The 2009 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Broncos played their home games at Bronco Stadium, most famous for its blue artificial turf surface, often referred to as the "smurf-turf". They completed the regular season undefeated (13–0), their second consecutive unbeaten regular season and fourth in the last six years (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009), and won the WAC title for the seventh time in the last eight years. The Broncos capped their season with a showdown against fellow unbeaten TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, which marked the Broncos' return to the site of the game that put the program on the national sports map, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. With their 17–10 win, the Broncos avenged a loss to the Horned Frogs in the previous season's Poinsettia Bowl, and became only the second team in Division I FBS history to finish a season 14–0, after Ohio State in 2002 (Alabama became the third team to go 14–0 just three days after the Fiesta Bowl). The Broncos finished ranked #4 in the Associated Press and USA Today coaches poll for their highest ranking in school history to finish a season.
Head Coach Chris Petersen was named the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year, an award he also won following the 2006 season. Petersen is the first two-time winner of the award since it was renamed in 1986.
Pre-season The Broncos entered the 2009 season as one of the youngest college teams in the nation, with only five seniors on their roster, easily the fewest in FBS. No other team had fewer than nine.
Two Broncos were listed on scout.com's list of the 100 best returning players in the nation. Senior defensive back Kyle Wilson at #54 (#5 best DB) and sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore at #37 (#11 best QB).
All-American lists Kyle Wilson (Sr.-DB)- Playboy, nationalchamps.net 2nd team, CBSSports.com. 2nd team
Award Watch lists Rimington- Thomas Byrd (So-C)
Lombardi- Ryan Winterswyk (Jr-DL)
O'Brien- Kellen Moore (So-QB)
Walter Camp- Kellen Moore (So-QB)
Thorpe- Kyle Wilson (Sr-DB)
Groza- Kyle Brotzman (Jr-K)
Bednarik- Kyle Wilson (Sr-DB)
Maxwell- Kellen Moore (So-QB)
Manning- Kellen Moore (So-QB)
Nagurski- Kyle Wilson (Sr-DB)
Pre-season Top 25 polls On August 6 Boise State received 542 points to rank 16th in the USA Today preseason poll, two spots behind their season opening opponent, Oregon. The Broncos were the highest rated non BCS conference school.
On August 22 Boise State received 659 points to rank 14th in the Associated Press preseason poll, two spots ahead of Oregon.2009 Preseason Rankings Just as they were in the USA Today poll, the Broncos were the highest rated non BCS conference school. The 14th ranking was the highest preseason ranking in school history.
WAC Media Day
On July 29, Boise State was picked to win the WAC and received 8 first place votes in the WAC coaches poll to 1 first place vote for Nevada, but no coach can vote his own team in first place, thus Boise State received all 8 possible first place votes.
Boise State (8) 64 Nevada (1) 55 Fresno State 45 Louisiana Tech 45 Hawaii 36 San Jose State 34 Utah State 21 New Mexico State 13 Idaho 11
The media also voted Boise State to win the conference with the Broncos receiving 55 first place votes to only 3 for Nevada.
Boise State (55) 519 Nevada (3) 444 Fresno State 365 Louisiana Tech 360 Hawaii 275 San Jose State 263 Utah State 170 Idaho 110 New Mexico State 104
And Kyle Wilson was named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
South endzone bleacher expansion For the second consecutive year Bronco Stadium received an expansion, this time in the south endzone temporary bleachers. Following the multimillion-dollar sky box expansion which opened in 2008, the sub-million dollar bleacher expansion extends the number of rows in the south endzone and adds an additional 1,600 seats to the stadium capacity, which is now 33,500.
Schedule
Game results Rankings reflect the Coaches poll until the week of the Hawaii game, after which the BCS poll was used, and are from the respective poll released prior to game time.
Oregon
2nd meeting. 1–0 all time. Last meeting in 2008, a 37–32 Broncos win in Eugene.
