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Boise State looks to pick up from 2006 season

Aug 30, 2007 - 10:25 PM Weber St at No. 24 Boise St 9:00 pm EDT

BOISE, Idaho (Ticker) -- Chris Petersen almost certainly will not taste defeat at Boise State for the first time on Thursday.

Nearly eight months after capping a perfect season with an improbable triumph, Petersen's 24th-ranked Broncos return to the gridiron against Football Championship Subdivision - previously Division I-AA - Weber State on Thursday.

Last year, Petersen's first as Boise State's coach following Dan Hawkins' departure to Colorado, the Broncos went 13-0 and ended the campaign with a 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Broncos once again will be led by running back Ian Johnson, a Heisman Trophy candidate who led the nation with 25 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Johnson ended the wild bowl game by scoring a two-point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play, then proposed to his now-wife, Chrissy, a Broncos cheerleader.

Johnson should help the Broncos move past the graduation of quarterback Jared Zabransky, but they will greatly miss linebacker and leading tackler Korey Hall, who moved on to the NFL's Green Bay Packers after being named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Weber State went 4-7 last year, including 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference. The Wildcats are entering their third season under Ron McBride, who went 88-63 in 13 seasons at intrastate squad Utah from 1990-2002.

Former Alabama backup quarterback Jimmy Barnes, a sophomore, transferred to Weber State in the offseason and is eligible to play.