton says they didn’t run his offense at LSU.
• Urban Meyer told Will Muschamp that playing in the SEC isn’t like playing in the Mountain West.  I think most of us knew that already.
• The Boise State play-by-play guy is a Georgia grad.  Small world, ain’t it?
• So much for conventional wisdom.
• Here’s an article breaking down the Boise State secondary.
• USA Today looks at one way in which some student-athletes are already getting compensated beyond the cost of their scholarships – Pell Grants.
• Mark Richt is not the only coach keeping preseason practice developments a secret.

Boise State may make Brandon Boykin’s day.

Emphasis on the word “may”:

Georgia kick returner and cornerback Brandon Boykin (@BrandonBoykin2) posted a message to Boise State coach Chris Petersen on Twitter on Saturday:

“Dear Coach petersen, I DARE you to Kick to me…. Sincerely, Me and my #dawgs”

Boykin is the only player in Southeastern Conference history with three 100-yard plays in his career — all kickoff returns for touchdowns.

He might be in luck. Here’s what Boise State special teams coach Jeff Choate told me earlier this month about the Broncos facing three dynamic kick returners early in the season:

“We’ll have our hands full. But that’s why you do this. I don’t think we’ve ever backed down from a challenge. It should be fun.”

After you read that, scroll down to the bottom of the linked article for the updated BSU roster.  By my count, the Broncos will start seven seniors on offense and ten on defense.  Whoa.  They may be smaller in spots, but they sure won’t lack for experience.

Throwing down the gauntlet, with manners.

Brandon Boykin is such a polite young man.

Dear Coach petersen, I DARE you to Kick to me…. Sincerely, Me and my #dawgs

— Brandon Boykin (@BrandonBoykin2) August 28, 2011