LAS VEGAS ? Everybody in the Boise State football program has a joke to tell about their early impressions of senior quarterback Kellen Moore.
They call him a goofball and kid about his unimpressive size. They needle him about his arm strength and call him a football nerd.
?I don?t want to say he wasn?t always ?the man,? ? senior tight end Kyle Efaw said, ?but ??
Moore even makes fun of himself. He has been telling the story lately of his drive to Bronco Stadium with Efaw on the day of their first college game, the 2008 season opener against a woeful Football Championship Subdivision program.
?I remember driving down the hill, just scared to death to play Idaho State,? Moore said. ?Certainly, things have changed.?
Now the fear is on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
And the jokes have stopped.
Moore already has shattered the Football Bowl Subdivision record for career wins by a quarterback and will go for No. 50 on Thursday against Arizona State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (6:06 p.m. MST, ESPN).
Ask just about anyone in college football about Moore?s sterling career, and you get some variation of the same dead-serious answer.
?He fits among the all-time greats,? said Chris Fowler, the ?College GameDay? host who will call Moore?s college finale for ESPN. ?If winning is the measuring stick for a quarterback ? and all of them say it is ? he?s won more, and no starter will ever win more, in my opinion, than what he?s done.?
Moore (49-3) also ranks in the top five in FBS history in interception percentage (first), touchdown passes (second), pass efficiency (third), completion percentage (fourth) and passing yards (fifth).
He has earned first-team All-American honors, second-team Academic All-American honors and three conference offensive player of the year awards.
He became the first Heisman Trophy finalist in school history in 2010 (he was fourth) ? and is one of only 12 players in college football history with three straight top-10 finishes in Heisman voting. He also has been a finalist for the Maxwell, Davey O?Brien, Unitas Golden Arm and Manning awards.
And he has helped lift the Broncos to the upper echelon of college football with a chance to finish in the top 11 for the fourth straight season.
Before Moore, the Broncos had finished that high just once. He also has directed seven of the program?s 10 wins against ranked opponents and posted a 5-0 record against Bowl Championship Series-conference foes.
?Now you say Boise State and it?s relatively accepted around the country that Boise State?s a big-time program,? said Kirk Herbstreit, the ?GameDay? analyst who will provide color commentary on the MAACO Bowl broadcast. ?Kellen has been a starter for the past four years and had a lot to do with bringing Boise up to that level to where people really respect not just him, but this program.?
THE GAME SLOWS DOWN
Back in August 2008, before that nervy ride to the stadium for the Idaho State game, Moore (6-foot, 191 pounds), didn?t even think he had won the starting job.
He battled with senior Bush Hamdan in spring ball and fall camp. The night before he was named the starter, he called his mom to tell her he thought he?d be the backup.
?I still felt very unprepared,? he said.
That?s never been a problem since.
Moore, who has been studying video since his childhood as a coach?s son in Prosser, Wash., is renowned for his work habits. That preparation leads to the other qualities that set Moore apart from most other quarterbacks.
His poise. His awareness. His anticipation.
Offensive coordinator Brent Pease sometimes thinks he?s moving too slowly during the Broncos? ?Indy? tempo ? a no-huddle attack.
?It looks like he?s in slow motion,? Pease said. ?He is going fast. His mind?s working. He?s so far ahead of it and slowing it down that it looks so simple.?
Maybe too simple.
Moore has completed a career-high 74.1 percent of his passes this season and thrown a career-high 41 touchdown passes ? all while playing with an inexperienced, rebuilt corps of wide receivers.
Yet he has received fewer accolades this season than the past two years, when the national media fell in love with the story of the undersized quarterback from the small town playing on the blue field.
He finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting and didn?t make any All-America teams.
?People got kind of numb to his numbers,? Fowler said. ?All those stats are Heisman-finalist worthy. ? It?s sad, but people didn?t really appreciate the year that he had.?
The same consistency that led to that snub ? Moore has thrown at least two touchdown passes in 25 straight games ? is what Boise State coach Chris Petersen admires most about his quarterback.
?Kellen?s like clockwork, always,? he said. ?That?s the beauty of coaching him.?
Plus, he rarely makes the major mistake.
Moore holds the FBS record for the lowest single-season interception rate (0.69 percent in 2009) and almost certainly will break the career mark.
He also has the Broncos in position to lead the nation in fewest sacks allowed for the second time in three years.
?The consistency. The decision-making. I don?t know if I?ve ever seen a guy so consistently make good decisions,? said Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback. ?When you combine the way he processes information with the decision-making, with his accuracy, I don?t know what else is left from a quarterback. When you do those three things, you?re going to be able to do a lot of damage.?
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER?
Petersen has started to consider life without Moore. His optimistic spin: ?It?s going to be interesting.?
What will he miss most? That?s easy.
?Touchdowns. Wins. Completions,? Petersen said.
What has Moore meant to this program? That?s hard.
?It?s almost a ridiculous question,? he said. ?Everyone knows what he?s meant to the program. It?s hard to put that in words. ... We wouldn?t trade him for anything.?
Moore likely will leave Boise State without winning any major national award. He could have a more lasting place in college football history, though.
Fowler figures the wins record is safe at least until college football implements a season-lengthening playoff system.
And 10 years from now, if he?s not still playing professionally, he will become eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Defensive lineman Randy Trautman, who played on the 1980 Division I-AA national championship team, is the only Bronco in the hall.
Five influential national media members told the Idaho Statesman that Moore should be a Hall of Famer ? and they don?t consider it a question.
?They shouldn?t have a College Football Hall of Fame if Kellen Moore is not in it,? said Joe Tessitore, an ESPN play-by-play announcer who has called many Broncos games.
Moore barely meets the eligibility criteria because the first rule is that a player must have earned first-team All-American honors from one of the five NCAA-recognized teams.
Moore made the 2010 Football Writers Association of America team, when the group was concerned Auburn quarterback Cam Newton would be declared ineligible.
That?s enough to meet the criteria, but Moore likely will compete for a spot with the likes of Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy.
?He should be remembered in this era of college football as one of the greats,? Tessitore said. ?He?s just one of those guys who even years from now is going to remind people of a certain era of college football. ? To me, Kellen Moore is the embodiment of what gets you excited about college football.?
Qualities like the excellence he exhibits in the pocket, eluding the pass rush and dissecting defenses.
Like the poise and humility he displays on the field and in the locker room, where he?s a popular teammate.
Like the joy with which he plays the game ? flashing that wide, bright smile every time he fires a touchdown pass.
?We?ll miss him in college football,? Herbstreit said, ?and wish him the best in the NFL.?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdahostatesmancomBreakingNews/~3/DXKAV_GO6j0/boise-state-quarterback-closes.html
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