2008 Week 3

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - It had become a comedy of errors, but B-Dawg wasn't laughing.

Playing in a rainstorm on the Smurf Turf, Eastern Michigan and Boise State combined for seven turnovers in the first quarter alone and finished with seven apiece.

When Boise State quarterback Mike Coughlin served up his fifth pick of the day, Brad Nessler said: "This has just been a game to forget about for this quarterback."

Kirk Herbstreit chimed in: "I'll bet this quarterback was wishing he didn't get out of bed this morning."

At that moment, the announcers were right in their assessment during a rare visit to an EMU game.

But things got better for Coughlin and the Broncos. He countered the five interceptions with five touchdown passes, leading Boise State to a 49-17 rout of the Hurons on Sept. 20, 2008.

Four of Coughlin's touchdown passes came in the second half and three were snared by Jeremy Childs, who also had a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown.

"We had all kinds of opportunities in this game while Boise State was imploding early on, but as usual we couldn't cash in," B-Dawg said. "This was our game for the taking, but when you blow that many chances, you eventually run out of them and things balance out for the other team."

It was a costly loss indeed for the Hurons, as reigning Thorpe Award winner Corey Everson suffered an upper arm fracture in the first half. The injury will keep Everson out for the season. Everson had 10 interceptions, returning five for touchdowns, in the first 14 games of this 'nasty.

"That would seem to be a huge blow, but Lorenzo Seaberry got extra time in our starting offense and intercepted two passes," B-Dawg said. "I guess the way this year's game is designed, I could put anyone out there and they'll morph into Deion Sanders."

An option keeper by Tyler Jones gave EMU a 7-0 lead after one quarter. The run capped a 13-play, 66-yard drive.

The Hurons temporarily had a 13-0 lead on a crazy play that typified this game. Jeron Johnson picked off a pass by Jones, but fumbled on a hit by receiver Reggie Brown. The ball was scooped up by receiver Dontayo Gage, who returned it for a touchdown.

But, upon further review, it was ruled that Johnson fumbled when he came in contact with the ground.

Just two plays later, however, Seaberry grabbed the first of his two interceptions at Boise State's 39-yard line. That opportunity was squandered one play later when tight end John Bonner fumbled after making a catch.

Those plays were part of an insane stretch in which the teams combined for five turnovers in a 1:46 span.

The Broncos (1-2) sorta got their act together after the first quarter, committing "only" three more turnovers the rest of the game and scoring 35 straight points to take command.

Down 35-7, the Hurons (1-2) got a glimmer of hope when Gage caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Jones with three seconds left in the third quarter, but Childs took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to the house.

A fundamental flaw was discovered in the fourth quarter, as the CPU didn't put in its subs with a 42-14 lead. The CPU also kept chucking it, with Coughlin throwing his fifth touchdown pass on a 33-yard delivery to Vinny Perretta with 4:08 to go.

"I would like to put in 'mass subs' in a blowout, but I'm not going to put a bunch of guys out there who are ill-equipped to face the other team's first string," B-Dawg said. "I'm not going to do much subbing if this is the way the next-gen game is being played."

Rather than take one final shot at the end zone in the final seconds, B-Dawg brought out kicker Sean Dutcher for a 40-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. Dutcher had missed two field goal tries earlier in the game.

"I just wanted to tack on some points and get Sean's confidence back up," B-Dawg said. "This isn't like past NCAA games where you can heave a deep ball to the end zone and feel reasonably confident you'll complete it, especially with CPU AWR and knockdowns at 100 percent."

Childs had a freakishly good game, catching seven passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns, returning two kicks for 121 yards and a touchdown and returning three punts for 59 yards. For those scoring at home, that's 298 all-purpose yards for four touchdowns.

The Broncos also got it done on the ground, with D.J. Harper running 19 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Harper also pitched back to Coughlin for a flea-flicker touchdown to Childs, proving the Boise State playbook does have a few interesting wrinkles. The Statue of Liberty play did not rear its head.