No use in fighting it -- Boise State could be BCS title contender

BOISE, Idaho -- Boise State might be headed to Pasadena. LeGarrette Blount will be lucky if he is not headed to jail.

The Oregon tailback spoiled the atmosphere and perhaps his season after punching Boise State's Byron Hout and getting into an altercation with a fan following Boise's 19-8 victory Thursday night.

BSU coach Chris Petersen, shown restraining Byron Hout, has shown the pollsters he can beat the big boys with defense, too. (AP)

Blount, an acclaimed senior, was on the field at Bronco Stadium as the teams mingled. Replays show that words were changed before Blount hit Hout from the side with his right fist.

Blount was also shown on replays striking teammate Garrett Embry, a sophomore receiver.

The situation was exacerbated when video replays of the incident were repeatedly showed on Boise's replay board. The stadium-record crowd rained boos onto the field. That might have contributed to the altercation with the fan.

While leaving the field, Blount said he saw a fan come at him with a chair, "like he was going to throw [it] at me. Next thing I know, one of the fans came over and hit me."

Replays show otherwise. Blount goes after a fan who had been taunting him behind a barrier as the player left the field. He is then restrained by a police officer, Oregon receivers coach Scott Frost and a stadium security person.

Blount added, "I lost my head," and apologized for his actions.

"The first few guys [on the field] wished me a good game," Blount said. "A few guys pushed me and after that I lost my temper. He [Hout] was one of them."

•  Recap: Boise State 19, Oregon 8 | Ratto: Kelly under microscope | Doyel: Boot Blount

Hout doesn't seem blameless in the situation. He is shown on replays laying a hand on Blount and speaking heatedly to him before Hout is punched.

The whole scene is best described as chicken-bleep. Broncos coach Chris Petersen is shown trying to restrain Hout before the punch. Making matters worse, Blount then taunts Hout after punching him.

There were lingering bad feelings coming into the game. In their meeting last year in Eugene, a Broncos victory, two Oregon players were struck by Boise State players with what were thought to be cheap shots. Boise's Jeron Johnson was thrown out of the game.

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli said before the rematch that the Ducks "would take it to them." Tight end Ed Dickson said Boise "doesn't rub right with me."

But a Blount quote from the summer might have added the most fuel. He told Sports Illustrated, "We owe that team an ass-whuppin'."

The whuppin' on Thursday from the No. 14 Broncos, who limited Oregon to 152 yards. Blount rushed for a career-low minus-5 yards.

"He should have been more mature about the situation," Ducks defensive back Walter Thurmond III said. "They beat us fair and square."

Afterward, there was speculation Blount could be arrested, but Lt. Bryan Hagler of the Boise Police Department told the Associated Press, "Our position is that we have full confidence in the NCAA that they're going to address that. As far as from a criminal standpoint, there's nothing that I'm aware of that we're doing."

Charges have been brought against professional athletes in other sports, most notably hockey, after altercations during contests.

A new NCAA directive allows players to be suspended after the fact if they are guilty of a flagrant personal foul in a game, whether it is called or missed by officials. This incident, though, came after the game had concluded.

Oregon AD Mike Bellotti said that once the game is ended, it is out of the Pac-10's hands in terms of a suspension. Oregon coach Chip Kelly said action could be taken by him after he reviews tape of the incidents.

"This was a heck of a team," the coach said. "It shouldn't be marred by something after the fact. They beat us. To react after the game is not what we're all about.

"We never talked about revenge. I don't think that was a factor at all."

The ending ruined the vibe from the kickoff of what could be the greatest season in Boise State history.

The Broncos can almost see Pasadena from here. The image is a little fuzzy, but still it's there -- 1,000 miles and four months away. They can see a beautiful stadium framed by the San Gabriel Mountains. It's an image they watched on TV growing up.

Yes, the Rose Bowl could be that close for Boise State. A reasonable person, not just fans at wigged-out Bronco Stadium, could draw a straight line from this season-opening victory.

After a thorough muffling of the high-powered Ducks, the question for Boise now is how close can they get in the polls and BCS standings? How close to those magic top two spots at the end of the season could the Broncos get? It isn't a laughable proposition anymore.

They have a franchise quarterback, left-handed sophomore Kellen Moore, who could play for anyone in the country.

