Boise State Football

Is Joe Martarano trading green for The Blue?

Well, according to an article by Jared Crews of BroncoCountry.com, he is. The article reports that Fruitland Idaho High School multiple-sport standout Joe Martarano is choosing to be a linebacker for the Broncos instead of a career in professional baseball.

This is quite remarkable, considering the Idaho Statesman has reported that Martarano is rated as the No. 86 overall high school prospect in the United States by a top baseball recruiting site. This means he would no doubt be drafted in a decent position in the 2013 MLB draft.

That means that choosing to play football at Boise State also means turning down a healthy paycheck.

But, Martarano seems to be true to his word. In a 2012 ESPN article, Martarano is quoted as saying he would probably choose football over baseball anyway.

In that article, he said:

I have a lot of people in my ear asking me which sport I am going to choose when I leave high school, I love both sports. But right now I would probably pick football

Martarano's high school football coach Bruce Schlaich seemed to confirm what the player was saying. The coach added his comments in the same article:

His dream is to play football for Boise State, and I think that is probably the direction he will stay on

Martarano is one of the most complete athletes to come out of the state of Idaho in a very long time. At 6'3" and 228 pounds, he also has the size.

While he has an impressive presence on the baseball diamond, Martarano is even more impressive on the grid iron.

According to BroncoSports.com, the Fruitland High School star is a four-year letter winner who helped his team to achieve an appearance in four straight state title games.

He was also named honorable mention Parade All-American, Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year, Snake Valley Player of the Year on both offense and defense and earned Idaho's 3A State Player of the Year after his senior season.

On the defensive side of the ball, he was a monster in high school, racking up 147 tackles, four interceptions and two sacks. On offense, all he did was throw for over 1,300 yards, rushed for over 600 and accounted for 24 total touchdowns in his senior season alone.

The crazy thing is, Martarano was also a four-year letter winner in baseball and earned a letter three years in basketball. He helped his basketball team to back-to-back state championships in 2011 and 2012 and was named Idaho's top baseball player by MaxPeps.

If Martarano sticks by his comments to BroncoCountry.com—and there is no reason to doubt him—then Boise State is going to get a very special player this fall.

Boise State football is all about progress—and not just on the field.

It seems every year, another upgrade or potential upgrade is proposed to Bronco Stadium or the surrounding complex.

In 2006, it was the Caven Williams Sports Complex and Indoor Practice Facility. With its impressive 78,000 square feet, full-sized field turf football field and 70' high ceiling, it has a massive presence along side Bronco Stadium.

Towering over the stadium on the west side is the beautiful Stueckle Sky Center. Built in 2008, it is fully equipped with luxury suites, club seating, loge boxes, offices, banquet rooms, and, of course, the Double R Ranch Club.

In 2012, additional seating was added, and additional video monitors were placed strategically around the stadium. The track was also removed. It gave the entire place a much more intimate feel.

This year's upgrade, however, has to be the one the players and coaches are most excited about.

Slated to open in July 2013, the new Boise State football complex will be a 70,000 square foot site to see.

It will be the home of coaches' offices, meeting rooms, a player lounge, recruiting lounge, training facility with weight room, an academic and computer lab, and, of course, a brand new locker room for the Broncos.

You can see the progress of the football complex and updated pictures at KTVB.com. 

With the football complex now nearing completion, it is only appropriate that a program bent on progress would announce another step in raising the bar.

A New Upgrade Is in the Works

According to Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman, Boise State has received approval from the State Board of Education to go forward with a plan to purchase a $2 million video board.

The video board would be roughly 60 feet wide and 33 feet tall, according to the article. It would also have sound baskets and advertising areas, according to Cripe.

The only downside for fans, in regards to this news, is that there is no official time line for adding the screen to the stadium. However, in reading Boise State Athletic Director Mark Coyle's statement, it sounds like the screen is one of the next things on the checklist.

Part of Coyle's statement reads:

A new video board is a priority for us, and one of the first steps in moving in that direction is gaining approval from the State Board of Education.

Coyle also mentioned that they are "constantly and aggressively looking for ways to enhance the fan experience at Bronco Stadium."

Another Announcement 

It was also announced on Wednesday by Sven Berg of the Idaho Statesman that city officials are looking at a preliminary proposal that would allow a much larger tailgating area to exist around Bronco Stadium.