On August 31, this game was named the Allstate Sugar Bowl Manning Award Matchup of the Week for the matchup of Boise State QB Kellen Moore vs Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli.
The Broncos won their 50th straight regular season home game, and the first ever at home against a top 25 team, with a 19–8 win over the Oregon Ducks, the second straight year the Broncos have beaten the highly ranked Pac-10 team. The Bronco defense completely shut down the fast-paced spread option offense of Oregon holding them to six first half three and outs, forced a safety in the second quarter, did not allow a first down until 7:07 left in the third quarter and only allowed six overall, and only allowed 31 rushing yards. The Bronco offense scored on a 10-yard TD pass from Kellen Moore to Austin Pettis in the second quarter (Michael Choate 2pt conv.), a D.J. Harper 1 yard TD run in the third (conv. failed), and a 45-yard Kyle Brotzman field goal, but missed several other opportunities to score with two missed field goals, another failed on a bad snap, and three straight fumbles in the second half. The Broncos set a school record with 59 rushing attempts. Kellen Moore finished 19/29 for 197 and 1 TD. Austin Pettis had 6 catches for 68 yards and the TD. The Broncos out gained the Ducks 351 to 152. The 34,127 in attendance set a new Bronco Stadium record. The Broncos moved up 2 spots in the AP poll to #12 and 5 spots in the Coaches poll to #11. Passing Leaders Rushing Leaders Receiving Leaders Defensive Leaders Kellen Moore: 19/29, 197 YDS, 1 TD D.J. Harper: 19 CAR, 88 YDS, 1 TD Austin Pettis: 6 REC, 68 YDS, 1 TD Billy Winn: Safety, 4 TOT TKL Jeremy Avery: 27 CAR, 74 YDS Titus Young: 5 REC, 46 YDS Aaron Tevis: INT, 2 TOT TKL 2nd Quarter 07:05 BSU–Austin Pettis 10 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Michael Choate Run For Two–Point Conversion) 0–8 03:54 BSU–LeGarrette Blount Tackled By Billy Winn In End Zone Safety 0–10 00:56 BSU–Kyle Brotzman 45 Yd FG 0–13
3rd Quarter 10:39 BSU–D.J. Harper 1 Yd Run (Two–Point Pass Conversion Failed) 0–19 04:21 ORE–Jeremiah Masoli 5 Yd Run (Legarrette Blount Run For Two–Point Conversion) 8–19
After the game, Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount, who earlier in the week was quoted as saying, "We owe that team an ass-whuppin," punched Bronco DE Byron Hout in the chin/jaw after Hout had taunted him in front of Boise State head coach Chris Petersen who attempted to move Hout away from Blount before the hit. Blount then went after fans in the front row of the south end zone before being restrained and escorted off the field by security, police, Oregon coaches, and players. Blount was later suspended by the University of Oregon for the entire season (Blount would return to action in the Ducks season finale on December 3, 90 days after the Boise State incident). Blount issued an apology to everyone: the fans, the nation, and Boise State. Hout was not suspended. Head Coach Chris Petersen released the following statement: "The event that took place last night following our game between Byron and Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount was very unfortunate and we do not condone Byron's action. There will be disciplinary consequences for Bryon as a result of the incident last night and they will be handled internally."
Miami (OH)
First ever meeting. The RedHawks are scheduled to return to Boise in 2012. There are currently no future plans for Boise to play at Miami.
Boise State shutout a non-conference FBS school for the first time in school history by dominating Miami (OH) 48–0. The Broncos outgained the RedHawks 441 to 197. Kellen Moore went over 300 yards for the fifth time in his career and threw 4 touchdowns for the first time in his career. Austin Pettis and Titus Young both had over 110 yards receiving with longs of over 50 each and 3 combined touchdowns. The Broncos held their opponent to less than 40 yards rushing for the second consecutive week (Oregon: 31, Miami: 38) and forced 4 interceptions (Iloka, Johnson, Smith, Tevis). When asked about stopping the run, safety Jeron Johnson said, "That's the key to our defense is to stop the run game and make them pass. We have a good secondary so we feel that we can hold our own in the passing game. If we can stop the run, we'll be in good shape". Kyle Brotzman missed his first ever extra point, ending his school record for consecutive PAT's at 118. The Broncos moved to #10 in both major polls following the win.
