BOISE -- Their flirtations with history were so short that they're barely memorable.
UCLA. South Florida. West Virginia. Penn State. Oregon. California. Boston College.
All of them have climbed into the hot seat the Boise State football team now occupies -- and none of them could survive the flames.
Positioning yourself to earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game is one thing. Surviving the rest of your schedule -- and the bull's-eye, pressure, scrutiny, debate and flat-out bad luck that seems to follow new-blood contenders -- is far more difficult.
And it doesn't seem to matter who's on the schedule.
Boise State coach Chris Petersen already has driven that point home with his players. They had barely finished celebrating Monday night's
33-30 defeat of Virginia Tech when the players started trying to stall the raging expectations machine.
"It means we're 1-0 and off to a good start against a good team," said junior quarterback Kellen Moore of Prosser when asked for the deeper meaning in the Broncos' latest biggest-ever win. "You're going to hear that 100 times from Coach Pete, but that's the way we do it."
Petersen's hear-no-evil approach has worked beautifully in building a 50-4 career record and posting three undefeated regular seasons.
But the noise will reach a crescendo this year.
The Broncos jumped two spots to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll on Tuesday and stayed at No. 3 in The Associated Press Top 25. They picked up seven more first-place votes in AP for eight total and closed within 13 points of No. 2 Ohio State.
Petersen likely didn't even notice.
"We live in such a cocoon anyway," he said Monday night. "... I don't think (the players) are going to be distracted by (the hype). I think we've got enough maturity around here. I think they understand if they pay attention to that, we'll get beat." So how do the Broncos make it to December with a 12-0 record and a top-two ranking in the Bowl Championship Series standings, the requirement to qualify for the title game?
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The first college football Saturday of the year was not even a day old and Boise State had already ensured that yet another season would be dominated by bickering about the Broncos.
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Here we go again.
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There was also time devoted to fixing flaws and weaknesses from the season's first seven games.
For Iloka and the rest of the defense, that meant a little extra time in tackling drills during three off-week practices.
Failed field goal costs Boise State again
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BOISE, Idaho -- Not again.
Surely that was the collective thought of Bronco Nation as Boise State redshirt freshman kicker Dan Goodale lined up for a 39-yard field goal on the final play Saturday afternoon at Bronco Stadium.
And certainly that was the thought -- with some exclamation points for the pain -- as Goodale's kick sailed wide right.
Prosser's Moore plays in Boise State finale tonight
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LAS VEGAS -- The MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas wasn't the send-off No. 8 Boise State originally imagined for Kellen Moore, college football's winningest quarterback.
But head coach Chris Petersen said the Broncos aren't thinking about those expectations, their opinions of the BCS or a pending move to the Big East in 2013 as they prepare to play Arizona State tonight (5 p.m. ESPN).
"We're all about this game," Petersen told reporters Wednesday before a luncheon in advance of the game. "We've kind of preached to our guys about living in the moment, and living day to day, so that's just kind of how we think as coaches."
No. 8 Boise State routs ASU in Vegas
No. 8 Boise State routs ASU in Vegas
LAS VEGAS -- Hey, BCS -- No. 8 Boise State wants your attention.
The Broncos see their 56-24 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night in the MAACO Bowl as more than just a win over a middle-tier Pac-12 team.
"I think we made a statement," said Doug Martin, who returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and was voted the game's MVP. "It comes down to players who have a chip on their shoulders. It shows we're here and we're winners."
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