Saturday, December 1
Boise, Idaho
Boise State
53
vs
10
South Dakota
Broncos Stun Coyotes, 53-10
12/2/1973 7:15:00 AM | Football
Pioneer Bowl Next for Broncos
BOISE, Idaho – Its defense in shreds, and its wishbone in little better shape, South Dakota made way for Louisiana Tech Saturday afternoon.
Boise State college let a near-capacity crowd of 14,358 breathe easy through most of the game at Bronco Stadium as the Broncos slashed the Coyotes 53-10 in the Western Region Championship of the NCAA's Division II football playoffs.
The victory throws Boise State against Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl at Wichita Falls, Tex., next Saturday. Louisiana Tech slipped past Western Illinois 18-13 in the Midwest Regional at Ruston, La. Next week's other semifinal game pits Grambling, 17-8 victor over Delaware in the East Region, against Western Kentucky, which turned back Lehigh 25-16 in the Mideast Region. The game will be televised regionally.
It was close for the first quarter – but only because South Dakota ate up over half the period driving 67 yards to kick a field goal and take a 3-0 lead.
Then – before the Bronco offensive unit had a chance to touch the ball – Boise State turned the game around with the key play of the game. After South Dakota was successful on a 26-yard field goal by Barry Blue, the Broncos returned the Coyotes' kickoff 86-yards for a touchdown with a special play.
It was a play which had only been worked on once during last week's practice, but it went off without a hitch. Greg Frederick took the South Dakota kickoff at the 14, started left and then handed off to sophomore flash John Smith. Smith sprinted around a wall of blockers to the right, exploded between two tacklers at the 40 and went the rest of the way for the touchdown to make it 7-3 with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
"That run took us away from a frantic, pressing thing to a more relaxed, confident offense," Boise State Head Coach Tony Knap said after the game. "It allowed us to maintain our normal game plan."
After that, when junior quarterback Jim McMillan finally got a chance to run his team, the Broncos turned the South Dakota pass defense inside out. Going into the game, the Coyotes had yielded only 92.8 yards per game passing. But McMillan, hitting 21 of 30 passes – 13 of them to fancy-stepping Don Hutt, drilled the South Dakota defenders for 258 yards.
Going into the game, Knap knew the Broncos had to stop the Coyotes' hard-running wishbone attack which had set a school rushing record of 2,795 yards this season. The Coyotes' first drive, which consumed 8:18 seconds of the opening quarter, seemed to indicate Boise State might have problems shutting off the attack .The Broncos did hold South Dakota at the nine on that drive, forcing Blue's field goal.
But after Smith's long touchdown run on the kickoff, and a few adjustments by defensive coach Charlie Dine, the Coyote wishbone was broken – cracked wide open by strong-willed Boise State defense led by middle linebacker Ron Davis with 18 tacklers.
Davis, linebacker Claude Tomasini and defensive end Mark Goodman were three of the big reasons the Broncos were able to cut off the South Dakota wishbone. The three combined to cut down the Coyote option before it could get started, and it caused two first half fumbles which Boise State turned into touchdowns.
McMillan played nearly the entire game for Boise State. Senior quarterback Ron Autele opened the second for the Broncos, but was injured shortly after scoring on a three-yard run which sent Boise State to an unreachable 34-3 lead over South Dakota. Autele suffered a slight concussion and McMillan went the rest of the way.
McMillan, calm and unshakable while searching for passers, hit six of his first eight passes while guiding Boise State to a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Once again, it was the massive protection of the offensive line which enabled McMillan to keep cool. John Klotz, Glen Sparks, Dan Dixon, Al Davis and Charlie Russell held off the quick – and much smaller – Coyote pass rush so well that McMillan wasn't dumped once during the game for a loss.
McMillan, who also led Boise State's rushing game with 95 yards, hit Don Hutt for three touchdowns and Chester Grey for one. Hutt had one touchdown – a 16-yarder from McMillan – called back.
Don Hutt and Dick Donohoe ran numerous crossing patters against the Coyotes, which confused South Dakota's man-to-man coverage. Twice Hutt scored on a crossing pattern into the middle of the South Dakota defense. Hutt's 13 catches – good for 143 yards – brings his season total to 76. Donohoe, meanwhile, had three catches for 89 yards.
After Smith's touchdown to open scoring for Boise State, Frederick and Blessing Bird teamed up to send the Broncos on their way to the surprisingly easy victory. Frederick got in the way of a pitchout by South Dakota quarterback Mark Jenkins, knocking it down where Bird fell on it at the Coyote 11.
On the next play, McMillan rifled a pass to Hutt coming across the middle for a touchdown with 10:53 left in the first half to make it 14-3.
The Broncos made it 21-3 with 5:38 left in the half when Boise junior Ken Johnson dove over from the two-yard line. The touchdown ended a 94-yard drive which was highlighted by a 37-yard pass from McMillan to Donohoe and two straight 15-yard penalties (facemasking and a dead ball foul) on the Coyotes.
A fumble recovery by defensive end Mark Duncan at the South Dakota 14 led to Boise State's final touchdown in the first half – a five-yard sweep around left end by Smith.
Beside's Autele's touchdown in the second half, McMillan hit Grey on a nine-yard touchdown pass and Hutt on two scoring tosses covering 12 and 13 yards.
Jeff Juneau, who started the season as a guard but was moved to fullback for the last game of the season, led South Dakota in rushing with 74 yards.