It's not that those tailgating areas don't already exist, but the new proposal would allow fans to legally tailgate in those areas. Which would include allowing alcohol to be consumed inside the designated area within four hours of kickoff. 

The article quotes city spokesman Adam Park as saying:

Everyone knows that there's drinking on tailgates. And this would allow that to go on in a safe fashion, but also a legal fashion

Currently, drinking alcohol is banned inside of Bronco Stadium, and the university did not request this change according to the article.

The proposed area would be from Brady Street down to Myrtle Street up and over to Broadway, down Beacon to Lincoln and back over to Brady. It is a very large area and should encompass nearly all tailgaters.

You can see a map of the area as part of the Idaho Statesman article.

A New Logo on the Field, but What About a New Sound System?

In the article previously mentioned, written by Cripe, it was noted that the Broncos are also in the process of replacing the logo on the center of The Blue in Bronco Stadium.

It will be the new primary logo, and there is a picture with the article.

However, you have to wonder, with a new video board, football complex and logo, will they also upgrade the sound system?

With all the work the university is doing to upgrade the fan experience, it seems like piling on. But, the one complaint heard the most during game time has to be the current sound system.

In an April 28 Idaho Statesman article, athletic director Mark Coyle said, "A new video board and sound system are priorities for us." However, he went on to say, "It's possible the Bronco Stadium video board could be replaced for this season." He was, of course, speaking of 2013. 

He did not say that the sound system would be ready in 2013, which would be unfortunate. But, with a school working on a budget that is a fraction of what many others have, one step at a time seems to be working fine for the Broncos.

New sound system or not in 2013, Boise State continues to move forward. The new football complex, video board and even the logo are signs that the Broncos are a program still on the rise.

It helps the program continue momentum, and it makes the fan experience even better in Bronco Stadium.

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When Boise State announced in December that it would return to the Mountain West Conference, Bronco Nation collectively let out a huge sigh of relief.

The Big East, for more reasons than one, was not the right fit for the Blue and Orange.

For a short amount of time, it appeared as though the move to one of college football’s “Big Six” conferences would be a step up for the university. But it quickly became clear that such a move would not elevate Boise State’s status any more than staying in the Mountain West Conference would hinder it.

Based on the current state of the conference, which was renamed the American Athletic Conference on April 3, it is easy to say that Boise State dodged a bullet.

But why, exactly?

We’ll broadly investigate some of the main reasons that sentiment isn’t an understatement. Put simply, it comes down to money, the strength of both the Mountain West and Big East Conferences, and the general direction that college football as a whole is headed.

New TV Deal Equals More Money

Regardless of what everyone in power would like fans to believe, college athletics is all about the green. And for Boise State, rejoining the Mountain West had a lot to do with the green as well.

One of the driving factors behind the university’s decision to rejoin the Mountain West at the end of 2012 was that the conference promised Boise State that home football games would be offered separately from the rest of the conference.

Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson doesn’t have to sugarcoat things to appease the rest of the league. Everyone knows that Boise State is the cash cow for the conference and that the nation is more interested in Boise State than any other team in the Mountain West.

The Big East probably knew this as well, but was unwilling to budge with regard to a separate TV deal for the Broncos.

Thanks to the deal reached with the Mountain West, at least three Boise State home football games must be broadcast nationally on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC for the next seven years.

As a result of those nationally televised games, the university will rake in the dough. Boise State is set to make a $300,000 bonus for each game broadcast on one of those channels and will make $200,000 more if the game is played on Saturday.

It is difficult and frankly unfair to speculate on what the Big East was planning to offer the Broncos, but based on the decision the school made, one can assume that it was not as sweet a deal as the one they have now.

Money talks and the Broncos listened. No one can blame them for that.

The Balance Scale Favors the MWC

Here’s a blind taste test of conferences: One has Nevada, San Diego State and Air Force and will soon have San Jose State and Utah State. The other has Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida and will soon have East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa and Navy.

Which one would you rather have your school part of going forward for football?

A college football fan or someone keeping up with conference realignment has little trouble identifying these conferences as the Mountain West and newly named American Athletic Conference. But the point is still made.

The Mountain West Conference stacks up favorably against the competitor, even when you remove Boise State from the equation.

