A First Look at Boise State

I was watching the Boise State vs Georgia game (2011) and here's a few things that jump out at me:

- Boise just knows how to win the big games. In the last few years they've beaten Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Georgia, and TCU. Boise is the kind of opponent that can ruin a confident team's season. Spartan fans should not take them lightly.

- Boise has an impressive program that can reload with the best of them. Boise is a lot like MSU in that they don't get top 20 recruiting classes, but they are still able to develop NFL-level talent.  Boise is actually able to do this better than MSU, at this point.  They had more players get drafted this year than MSU and their guys were generally taken in earlier rounds. Because Boise is able to develop players so well, I expect them to be strong when they come to Spartan stadium. They lost a lot of talent, no question, but think about it. MSU had a great year last year because they had a bunch of redshirt freshmen step up. If MSU can "reload" with a bunch of second and third-year players, then you can bet Boise can, too.

- Boise can succeed with new players because of it's schemes. They use a spread offense that doesn't allow the defense to rotate players (Georgia's defense was completely worn out by the second half) and they use a lot of creative/trick plays (that kept Georgia's defense on its heels). So their offense will still be tough to stop, even with a new quarterback. Their defense is very physical and athletic, and they like to use complicated defenses that confuse the quarterback.

- Boise has elite coaching.  Chris Petersen is one of the best head coaches (at least top 5), and Boise generally has good coordinators. They lost last year's offensive coordinator to Texas, but his replacement will no doubt excel.

- Why MSU has a good chance of beating them:  Boise will  be good, but they likely won't be as good as they were the last 2 years. If MSU was facing last year's Boise team, I think I would pick Boise to win. But their new starters will probably (hopefully) struggle a bit to pick up all the complexities of the Boise system, especially in the first game of the season. This should give MSU enough of an opening.

Summary: I'm actually more nervous about the Boise game than about almost all the other games on the schedule. Boise has a chip on its shoulder when it comes to the big games. So I expect them to pull out all the stops. They will be tough.