Besides Davis' 18 tackles, Loren Schmidt, Clint Sigman and Mike Campbell had eight tackles each while Ron Neal, Bird and Ron Franklin had six each for the Broncos.
Boise State college let a near-capacity crowd of 14,358 breathe easy through most of the game at Bronco Stadium as the Broncos slashed the Coyotes 53-10 in the Western Region Championship of the NCAA's Division II football playoffs.
The victory throws Boise State against Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl at Wichita Falls, Tex., next Saturday. Louisiana Tech slipped past Western Illinois 18-13 in the Midwest Regional at Ruston, La. Next week's other semifinal game pits Grambling, 17-8 victor over Delaware in the East Region, against Western Kentucky, which turned back Lehigh 25-16 in the Mideast Region. The game will be televised regionally.
It was close for the first quarter – but only because South Dakota ate up over half the period driving 67 yards to kick a field goal and take a 3-0 lead.
Then – before the Bronco offensive unit had a chance to touch the ball – Boise State turned the game around with the key play of the game. After South Dakota was successful on a 26-yard field goal by Barry Blue, the Broncos returned the Coyotes' kickoff 86-yards for a touchdown with a special play.
It was a play which had only been worked on once during last week's practice, but it went off without a hitch. Greg Frederick took the South Dakota kickoff at the 14, started left and then handed off to sophomore flash John Smith. Smith sprinted around a wall of blockers to the right, exploded between two tacklers at the 40 and went the rest of the way for the touchdown to make it 7-3 with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
"That run took us away from a frantic, pressing thing to a more relaxed, confident offense," Boise State Head Coach Tony Knap said after the game. "It allowed us to maintain our normal game plan."
After that, when junior quarterback Jim McMillan finally got a chance to run his team, the Broncos turned the South Dakota pass defense inside out. Going into the game, the Coyotes had yielded only 92.8 yards per game passing. But McMillan, hitting 21 of 30 passes – 13 of them to fancy-stepping Don Hutt, drilled the South Dakota defenders for 258 yards.
Going into the game, Knap knew the Broncos had to stop the Coyotes' hard-running wishbone attack which had set a school rushing record of 2,795 yards this season. The Coyotes' first drive, which consumed 8:18 seconds of the opening quarter, seemed to indicate Boise State might have problems shutting off the attack .The Broncos did hold South Dakota at the nine on that drive, forcing Blue's field goal.
But after Smith's long touchdown run on the kickoff, and a few adjustments by defensive coach Charlie Dine, the Coyote wishbone was broken – cracked wide open by strong-willed Boise State defense led by middle linebacker Ron Davis with 18 tacklers.
Davis, linebacker Claude Tomasini and defensive end Mark Goodman were three of the big reasons the Broncos were able to cut off the South Dakota wishbone. The three combined to cut down the Coyote option before it could get started, and it caused two first half fumbles which Boise State turned into touchdowns.
McMillan played nearly the entire game for Boise State. Senior quarterback Ron Autele opened the second for the Broncos, but was injured shortly after scoring on a three-yard run which sent Boise State to an unreachable 34-3 lead over South Dakota. Autele suffered a slight concussion and McMillan went the rest of the way.
McMillan, calm and unshakable while searching for passers, hit six of his first eight passes while guiding Boise State to a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Once again, it was the massive protection of the offensive line which enabled McMillan to keep cool. John Klotz, Glen Sparks, Dan Dixon, Al Davis and Charlie Russell held off the quick – and much smaller – Coyote pass rush so well that McMillan wasn't dumped once during the game for a loss.
McMillan, who also led Boise State's rushing game with 95 yards, hit Don Hutt for three touchdowns and Chester Grey for one. Hutt had one touchdown – a 16-yarder from McMillan – called back.
Don Hutt and Dick Donohoe ran numerous crossing patters against the Coyotes, which confused South Dakota's man-to-man coverage. Twice Hutt scored on a crossing pattern into the middle of the South Dakota defense. Hutt's 13 catches – good for 143 yards – brings his season total to 76. Donohoe, meanwhile, had three catches for 89 yards.
After Smith's touchdown to open scoring for Boise State, Frederick and Blessing Bird teamed up to send the Broncos on their way to the surprisingly easy victory. Frederick got in the way of a pitchout by South Dakota quarterback Mark Jenkins, knocking it down where Bird fell on it at the Coyote 11.
On the next play, McMillan rifled a pass to Hutt coming across the middle for a touchdown with 10:53 left in the first half to make it 14-3.
The Broncos made it 21-3 with 5:38 left in the half when Boise junior Ken Johnson dove over from the two-yard line. The touchdown ended a 94-yard drive which was highlighted by a 37-yard pass from McMillan to Donohoe and two straight 15-yard penalties (facemasking and a dead ball foul) on the Coyotes.
A fumble recovery by defensive end Mark Duncan at the South Dakota 14 led to Boise State's final touchdown in the first half – a five-yard sweep around left end by Smith.
Beside's Autele's touchdown in the second half, McMillan hit Grey on a nine-yard touchdown pass and Hutt on two scoring tosses covering 12 and 13 yards.
Jeff Juneau, who started the season as a guard but was moved to fullback for the last game of the season, led South Dakota in rushing with 74 yards.
Besides Davis' 18 tackles, Loren Schmidt, Clint Sigman and Mike Campbell had eight tackles each while Ron Neal, Bird and Ron Franklin had six each for the Broncos.
--BroncoSports.com--
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