Boise State to face architect of its offensive line in Las Vegas. ‘I love that guy.’
Former coworkers were reunited in Las Vegas this week as Boise State and Washington converged on the city for the 28th rendition of the Las Vegas Bowl.
Nine former Boise State football coaches, including head coach Chris Petersen, are now on the Huskies’ staff, and many of them got to mingle with the Broncos’ coaches during a reception Tuesday before taking a helicopter tour of the city.
The reception had a family reunion vibe. Smiles, handshakes and hugs were shared all around, and past games were rehashed. There’s still a strong bond between the coaching staffs, and on the Boise State side of things, that filters down to the players, too.
That’s especially true when it comes to Washington offensive line coach Scott Huff, who spent 11 years on the Broncos’ staff. He coached the offensive line and tight ends, spent two years as the special teams coordinator and his final season in 2016 was the co-offensive coordinator.
Huff didn’t follow Petersen to Washington right away. He joined the Huskies in 2017 to coach the offensive line and coordinate the run game. Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC) will be a special moment for Huff because he recruited all five of Boise State’s starting offensive linemen and coached four of them.
“They’re all great guys. Just typical O-linemen, man. They’re hard not to like,” Huff said. “There are some great guys and some great families. A lot of great memories.”
The interior of the Broncos’ line — guards John Molchon and Eric Quevedo and center Garrett Larson — were among Huff’s first recruits during the transition from Petersen to coach Bryan Harsin. Now seniors, they’re preparing to play their final college game against the man they began their careers calling coach.
“I love that guy. He gave me the opportunity to be at Boise State, and I can’t thank him enough,” Molchon said Tuesday. “He’s cheering for us and he’s always thinking about us, but at the end of the day, it’s a football game. There’s no bad blood. I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
Molchon hasn’t been able to help but get nostalgic this week. Even while describing all the times Huff chewed him out for missing an assignment in practice or for goofing off in the weight room, he couldn’t conceal a smile.
“I think about being a goofy freshman and him working with me, but whether he was yelling at you or building you back up, it was always positive,” Molchon said. “He’s a tough guy and you want to be on his side, and the way he recruited us three was building that relationship and allowing us to always know we’ll have someone with us.”
Left tackle Ezra Cleveland, who signed with the Broncos in 2016, said he and Huff jelled right away during his recruitment. Huff was gone by the time right tackle John Ojukwu signed in 2017, but not long before he signed, Ojukwu posted a photo on Twitter of a visit Huff made to his Boise home in November 2016. A beaming Ojukwu is flanked on his left by his younger brother and on his right by his mother and Huff.
“After the game when we greet each other on the field, it will be cool to see him,” Cleveland said. “He’s a fellow offensive lineman, and he brought that fun sense of humor that we all have.”
Harsin’s relationship with Huff goes beyond that of colleagues. They were on the Boise State coaching staff together for eight years and they also shared the blue turf as teammates.
Huff was a four-year starter at center for the Broncos and was on the team from 1998 to 2002, which overlapped with the final two years of Harsin’s playing career (1995-99).
“I took snaps from Huff. He’s a great coach, he’s extremely knowledgeable about the game and an all-around great guy,” Harsin told the media Tuesday. “We have strong connections with a lot of guys on that staff, but that goes deeper with someone you were teammates with.”
Harsin remembers Huff as a guy who knew how to be serious but also how to lighten the mood.
“He’s a funny guy. He always had a smile on his face and always got the locker room laughing,” Harsin said. “He locked in on the field, though. He was the type of player that you better strap your chinstrap against.”
Huff looked overjoyed to see Harsin during Tuesday’s reception at Maverick Helicopters. He’s not nearly as excited about having to end the season against Boise State, but he echoed the sentiments of the Broncos’ coaches.
“This is probably one of the harder things about coaching when you have to go against your alma mater or your former players and a lot of your buddies are on the coaching staff,” Huff said. “We’ve just got to prepare like it’s another game, and it’s a big game.”
NO. 18 BOISE STATE VS. WASHINGTON
What: Las Vegas Bowl
When: 5:30 p.m. MT Saturday
Where: Sam Boyd Stadium (35,500), Las Vegas
TV: ABC (Bob Wischusen, Kirk Herbstreit, Molly McGrath)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State is 12-1; Washington is 7-5
Series: The series is tied 2-2 (last meeting: Boise State won 16-13 in 2015 in Albertsons Stadium)
Vegas line: Washington by 3.5
Weather: High of 57 degrees, mostly cloudy, 4 mph wind
