Scott Slant: Unfortunately, the timing isn’t right (2024)

BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly…May 29, 2024.

Boise State needs one football road game and one home game…next year. At this point, Houston is still on the 2025 schedule at BroncoSports.com, but word is that the home-and-home series with the Cougars of the Big 12 is not going to happen. So all there is for next year is an opener at USF and a home game against Eastern Washington. You could throw Idaho out there as a possibility—the Vandals would be a big draw at Albertsons Stadium, and the teams haven’t played in 14 years. But two FCS games on the Blue in the same season is unlikely. So it’s probable that Boise State will have to find a Power 4 opponent on the road and a Group of 5 team at home. Oregon State and Washington State, as it stands, are tweeners, and who knows if the arrangement with the Mountain West will be in effect next year.

FANDUEL’S FOLLY

Did you see that Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is not on FanDuel’s top 100 candidates for the Heisman Trophy this year? I probably went up and down the list six or seven times just to make sure I didn’t miss him. That affects FanDuel’s credibility, do you think? Georgia’s Carson Beck is No. 1. Okay. But it’s an interesting list. Take these quarterbacks, for example. Taylen Green, now the starter at Arkansas, is No. 51. The Broncos’ Malachi Nelson, with three career pass attempts, is No. 68. Well-traveled former Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier, now at Wake Forest, is No. 99. There has to be a place for Jeanty and his 2,892 career all-purpose yards and 26 overall touchdowns, right? There’s a place for a chip on his shoulder.

ANOTHER CORNER FROM THE PORTAL

The transfer portal never stops giving-eth, if that’s a word. Boise State picked up a transfer cornerback last week from Washington, Davon Banks, who was part of the Huskies defense that stifled Broncos wide receivers last September. Banks logged four pass breakups in UW’s 56-19 win—John Patrick posted one of them online, as he blanketed Billy Bowens. Banks suffered upper body injuries later that month and was lost the rest of the season. So the Boise State game is his calling card. Banks is 5-11, 184 pounds, with two years of eligibility remaining. He played in 14 games for Washington with two starts, 22 tackles, six breakups and one interception. Banks is the second former Pac-12 corner to sign with the Broncos roster this year, joining Jeremiah Earby of Cal, a potential starter.

NOT AN EXCLUSIVE WINDOW

The Mountain West championship game is moving to Friday night this year, when it’ll be televised by FOX for the fifth consecutive season on December 6. They say it’s one of just three title games scheduled that day—well, one of the others is the American Athletic Conference title game on ABC, and it goes head-to-head with the Mountain West at 6 p.m. MST. The Conference USA championship game is on CBS Sports Network, and the kickoff time is TBA. If Boise State is fortunate enough to host the MW title tilt, ahem, yes it will be cold. But Bronco Nation has been there before. The first three times the conference championship game was played on the blue turf, in 2014, 2017 and 2018, they were all night games.

A VALLIVUE FALCON FLYIN’ HIGH

Dan Hawkins may have stepped down as head coach at UC Davis, but he leaves behind the No. 1 returning running back in the FCS, according to Hero Sports. And it’s former Vallivue High star Lan Larison. “Despite playing only eight games,” notes Hero, “Larison was the 2023 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year. In those eight games, he carried the ball 178 times for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns, plus 21 catches for 198 yards and two scores. Larison was named to four All-America teams and earned All-Big Sky honors for a fourth straight season. Pro Football Focus graded Larison as the No. 7 overall FCS running back.” At Vallivue, he was the SIC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 and even picked up a state rodeo championship in steer wrestling going into his senior year.

A SHIFT IN THE PHILLY OFFENSE

The Philadelphia Eagles have completed their first OTAs with Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator, and there are plenty of takeaways back there. The Eagles were in what Moore called “phase three” of the installation of his system. Reporters in Philly definitely noticed Moore using motion and shifts in offensive drills—tactics rarely employed last year. In his media sessions, Moore had already given a nod to the shifts and motions he thrived on with Chris Petersen as his mentor at Boise State. “It’s always kind of stuck with me,” he said. Ed Kracz of Athlon Sports predicts that Moore is likely to use quarterback Jalen Hurts under center “to help facilitate more successful play-action plays and incorporate more motion.” Last year, Hurts spent 93.5 percent of snaps in shotgun or pistol, per Pro Football Focus.

