Boise State's Spring Ball Has Taken a Toll

As if things were not bad enough for Chris Peterson with his football team losing 18 senior Broncos this year, he now has a new concern.  With the spring game only days away, he doesn't have enough healthy players in his herd to field two teams for the annual Blue and Orange game.  The Broncos began the spring workout minus eight Boise State football players who missed all of spring football because of injuries: tight end Chandler Koch, wide receiver Mitch Burroughs, safety Cedric Febis, linebackers Aaron Tevis and Byron Hout, defensive end Kharyee Marshall, nickel Jonathan Brown,and running back D.J. Harper. That is a tough break for a team looking to replace 11 starters from last years squad and many of those replacements are expected to be filled by the existing backups.

And things have gotten a little worse since spring training started. 

Additional injuries started with the first scrimmage.  Senior safety Travis Stanaway, the starting strong safety this spring, injured his wrist and will be out until sometime this summer.  Stanaway, Cedric Febis and Jeremy Ioane are all three looking to replace Jeron Johnson at safety.  And unfortunately all three are injured: Febis is out for the entire spring and Ioane has missed a number of practices with a hand injury.

With starting middle linebacker Byron Hout still out recovering from a broken foot, now the weak-side linebacker Aaron Tevis also has missed some workouts because of an injury.  Tevis is the player who made a one-handed grab on an interception last year vs. San Jose State and returned it 43 yards for a TD.

OL Garett Pendergast has been unable to recover from a broken ankle he sustained in December 2009 and has retired for medical reasons.  He will serve as a student coach this season.

J.P. Nisby, a defensive tackle, has been out all spring as well.

But there has been a few bright spots in the Boise State injury department.  WR Kirby Moore, the brother of senior quarterback Kellen Moore, has been having a good spring.  He played in 2009, but suffered a foot injury at the end of the season.  That forced Coach Pete to redshirt him last season due to several operations.  And Matt Miller, a highly touted recruit, tore an Achilles’ tendon in fall camp last year, but is back and has participated in some drills this spring.  He isn’t expected at full strength until later this summer.

The Spring Game is this Saturday, April 16.