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Boise State previews new quarterback

While senior QB Joe Southwick is the probable starter, Monday’s opening of fall camp didn’t stop the Broncos from rolling out another quarterback

By Hank Corless
Boise State QB RIchard Hoppe
Boise State QB RIchard Hoppe
photo courtesy of ESPN
Boise State head coach Chris Petersen likes to keep some depth at quarterback. And when Jimmy Laughrea transferred to UC Davis recently coach Pete moved quickly to reach out to Richard Hoppe, 6-0, 160 pounds, a dual-threat quarterback out of St. Helena High School, St. Helena, California and asked him to walk on. Hoppes is an under the radar three- sport athlete (football, baseball, and basketball) who was on the Boise State campus to play club baseball when Petersen snagged him up.

And with good reason: Richard played football for St. Helens and his stats are impressive. Over three seasons MaxPreps reports he was 266 of 475 attempts for 4,451 yards, completing over 50% of his passes. He also tossed 54 TD’s. Last year as a senior Hoppe was 111 of 198 attempts for 2,152 yards, 26 TD’s, and just 3 interceptions. And in a pinch he’s not afraid to run with the ball. He carried it himself last season on 56 occasions for 225 yards, averaging just over 4 yards a carry. Six of those were for touchdowns. For his efforts he was named to the All-Napa County offense in 2011 and named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2012.

While Hoppe's size might be a little small for many college programs, he has shown that he has good judgment and good skills, and great poise under pressure. So far he seems to be just the OKG (our kind of guy) that Petersen likes to recruit. In the same vein as Joe Southwick is. Like Kellen Moore was. And Hoppe will have his chance to see if he’s cut from the same cloth.

There is no word yet from the Broncos camp on if he will redshirt this season, although that will probably be the case.

“I think it would be good to redshirt so you have a year to get bigger and stronger and faster,” Hoppe told Vince D'Adamo of the Napa Valley Register . “Plus, it would allow me to get the playbook down.”

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