Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Boise State beat notes: It's a snap! Well, not really for Broncos this year

By BY CHADD CRIPE

The Boise State football coaches can make a long list of possible causes for botched center-quarterback exchanges.

They just can't think of a reason why they should be happening at such an alarming rate.

"The bottom line is Pop Warner kids can get the exchange," offensive line coach and former center Scott Huff said. "It's like, 'Hey, we're a Division I football team.' "

The No. 6 Broncos have botched at least 12 snaps this season - 11 fumbles and an illegal-snap penalty. They have lost one fumble, recovered a fumble for a safety and killed several red-zone drives with the miscues.

It was particularly bad last week at Hawaii when six snaps hit the turf. Sophomores Thomas Byrd and Garrett Pendergast, the starting right tackle, both misfired snaps.

"We're going to work as hard on that as any problem that we've had around here," coach Chris Petersen said Monday. "There's no question about it. By next game, we'll certainly be better than we were this last game."

The Broncos will test that progress Saturday at Bronco Stadium against San Jose State (1:07 p.m., KTVB).

They have been working on the issue for weeks with extra snapping at practice. On Wednesday, the Broncos took video of each snap from right under center and coaches evaluated the execution.

"It was fine," Huff said. "That's the thing. It isn't an issue until the games. And that's really the frustrating part."

The key, Huff said, is to rebuild the players' confidence.

Byrd, who has been benched a couple times this season because of poor snaps, will start, Huff said. He and sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore have had trouble connecting on snaps since spring ball last year. Pendergast, the emergency center, struggled last week when backup center Bronson Durrant was home with an illness.

"The scary thing is when they lose confidence and then they start pressing too hard and then bad things happen," Huff said.

The problem is not just about the centers. Moore, who spent most of last year in the shotgun, can help them by applying more pressure with his top hand when he's under center. That tells the center where to snap the ball.

Some of the snaps have slipped out of Moore's fingertips. He accepted some of the blame for the snaps against Hawaii.

"They all want to take the blame for it because they're good teammates," offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. "I try to dissect it as much as you can off the tape. There were probably a couple that hit him on the fingertips and he needs to stay in longer."

Byrd was unavailable to talk about the problem because the offensive linemen don't do interviews. The Broncos don't want to bench him because he's an integral cog in the line.

"He's crushed," Huff said.

The snaps have been a significant factor in the Broncos' red-zone struggles.

Seven of the snaps occurred inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Those drives resulted in two touchdowns, four field goals and a missed field goal.

Take out those drives, and the Broncos have scored touchdowns on 20 of 32 red-zone possessions - not great, but much better than their disappointing 56.4 percent rate.

"We just lose a complete down," Harsin said.

• • •

Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver told the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) on Thursday night that he didn't realize Boise State wasn't willing to move next year's game to Labor Day when he spoke on the radio Monday night.

Weaver said on the radio that the game, scheduled for Oct. 2, 2010, would be moved to Labor Day for ESPN. Boise State never agreed to that.

"I was out last week with back surgery," Weaver said. "I was under the impression that everything (pertaining to moving the game) had occurred. ... I didn't know that the people at Boise had not been contacted."

Weaver and Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier spoke Wednesday and agreed the game will remain Oct. 2 at FedExField in Landover, Md.

• • •

The O'Brien On-the-Road Campaign will visit Bronco Stadium on Saturday to promote Moore's candidacy for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. Moore is one of 15 semifinalists.

The display, which will be set up between the stadium and Bronco Circle, will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It includes the opportunity to vote for your favorite candidate. The fan vote counts as 5 percent of the total.

Chadd Cripe is in his eighth season covering Boise State football for the Idaho Statesman. He also is a voter in The Associated Press Top 25. Contact him at ccripe@idahostatesman.com or 377-6398.