AN OLD-FASHIONED SIGNEE

Everything’s about the transfer portal these days, and sometimes we forget about the traditional recruits to come into a program out of high school. Boise State men’s hoops has another one in Ethan Lathan from Rockford, IL, via Arizona Compass Prep. Lathan, a 6-10 center, joins guards Julian Bowie of Pocatello and Pearson Carmichael of Bend, Or, as part of Boise State’s incoming freshmen class. They’ve kind of been overshadowed by portal signees Alvaro Cardenas of San Jose State, Javan Buchanan of Indiana Wesleyan and Dylan Anderson of Arizona. Lathan is one of the top 10 prospects from Arizona according to 247Sports and ESPN. High school recruits are the traditional bread-and-butter, and their development requires patience. Sometimes it seems that is cast aside in the transfer portal era.

IDAHO GOLF HALL OF FAME ON TAP

While I have a moment, I’d like to mention this, because I haven’t seen anything out there on it. This has been a long time coming. An Idaho Golf Hall of Fame has been formed, and the first seven inductees have been announced. They are: nine-time Idaho Men’s Amateur champion Scott Masingill, 1995 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Jean Smith, Karen Darrington, the all-time leader in major amateur titles in the state, Joe Malay, maybe the most visible Idaho golfer ever and the sport’s greatest ambassador, former LPGA golfer Shirley Englehorn, longtime Hillcrest Country Club pro Arnold Haneke, and the first executive director of the Idaho Golf Association, Wayne Berry. Even if you’re not a golfer, you know a lot of those names. The first induction ceremony is planned this fall, with details to be announced.

STING RAY’S SOLID RACE

The Indianapolis 500 Sunday was a major step forward in Sting Ray Robb’s racing career. Robb finished 16th in the field of 33 after starting in the No. 23 spot in Row 8. That’s his best result in five IndyCar races this season. But Robb actually led the race for 23 laps and was ahead as late as Lap 151, when Scott Dixon passed him. “I don’t know what to say about the day,” Robb said at Speedsport.com after the race. “I think that was the most fun I’ve had in a race car on the Oval.” Robb is only 22 and is in his second season of IndyCar competition—his first driving for A.J. Foyt Racing.

MERRITT’S IN DELAET TERRITORY

Troy Merritt ventures into one of the favorite haunts of fellow former Boise State Bronco Graham DeLaet this week. DeLaet, now retired, used to love playing the RBC Canadian Open in his homeland. Now Merritt will tee off Thursday morning at Hamilton, Ontario. He’s in a rhythm right now, having made four straight cuts with earnings of $301,035 during that stretch. Most of it came from his tie for ninth at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson. Merritt tied for 45th last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

THE HAWKS’ HEALTHY HOMESTAND

The Boise Hawks were fortunate enough to open the season with a six-game homestand at Memorial Stadium, and they took advantage by taking five of six from the Grand Junction Jackalopes. The Hawks outscored the ‘Lopes 43-22 during the series and held the visitors to a .207 batting average, and in the Pioneer League, that’s sayin’ something. The Hawks opened a six-game road set last night at Billings, and the stellar pitching continued. But how about the hitting? Boise won 16-2 and collected 21 hits, including two home runs from catcher Benjamin Livorsi—one of them a grand slam. Livorsi drove in an astounding nine runs.

THIS DAY IN SPORTS…May 29, 2012:

Seen as a huge step for the Idaho Stampede, the franchise announces a three-year single-affiliation agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers. For the first time, an NBA club would be in control of the Stampede’s basketball operations and personnel. Since moving from the CBA to the D-League in 2006, Idaho had been affiliated with five different NBA franchises over six seasons. But the solo association with the Blazers would last only one year. The Utah Jazz took over the affiliation the following two seasons before announcing a purchase of the Stampede in March of 2015—and moving the team to Salt Lake City in 2016.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)

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