Rypien Says Let’s Get Physical
Rob Carr
The media gathered around Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien today and asked what he learned in Saturdays 28-17 loss to Fresno State.
There were a lot of moving parts to his answer but in short he said "We need to get more physical."
Rypien said the front seven on defense of Fresno State dominated and never allowed Boise State to make a momentum changing play. The Bulldogs stopped the Broncos over and over on third and short and 4th and short.
Rypien said the physical play of Fresno State took a mental toll each time the Broncos were stopped.
Rypien also said the Fresno State fans did a good job of disrupting BSU's offensive communication and said he hopes Boise State fans will return the favor this Saturday. He feels home field advantage is huge but know that alone won't translate to a win.
Rypien said on Sunday when the team watched the film they could see a lot of areas they needed to clean up. He also added, maybe the loss was a blessing. The Broncos had won 7 games straight, hadn't lost in over two months and maybe they needed a wakeup call.
Much has been made of athletes listening to the praise as well as criticism and Rypien implied maybe the team wasn't as hungry as it should have been. He claims Saturdays winner will be the team that executes best but also the team that wants it the most.
Ironically Boise State was favored by 7 points last week and despite the 28-17 loss are favored by 9 1/2 points this week. Hard to find a chip to put on your shoulder when you get that much respect.
On the bright side, Fresno State has the Broncos attention as both teams eye the final showdown Saturday at 5:45 p.m. on ESPN.