Junior Mike Virden was a backup quarterback; then came the middle of the third quarter against Division I-A Oregon State, a somewhat-favored team leading Boise State 20-6.
Virden entered with seven minutes left in the third quarter, threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns, and guided the Broncos to 24 points and a near-win against Oregon State, which scored 17 in the final quarter and won 37-30.For his efforts, Virden was named co-Big Sky Conference Player of the Week with John Friesz, Idaho's quarterback who defeated Weber State 46-33 Saturday.
Virden also earned the start Saturday at Weber State in a 7:10 p.m. game.
Boise is characterized as a club much like the Wildcats, deep in defense but slow-starting on offense, a little better at passing than running.
That, says Coach Skip Hall, may be because the Broncos, playing two Division I-A teams, have had to been behind and had to pass rather than trying to run.
However, says Hall, "Defense has been the real mainstay. They're very quick, hard-hitting and have kept us in the games and given us opportunities on offense to do things at times."
Eight Boise defensive starters returned this season, and Weber Coach Dave Arslanian cites three, linebackers Kenny Kuehl and Scott Russell and defensive end Erik Helgeson, as excellent.
The Broncos at 1-2 are "a little starved" for a win, says Hall, but they are, oddly, the Big Sky's lone representative on the I-AA national poll this week, standing 13th, while Montana and Idaho, with better records, were unranked.