They have a couple of micro backs who are tough enough to run up the middle and fast enough to turn the corner. Jeremy Avery (5-foot-9, 173 pounds) and D.J. Harper (5-9, 198) combined for 162 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The star, though, was the defense. It saved the night, which was the morning for anyone east of the Mountain Time Zone. You sleepers didn't get to see Boise's other half take over. It shut down last year's most potent Pac-10 offense. For the first 2½ quarters, Oregon didn't have a first down. For most of the game, the bruising Blount had no one to bruise.

Let the speculation start now, because it's going to heat up soon if the Broncos keep winning like this. Boise won almost despite its more famous offense. It lost three fumbles and kicker Kyle Brotzman missed two field goals.

When was the last time you saw a major-college team, especially from the Pac-10, held without a first down in a half? Oregon was not only skunked in the first half, it was embarrassed. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who was seeing his first college game in at least a decade (Harvard-Yale was the last), probably had to be reminded touchdowns were worth six points.

Kelly, the master play caller, was humbled for a large part of his first game as head coach. Case in point: Starting from his own 4 in the first half, Kelly called a slow-developing sweep to the left for the 240-pound Blount. Boise's defensive line sniffed it out.

Maybe it wasn't trash talk after all. Maybe it was bad football. Blount was tackled two yards deep in the end zone for a safety.

As Oregon's offensive coordinator the previous two seasons, Kelly developed back-to-back top-10 rushing offenses. As head coach Thursday, he didn't get enough plays (16) in the first half to even plays to show his stuff.

The Boise you knew as a gimmicky, somewhat finesse group that was more Criss Angel than Woody Hayes brought a bit of a hammer. Yes, has a certain world's-tallest-midget ring to it. No. 16 Oregon isn't exactly USC, mind you, but the game was big enough for the city with the small-town feel to treat it big time.

They clogged the airwaves arguing about the previous biggest home win. Was it Oregon State in 2006 or BYU in 2004? As they always do, they dressed in color-coordinated sections (orange, blue and white) that made it look like a high-school homecoming. Who cared if the stadium-record 34,127 represented half an Oregon Autzen or one-third of Ohio State's Horseshoe? It might have been the biggest thing to happen in Idaho since Evel Knievel jumped the Snake River Canyon.

This former junior college -- in only its 14th year in Division I-A -- is going to make for an interesting season-long discussion, if nothing else. There aren't many obstacles left on the schedule, which is good for the record but perhaps bad for championship hopes.

All you can do for now is remember that Fiesta Bowl and trust your eyes. That scoreboard did say 13-0 halftime on Thursday. There was no room for other significant numbers like 48 (the number plays Boise had run) and 14 (the number of yards the Ducks had gained).

That's the kind of stuff you see when LSU plays The Citadel or something like that. Oregon averaged 42 points and was No. 2 in rushing last season.

It's not exactly all downhill from here, but let's jump to conclusions because seemingly no one else will outside this town. The idea is that Boise is somewhat of a name brand at this point, not just a curio. It came from unranked last season to No. 9 in the polls before losing the Poinsettia Bowl to TCU. The advantage this season is that the Broncos start with their highest preseason ranking.

For all those who want to do away with the polls until October, this is why they matter. Perspective. Boise is allowed to wonder how high is up.

"It's not like they're starting out at No. 22," said Karl Benson, who came to the game as both WAC commissioner and Boise State grad. "The polls [at the end] are a result of what teams are when they're up there to begin with."

This wasn't some pedestrian victory against San Jose State or Idaho. This was a quality win against a quality opponent.

This wasn't about trick plays, either, although Boise did go one for two on direct-snap two-point conversions. It was about the stuff they brag about in the SEC. You'll soon know the name Justin Wilcox. He is the Broncos' 32-year-old defensive coordinator whose dad played at Boise when it was a junior college.

The Broncos did finish No. 3 in points allowed last season, but your average fan doesn't know it.

"What do you think of when you think of Boise State?" Dixon asked a reporter.

Jared Zabransky, trick plays and the Fiesta Bowl.

"I hope that they think of it as an offensive school because that means they score points," Dixon said. "It's good for the defense if the offense scores points."

While half the country slept, Wilcox and the Broncos won the game the way snooty critics say they're supposed to be won. How would Boise fare in the SEC? If you stayed up late Thursday, you were dying to find out.