Dan Hawkins will have no particular pearls of wisdom that night three months from now, which is surprising. The Boise State coach is arguably the deepest thinker in his profession. Think of Phil Jackson on blue turf.
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| Boise State will be riding a 26-game WAC win streak this year. (Getty Images) |
And then get beat by three touchdowns -- which is the supposed result for a mid-major on the cusp of becoming the next Utah. But how, it might be asked, does his program take the next step opening the season in the belly of the beast?
SEC. Hot. Humid. 90,000 screaming mad dog Bulldogs. The last mid-major to win there was Southern Miss in 1996. All that a few months after a 22-game winning streak ended with a four-point loss to Louisville in the Liberty Bowl.
"It's not like we sought it out," Hawkins said of that season-opening trip to Athens.
That's code for Boise getting a reported $600,000 guarantee. Success pays, but sometimes that means programs have to go on the road to collect the check. The risk is that while Hawkins has elevated his program to this point, it might be smacked right back down in what might be the biggest, most intimidating venue Boise State has ever played in.
The program is at a precipitous point in its history. It is too good for most major-college programs to take on in Boise. But by playing big-time opponents on the road, it risks hurting its winning percentage and, perhaps, its players.
"Is it such a pitfall that couldn't do a two-for-one with anyone in the country to come here?" Hawkins wondered. "I've had a lot of coaches tell me, 'The old adage is you don't ever play a team that could beat you at their place.'"
Going to Bronco Stadium is simply too risky at this point for non-WAC foes. Because it took numerous two-for-ones, (two road games for one home game) Boise is opening with two consecutive games on the road for the first time since 1977.
Oregon State played a game in Boise last year but got beat 53-34, which might as well have been an advertisement for big-time schools to stay away. The Beavers, which play host to the Broncos on Sept. 10, are contractually bound to return in 2006. After that, Washington and Oregon are future Pac-10 opponents. But history has proven that buyouts are easier than road games in snake pits.
That's what Boise has become -- great, to the delight of the region, which supports one of the most successful programs of the 21st century. Hawkins, who took over for Dirk Koetter in 2001, is 44-7 overall, 36-3 since 2002. Perhaps more impressive is a 26-game WAC winning streak.
In essence, Boise State has done what Utah did last year -- only for the past three years.
Logic would dictate that Hawkins should be gone by now just like Houston Nutt (one year) and Koetter (three years) before him. The scheduling problem suggests Boise has hit a wall after sniffing at the boundaries of automatic BCS qualification last year (top six). Hawkins could triple his salary at a major program like, say, Washington where he was most recently rumored to be heading.
