By Mountain West rule, Boise State’s fall fashion is only kind of blue

By Matt Hinton

The Mountain West has already given its newest member one big break, voting earlier this year to move the Boise State-TCU showdown that will likely decide the conference championship to the Smurf Turf in Boise, where the Broncos have won 63 consecutive regular season games since 2001. The favor comes with just one tiny catch from the conference office: The blue-on-blue motif has got to go.

From the Idaho Statesman:

LAS VEGAS — The Boise State football team will not be allowed to wear blue pants and blue jerseys in home Mountain West Conference games, coach Chris Petersen said Monday.

The prohibition applies only to Boise State and was part of the school’s agreement to join the league.

“I thought it was ridiculous,” Petersen said of his reaction. “…That’s our colors. That’s who we are. That’s who our fans have wanted us to be since I’ve been at Boise State. That’s what it’s been through and through.”

Squinting television viewers and visiting teams reviewing game film have been trying for years to adjust their sets for all-blue uniforms on an all-blue field, mostly without success. (Though the introduction of high-definition TVs and the installation of brand new turf last summer have dramatically reduced the on-screen glare.) San Diego State coach Rocky Long welcomed the Broncos to the conference in April by calling the blue turf “unfair,” and suggested it be ripped up because it forces opposing players to “track the ball differently” than they’re accustomed to on a traditional green field. Either most of Long’s colleagues share the sentiment, or they just really, really dug the all-orange getup the Broncos broke out last year against Fresno State.

Fortunately for Boise, the Swoosh provides: With three different home jerseys (blue, orange and gray) and three different pants (blue, orange and white), the Broncos have enough option in stock to come out in new threads on a weekly basis. “Nike has saved us by giving us a bunch of different combinations,” Petersen said. “…If we can’t wear what we want to wear, then we will wear a bunch of different other stuff.”

See, that’s why they’re successful: Resourcefulness.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Eric LeGrand stands for forty minutes in therapy

I know we’ve been hitting this Eric LeGrand story pretty hard, but dammit, it’s inspirational and deserves to be in the headlines.

Eric, who has been keeping the social media world updated on his recovery via Twitter (@BigE52_RU), took another remarkable step today when he tweeted that he stood once again in therapy.

For forty minutes.

“Stood up for 40 minutes in therapy today #itsonlyamatteroftime let’s gooo,” LeGrand tweeted. “Can’t wait to get on this treadmill and get these legs trained to walk again.”

Incredible, considering it’s been a mere nine months since a neck injury against Army left him paralyzed from the neck down.

LeGrand first tweeted a picture of himself standing in therapy nearly two weeks ago.

And he keeps going every day.

“Every damn day. Just do it.”

You said it, brother.

Olin Buchanan
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

HOOVER, Ala. – In Georgia, the home state of the prestigious Augusta National golf course, the concept of a mulligan is familiar.

Yet as much as Georgians love golf, they love college football even more. And after last season’s disappointing 6-7 finish, it’s apparent Georgia coach Mark Richt has used his mulligan.

Mark Richt insists the Bulldogs are in good shape despite some inexperience.

From Atlanta to Savannah, there have been calls for Richt’s ouster. Those calls were ignored by Georgia’s administration, but another subpar season isn’t likely to be tolerated in Athens.

It matters not that Richt, who is entering his 11th season in Athens, has had six 10-win seasons and owns a 96-34 career record. Nor does it matter that last season was his first with a losing record.

Such is life in the SEC. Auburn fired Tommy Tuberville after his first losing record in nine seasons. Ole Miss fired David Cutcliffe one year removed from the school’s first 10-win season in 32 years. Phillip Fulmer was fired after a 5-7 finish in 2008 – one season after going 10-4. Richt’s predecessor at Georgia, Jim Donnan, was fired after consecutive 8-4 seasons.

“Coach Richt is like a father figure to us,” Georgia senior center Ben Jones said Thursday at SEC Media Days. “That would just crush us if something happened to Coach Richt because of us. We’re taking it under our wing and playing with everything we’ve got in every game for Coach Richt. He’s like everything to us. That’s the reason a lot of us came to Georgia.”

Richt is aware of the demands and calls for a coaching change but said he isn’t affected by them.

“I know if you walk in the Butts-Mehre Building [the athletic administration building], there’s not one sense of doom or gloom,” Richt said. “There’s only excitement, only guys that are so thankful that we’ve got a new season and a clean slate and the ability to play great opponents to start the year. …

“I don’t worry about all that. I worry about the future. I worry about enjoying the ride. We’re in good shape.”

Actually, that’s subject for debate. The Bulldogs lost their best offensive (wide receiver A.J. Green) and defensive (linebacker Justin Houston) players from last season. There is no established go-to receiver or feature back. The offensive line is in flux. Three of the four starting linebackers will be new. Furthermore, the Bulldogs face a challenging early-season schedule that has Boise State and SEC East favorite South Carolina in the first two games.

The Bulldogs figure to need immediate help from their 2011 recruiting class – nicknamed “The Dream Team” – which was ranked fifth in the country. Freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell figures to be in the starting lineup when the Bulldogs open against Boise State. Freshman wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell is drawing raves from sophomore Aaron Murray, who might be the best quarterback in the SEC. And freshman end Ray Drew and junior college tackle Jonathan Jenkins should be important additions to a defense that should be improved in its second year under coordinator Todd Grantham.

Richt is doing his best to downplay expectations about the newcomers.

	Isaiah Crowell will likely be in the starting lineup against Boise State.

“We don’t really expect a freshman to come and carry our program. We expect him to come in and compete,” Richt said. “When it comes to junior college guys like Jenkins, we expect a junior college guy to come in and play. We’re expecting Jenkins to come in and play right now and maybe become a starter for us if he can beat out [sophomore] Kwame Geathers.

“But there is no question we will need help from our freshman class to become a championship team. I don’t have any doubt about that.”

Counting on freshmen to make a significant difference in a championship race is dicey in the SEC – even in the East, where Bulldogs rivals Tennessee and Florida also are coming off subpar seasons.

Despite that Georgia is coming off its worst season since 1996, Richt is confident the Bulldogs will be a major factor in the SEC race for several reasons.

“Number one, we know we’ve got an outstanding bunch of football players and some outstanding coaches,” he said. “We know we have a great fan base. We know that six of our losses [last season] were within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. If we just finish better, we’ll have a better season. We’re not getting blown out of the water, we just didn’t win. We know that.

“We had a tremendous recruiting class. There’s tremendous momentum that was gained by the young men who decided to become a Bulldog. I can’t talk about names or whatever, but we have guys that are committing to us not only for the 2012 class but 2013 and even 2014. So, people have faith in our program and our leadership.”

That’s great, but if Georgia doesn’t win big in 2011, another coach probably will be leading the Bulldogs in 2012.