GAME NOTES: The chase for the top spot in the Western Athletic Conference standings heats up this weekend, as the 17th-ranked Boise State Broncos face off against the beleaguered Idaho Vandals on the blue turf in Boise. The Broncos have been tearing up the competition since falling out of the national rankings in early September, punishing opponents so badly that the voters could no longer ignore the squad and put them right back into the Top-25. Last Saturday, BSU took no pity on Utah State and proceeded to crush the Aggies in a 52-0 decision on the road. With the decision, BSU has won eight straight games and is a perfect 6-0 in league play, matching Hawaii atop the standings. Boise State heads into this meeting having won 42 straight regular season home games and has taken 33 consecutive conference games at home as well. As for the Vandals, they are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum in terms of success this season. The team has just one win in 10 tries, and that came against not only a non-conference opponent, but a non-FBS program in Cal Poly (20-13). Idaho has had a chance to regroup since it last took the field in a 28-16 setback to Louisiana Tech at home on November 3rd. With an eight-game losing streak the Vandals, who still have a winless Utah State squad left on the schedule, are tied for the fourth-longest skid in the nation this week. As far as the all-time series is concerned, Boise State leads by a scant 18-17-1 count, thanks to a 42-26 triumph in Moscow a year ago.

There haven't been too many happy moments in the Idaho season to this point, but at least the squad has the pleasure of watching someone like Deonte Jackson flash some moves as he puts up big rushing numbers for the program. Over the course of 10 games Jackson has carried the ball 198 times, leading to 1,016 yards and six touchdowns, which is quite an accomplishment considering the team as a whole has only 11 rushing scores and is fifth in the conference with 152.5 ypg on the ground. The instability at the quarterback position has been nothing short of devastating for the Vandals because there's just no consistency coming from the most important player on the field. Nathan Enderle figures to be the starter at the position this weekend, but that doesn't mean the freshman won't get a quick hook if he doesn't produce. To this point he has just nine TDs and 15 INTs, while completing 44.4 percent of his attempts for an offense that is 92nd nationally with just 22.5 ppg.

Not to let the offense off the hook completely, but its on the defense where the Vandals seem to have the most trouble and tend to give games away time and time again. The group is rather passive when it comes to chasing down opposing quarterbacks, with the squad ranking eighth in the conference and 109th in the nation this week with just 1.2 sacks per outing. One player who should have a few of those quarterback takedowns yet has still gone without thus far is David Vobora who not only leads the WAC but is second in the country with 12.4 tackles per game. After Vobora and his incredible 124 tackles, the list drops off considerably with his closest teammate (Brandon Ogletree) having just 74 stops, of which nine have come behind the line of scrimmage to lead the team. Except for the win over Cal Poly in which the Vandals allowed just 13 points, every other opponent has rung up at least four touchdowns, which makes it easy to see why the team now ranks 106th in the country with 36.1 ppg allowed in 2007. However, much of that has to do with a wild-scoring conference, one that has three other teams with defenses that stand behind Idaho in that department.

During a long, strange trip back to the national rankings, the Broncos seem to be getting better as the season wears on. As the only team in Division I-A (now FBS) to go undefeated all last season, Boise State is again making enough noise to be considering for a BCS contest. On Saturday Taylor Tharp missed on just three of his 29 pass attempts, finishing with 283 yards and a pair of TDs in the onslaught over USU. Ian Johnson cruised to 110 yards and a score on 19 carries, while Titus Young took both of his carries into the end zone for the squad. BSU cranked out 484 yards of total offense along the way. Johnson, who had to sit back for a few games with an injury, hasn't been as dominant this season as he was a year ago, and yet he still leads the team with 836 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. Thanks to an unpredictable offense that will try almost anything once, Johnson has been given a run for his money by Jeremy Avery who, despite an injury of his own this week, is second with 563 yards and eight scores. Tharp has now completed almost 69 percent of his attempts for 23 touchdowns and just eight INTs for an offense that is fourth in the nation in scoring at 42.8 ppg.

Even though Utah State is one of the weakest teams in football this season, there's no getting over just how dominant the Boise State defense was against the Aggies in Logan. The Broncos have now won 22 of their last 23 games, but by shutting down USU the visitors had their first shutout in a road game since blanking Idaho State, 36-0, back in 1976. Although he's currently listed as questionable for this weekend with an ankle injury, linebacker Dallas Dobbs stepped up and earned himself WAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition with one TFL and an intercepted pass in the fourth quarter to help preserve the shutout. Refusing to allow the offense to get all the attention this season, the defense has stepped up its game and is now ninth in the nation with only 299.6 ypg allowed. Thanks to a pair of shutouts and two games in which they allowed just one touchdown, the Broncos are now first in the conference and 18th in the nation in points permitted at 18.7 ppg. The squad is third in the WAC and 19th in the country in sacks with almost three per outing.

As long as the Broncos don't lose their focus, they could again move up a couple of spots in the national rankings after taking care of the Vandals as only they can.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Boise State 45, Idaho 10