The benefit of this is twofold. Not only does the Mountain West seem like a more attractive summit for teams looking to join a potential superconference (especially to teams in the Western half of the United States), but it is also a more coveted product for TV networks.

While CBS Sports Network is still the primary network for the Mountain West, ESPN has also signed a lucrative deal with the conference that will highlight Boise State football.

The Big East recently agreed to a deal with ESPN as well, but at a major cost. The deal, which is worth $130 million over seven years, equals about what the conference would have made annually had it signed a deal with the network two years ago.

The deals made by the conferences are a sign of one league climbing the ladder while the other is falling steadily.

The Mountain West is gaining steam, while the American Athletic Conference had to reach out to Tulsa and East Carolina simply to survive.

All Conference Arguments Aside, It’s About the Nonconference Slate

Thanks to the new college football playoff format that will go into effect next season, what conference you are in may not have as much bearing on your chances of getting a shot at the national championship as it did under the current system in place.

Rather, a tough out-of-conference schedule could help propel you into the playoff discussion.

This is good news for Boise State, which has scheduled matchups with Florida State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Virginia and Washington in upcoming seasons.

Gone are the days when fans could lean on the argument that Boise State didn’t test itself out of conference.

What athletic directors are quickly learning about the new landscape of college football is that it will be essential to prove to the voters that your team is really a national title contender early in the year.

A loss won’t necessarily oust you from contention.

This, along with the fact that the American Athletic Conference will be relegated to the same status as the Mountain West Conference once the playoff format is instituted, makes Boise State’s decision to stick with the MWC a smart one.

If you’re not getting the benefit of a preferred conference, then what is the point of traveling halfway across the country every Saturday for conference matchups?

The sound of crickets chirping is almost unbearable.

The Mountain West is on equal ground with the new Big East/American Athletic Conference. If it wasn’t clear back in December, it’s obvious with the new playoff format explained.

More money, comparable competition and equal status. Throw in sensibility from a geographical standpoint, and you’ve got several solid reasons why Boise State made a smart decision by sticking with the Mountain West Conference.

It has been well-documented, discussed and otherwise noted that Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick had a rough start in 2012.

In the very first game of the season, Southwick and his teammates faced the daunting task of starting the year on the road in East Lansing against the Spartans of Michigan State.

For the Broncos fanbase it had to be very difficult watching that game and watching their quarterback complete only 48.4 percent of his passes. This, mind you, was in the wake of enjoying four straight incredible years of Kellen Moore.

However, as most fans realized, it wasn't just Southwick's struggles against Michigan State that cost the Broncos that game. The rushing attack was nearly non-existent, and it forced Southwick to do far more than what could have been expected of him early on.

Moving forward through the season, Joe Southwick had his ups and downs, but his improvement progressed. In fact, in the final six games of the regular season and in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas against Washington, Southwick averaged an incredible 70.98 completion percentage.

During that same seven-game run, the Boise State quarterback threw just three interceptions compared to 10 touchdowns. But, it was his final two games that elevated his promise.

Against Nevada and Washington, Joe Southwick not only threw the ball well, but he also controlled the tempo of the game, looked like a real leader and used his feet more than ever.

Against the Wolf Pack, Southwick scrambled for 25 extra yards, and a couple of those were key first downs. He did the same against the Huskies in the Bowl game with even more effectiveness, racking up 39 rushing yards.

A more confident, more aggressive and more agile Southwick is just what the Broncos needed to finish the 2012 season strong.

It is that same Southwick that Boise State needs to begin 2013.

If Joe Southwick comes in as a senior and plays like he did the last part of his junior season, Boise State is going to be a team no one will want to tangle with.

Add to that the rushing support he should get from what appears to be a very good trio of running backs, headed up by starter Jay Ajayi, and the recipe for success is there.

The critics of 2012 might be singing Southwick's praises in 2013, but it was those same critics and the difficulties of the early part of the season last year that helped forge Southwick into a much better player and leader.

Some would have melted under the shadow he faced and the pressure he was under, but Boise State fans should be impressed and thankful that Joe Southwick didn't.

The troubles and successes he faced in 2012 should be the solid foundation he builds on in 2013.

Look for Southwick to start where he left off last season when the Broncos open the season in Seattle against those same, now much angrier, Huskies.

Let's just hope it's without the mustache this time.