Homedale product is Boise State’s top pass rusher; Cowboys’ Moore out of TCU running
Boise State defensive tackle Scott Matlock had two sacks in his career before this season. This fall, the former standout at Homedale High leads the Broncos with seven.
Why has Matlock been able to get to the quarterback so much this year? His coaches say it’s because his first step is just too quick for the offensive lineman trying to block him.
“Pass rush is 75% pass rush get-off,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “Any great pass rusher, watch them get off the ball. They stress offensive linemen, they get them in uncomfortable positions and they go to work.”
Matlock posted one of the Broncos’ season-high five sacks in their 40-14 win at Fresno State on Saturday. He was also in Bulldogs quarterback Jake Haener’s face when he delivered a pass that was intercepted by Boise State nickel Kekaula Kaniho in the first quarter.
Matlock has recorded at least one sack in six of Boise State’s nine games this season, and he got to the quarterback twice against Air Force. The Broncos could use a few more sacks from the 6-foot-4, 295-pound redshirt junior when Wyoming comes to town on Friday (7 p.m., FS1).
“He absolutely works his tail off from January to right now,” Boise State co-defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson said. “Seeing him be able to get this production is huge. You won’t find a better kid in regards to how hard he works and who wants it more. He’s still got a long way to go, but the sky is the limit for Scott Matlock.”
Matlock isn’t just getting it done as a pass rusher this year. He has posted a career-high 37 tackles and leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss. He also blocked a field goal and caught the first touchdown pass of his career in the Broncos’ win at Utah State. But his growth as a pass rusher this season is undeniable, Avalos said.
“There’s no cookie-cutter way of doing it once it’s time to put a move on a guy when you’re pass rushing,” Avalos said. “It’s about mentality and coming off the ball and being physical, and Scotty is a physical guy.”
Matlock gives a lot of the credit to the Broncos’ new strength and conditioning staff, which helped him add 13 pounds of muscle in the offseason. He said the focus wasn’t just on adding strength, though.
“Overall, I do feel more explosive, stronger, bigger and all that,” Matlock said. “That’s a credit to this strength staff for getting me ready for the season.”
Explosiveness and an arsenal of pass-rushing moves help, Matlock said, but in the end, getting to the quarterback simply comes down to effort.
“Eighty percent of the battle is wanting to get there,” Matlock told reporters on Tuesday. “This effort, it’s all in your heart.”
Prepping for a mobile QB
Danielson said Boise State’s game plan at Fresno State was to put pressure on Haener and force the pocket passer to make decisions on the run, and the Broncos executed it to perfection.
“I think we had a good plan going into it on how we could switch up the looks on Haener, so he wouldn’t always know whats coming,” Danielson said. “But our guys executed, and hats off to them.”
The Broncos’ pass rushers will have to take a different approach against mobile Wyoming QB Levi Williams on Friday. He replaced former starter Sean Chambers following a 14-3 loss to New Mexico two weeks ago, and Williams racked up 116 yards and a touchdown on the ground in the Cowboys’ 31-17 win over Colorado State on Saturday.
“Wyoming has had a good stretch of big quarterbacks who can run,” Matlock said. “We have to do a good job as a front of containing him, maintaining our rush integrity ... and making sure he feels uncomfortable and doesn’t have any space to move.”
Avalos said the Broncos’ defense hasn’t faced a lot of designed quarterback runs the past two weeks, but he expects that to change on Friday.
“The quarterback’s number is going to have to be accounted for on every single play,” Avalos said. “That always adds another element to it when you have to add the quarterback’s number to run fits.”
Williams is far from the only threat in Wyoming’s backfield. Running back Xazavian Valladay is averaging 5.2 yards a carry and he’s No. 3 in the Mountain West with 760 rushing yards. Junior Titus Swen — who opted out last season because of COVID-19 — posted a team-high 166 rushing yards against Colorado State, and he’s second on the team with 490 yards and three touchdowns.
Wyoming has 656 rushing yards in its past two games, 385 of which came against the Rams last weekend. The Cowboys rank No. 3 in the Mountain West with 192 rushing yards a game.
“They’ve got an elite rushing attack, great O-linemen and big tight ends,” Danielson said. “(The Mountain West) is a great conference and there are a lot of great teams that run the ball, but I think Wyoming is one of the best.”
Moore isn’t going to TCU
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is no longer a candidate to be the next head coach at TCU, according to a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Instead, Moore is expected to pursue coaching opportunities in the NFL after this season.
Moore, 33, drew interest as the next head coach at Boise State last year before withdrawing his name from consideration. He posted an NCAA-record 50 wins as the Broncos’ starting quarterback from 2008 to 2011.
The native of Prosser, Washington, spent his final years as a player in the NFL as a backup for the Cowboys, and he was named the team’s offensive coordinator in 2019. His name is mentioned prominently as an up-and-coming head coach in the NFL.
Dallas boasts the top-ranked offense in the league this season, averaging 434.3 yards a game.
Comeback player of the year
Boise State’s Demitri Washington was announced as a nominee for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award on Tuesday.
Washington suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Broncos’ win at Air Force last season, and he was held out of spring practice as he continued to rehab. The redshirt junior from Solana Beach, California, has started every game this season on defense and posted 31 tackles. He recorded his first sack of the season in the Broncos’ win at Fresno State on Saturday.
A panel of writers, editors and sports information directors nominate 30 players for the award, and that list will be whittled down to three finalists by the end of the season. The winner will be recognized during a special ceremony at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022.
WYOMING AT BOISE STATE
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: FS1 (Dan Hellie, Petros Papadakis). That’s channel 146 on Sparklight, 219 on DirecTV and 150 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 5-4, 3-2 MW; Wyoming 5-4, 1-4 MW
Series: Boise State is 14-1 against Wyoming. The Broncos’ only loss in the series, dating back to 2002, was a 30-28 setback in Laramie in 2016. Boise State has won four straight in the series, including a 17-9 victory in the 2020 regular-season finale.
Vegas line: Boise State by 14
Weather: High of 58 degrees, 23% chance of rain, 6 mph winds
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 3:05 PM.