Passing Leaders Rushing Leaders Receiving Leaders Defensive Leaders Kellen Moore: 16/26, 307 YDS, 4 TDS, 1 INT D.J. Harper: 13 CAR, 89 YDS, 1 TD, LG of 32 Titus Young: 6 REC, 114 YDS, 2 TDS, LG of 54 Kyle Wilson: 7 TOT TKL Doug Martin: 6 CAR, 28 YDS, 2 TDS Austin Pettis: 4 REC, 115 YDS, 1 TD, LG of 65 Jeron Johnson: 5 TOT TKL, 1 INT
1st Quarter 07:16 BSU–Austin Pettis 17 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Kyle Brotzman Kick) 0–7 01:17 BSU–Tyler Shoemaker 15 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Kyle Brotzman Kick) 0–14
2nd Quarter 00:08 BSU–Titus Young 25 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Pat Failed) 0–20
3rd Quarter 07:09 BSU–D.J. Harper 3 Yd Run (Kyle Brotzman Kick) 0–27 02:11 BSU–Titus Young 54 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Kyle Brotzman Kick) 0–34
4th Quarter 09:46 BSU–Doug Martin 4 Yd Run (Kyle Brotzman Kick) 0–41 01:56 BSU–Doug Martin 2 Yd Run (Jimmy Pavel Kick) 0–48
Fresno State
12th meeting. 7–4 all time. Last meeting in 2008, a 61–10 Broncos win in Boise.
An offensive explosion occurred in Fresno with the Broncos and Bulldogs combining for 987 yards, 1494 yards including return yards in a 51–34 Bronco win. Winston Venable opened the scoring with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown on the Bulldogs opening drive. The Broncos would follow with a 32-yard Kyle Brotzman field goal to go up 10–0. A 60-yard touchdown run by D.J. Harper on the Broncos next possession was just a sampling of the fireworks that would follow. After a Fresno State field goal, Titus Young returned the following kickoff 77 yards to set up a 7-yard touchdown catch to him from Kelln Moore. The Broncos looked to be in complete control of the game at 24–3, but Ryan Mathews of Fresno State would answer with consecutive 69 and 60 yard touchdown runs to bring the Bulldogs within 7 at the half. The Broncos returned the opening kickoff of the 2nd half for a touchdown only to see it overturned on offsetting penalties for a block in the back and a personal foul, but Doug Martin would return the next kick 77 yards to set up a Brotzman field goal. The Bulldogs would drive and score a touchdown to bring the score to 27–24. The Broncos would follow with a 74-yard Jeremy Avery rush which was fumbled at the 1 yard line but recovered in the end zone for a Bronco touchdown by Titus Young. Fresno answered with a 17-play drive ending with a 27-yard field goal to end the 3rd quarter with a score of 34–27. In the first two minutes of the 4th quarter, Kellen Moore connected with Austin Pettis for an 8-yard touchdown catch, Ryan Mathews broke his third 60+ yard touchdown run of the night, this time 68 yards, then Jeremy Avery scored on a 67-yard screen pass to bring the score to 48–34. Following a 69-yard Jeremy Avery rush the Broncos added a late 24-yard field goal by Jimmy Pavel to end the scoring. The Broncos and Bulldogs combined for 8 plays of 60 yards or more with 2 being over 70. Despite the 17-point win, the Broncos gave up 507 yards. Boise State moved to #8 in both major polls, their highest regular-season ranking in school history to date.