Shane Williams-Rhodes #6 in the Nation in Punt Returns

http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div

Boise State #25 in Sagarin

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/09/boise-state-25-in-sagarin_8.html

Clemson Advances to #1 in Blue Football Through and Through Top 25

http://bluefootballthroughandthrough.blogspot.com/2013/09/clemson-advances-to-1-in-blue-football.html

Boise State Cross Country Teams Put On Exciting Performance In Utah

Both Boise State cross country teams did well in Utah, with the Bronco women winning the triangular meet and the men finishing just six points behind the #4 team in the nation, BYU.

Junior Emma Bates picked up where she left off last season, winning the 4-k in 14:11.0.  Marisa Howard was second with a time of 14:14.3, while Lauren Lucas took fifth (14:40.5).  In a sport where you want the low score, the Bronco ladies had 23 points with Weber State finishing second with 56 points and Utah 58.

Aaron Back was third in the men's 6-k race with a time of 19:08.2.  David Elliott was fourth in 19:13.9.  Boise State had 34 points, nearly pulling off a huge upset of BYU, which finished with 28, and Weber State was back with 66 points.

Boise State competes at the annual Roger Curran Invitational in Nampa--action gets underway at noon next Saturday.

Kellen Moore Secures Roster Spot On Detroit Team

Thanks to a great preseason, former Bronco quarterback Kellen Moore has made the roster again this year.  That's the key--just keep showing up and performing, get vested, and then wait for your turn.

Boise State Soccer Starts a Bronco-Huskie Tripleheader This Weekend

Boise State's soccer team will take on #5 Washington tonight at 6 in Seattle, the first of three encounters between the Bronco and Huskie sports teams this weekend. 

The Bronco volleyball team will face Washington at 7 tonight, and then of course the Boise State football team meets Washington tomorrow night at 8.

President Kustra's State of the University Address

http://atstreamer.boisestate.edu/president.html

Travis Hartke Joins Boise State Track Coaching Staff

Travis Hartke, a key part of Iowa State's two Big 12 track titles, will join head coach Corey Ihmels in making the move to Boise State. According to Hartke, some of Iowa State's student-athletes will also transfer to Boise State. Hartke has coached at Iowa State for seven seasons, helping seven Cyclone athletes to national titles.

Remember That Blue Football Through and Through Is Its Own Site

Just a reminded that we split coverage of football from the main page because there was too much information devoted to football and it needed its own blog.  We will still copy significant football news on Blue Through and Through as well, but if you're a football fanatic, you want to be on Blue Football Through and Through:

DeLaet Finishes 8th At AT&T Golf Tournament

He hasn't won an event yet, but former Boise State golfer Graham DeLaet is consistently at the top of the leaderboard.  This weekend, he collected a cool $175,000 for finishing 8th at the AT&T Tournament.

Boise State Earns National Science Foundation Grant

A collaborative group of Boise State University faculty from engineering, biologica sciences, geosciences and computer science have been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to build a new high-performance computing and visualization instrument.

When completed, researchers across multiple disciplines at Boise State will have access to vastly improved capabilities for solving large computational problems.

Boise State Enrollment Sets New Record

The counting is done, and 22,678 students attended Boise State in the Fall semester, another school record. A big increase in the number of graduate students (3,021) was a significant factor in the overall attendance record.

Boise State is now ranked #185 in total enrollment, just behind the University of Arkansas.  With the enrollment data, Boise State has passed UCLA and the University of Colorado.  Boise State was already ahead of Louisville, St. John's, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Syracuse, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Stanford, among others.  Boise State is in range of (within 2,000 students) Oregon, Kansas State, Virginia, Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

DeLaet Finishes 19 Over

Four days of a grueling major can take their toll.  Graham DeLaet finished 19 over for the Open Golf Championship, shooting a 79 today.

DeLaet In 68th at Open Golf Championship

Graham DeLaet slipped a bit today in the third round of the Open Golf Championship.  He shot a 76 and is now 11 over par, tied for 68th, heading into the final round tomorrow in Scotland.  DeLaet is three shots behind Fred Couples, six behind Ernie Els, nine shots behind Phil Mickelson, 12 behind Tiger Woods and 14 behind leader Lee Westwood.

Boise State's Graham DeLaet Qualifies For First Major

Graham DeLaet continues his torrid play, and this time, it's landed him in a major tournament on the PGA tour.  DeLaet made the cut for the Open Championship and will golf this weekend.  DeLaet is tied for 49th with a two-day total of 148.

Some names for you:  DeLaet is tied with Ernie Els and is ahead of Fred Couples.  Graham is five strokes behind Phil Mickelson.

Luke Shields Hired As Associate Head Tennis Coach

Luke Shields, who was a three-time All-American at Boise State for Coach Greg Patton, will be Patton's right-hand man at Boise State.  Shields, who some consider to be Patton's heir-apparent at the school, also won national awards for sportsmanship and outstanding play while playing #1 singles at Boise State.

Broncos Sign Impressive Catcher

Hailey Torrez, a highly-decorated player on the Colorado high school scene who has played two years at the community college level, has signed a letter of intent with Boise State.

Torrez led Central Arizona to a 90-29 reord the past two seasons, including a conference championship.  She started at shortstop her freshman year before moving to her familiar spot of cancer last season.  Torrez was named second-team all-conference last year after hitting .398 with 12 home runs and 35 RBI's.

Prior to that, Torrez was unstoppable for Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colorado, leading her team to an amazing 95-4-1 record over four years and four straight 5A state titles.  Two of the four losses came in extra innings, one in 21 innings and another in 19.  In her last two seasons, Legacy went unbeaten, and Torrez closed out her high school career with a 63-game unbeaten streak.

Torrez was all-league and all-region all four years and earned at least honorable mention all-state honors all four years as well.  Torrez had a .460 career batting average with 20 homers and 107 runs batted in.  In her sophomore year, Torrez was named NFCA All-America after hitting a torrid .628 with 15 doubles and seven home runs and knocking in 39.  At the conclusion of the year, The Denver Post named her Colorado Player of the Year.

“We are very excited to welcome Hailey to the softball program,” said Boise State Coach Erin Thorpe. “She is a very versatile player capable of contributing to numerous positions but most importantly she will add depth to our catcher position. Offensively, she is very capable of being a middle-of-the-order type hitter and run producer for us."

“I chose Boise State because of the up-and-coming program, amazing coaching staff, the opportunity to make a difference in the team and to help compete for a Mountain West championship,” said Torrez.

DeLaet Finishes 3rd

DeLaet had a beautiful second shot on 18 that was about two feet shy of the cup, enabling hm to birdie the hole.  Just a little shy on this day, one stroke back of Duke and Stroud.

Another Par For DeLaet

Graham with a 4 on 17.  He left a long try for birdie about a foot shy.  Ken Duke is in the clubhouse at 12 under, so DeLaet needs a 2 on the Par-4 18th to tie.

DeLaet with Par on 16

Another par on 16 leaves DeLaet even for the day.  He needs at least two birdies on final two holes.