FORT COLLINS — Kellen Moore is a nightmare to defenses, a quarterback his peers long to emulate, a player his coach marvels at and one who keeps defensive coordinators up all night.
It seems there is nothing the senior Boise State quarterback can’t do — except interviews. The only entity that can stop the Heisman Trophy candidate is Boise State itself, which does not allow players to do interviews with the media that cover the opposition.
Moore does his talking on the field, and those numbers speak at the volume pitch of a KISS rock concert. He has 43 wins as a quarterback, two shy of the NCAA record; a 167.33 career passing efficiency mark, which ranks first all-time; 12,258 career passing yards, 116 touchdowns, 956 completions and a career completion percentage of 68.8 percent.
He has turned out to be one of the best quarterbacks in NCAA history. Not bad for a moppy-haired kid from Prosser, Wash., who, according to had this list of schools that offered him scholarships out of high school: Boise State, Eastern Washington and Idaho.
That’s it. Of course, had anyone known then what everyone knows now, that list would look vastly different.
“He just played so good as a young guy,” BSU coach Chris Petersen said. “I don’t think you can ever predict that out of your quarterback. No matter who you recruit in here, you’re always keeping your fingers crossed. But the fact that even in his redshirt freshman year when he was playing for us, he was playing good right out of the gate. And there wasn’t anything that we couldn’t throw at him mentally that he couldn’t handle.”
Colorado State’s challenge is to get after Moore enough to keep him off-balance. But trying to trick him with exotic coverages might not be the best way, defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said.
“It almost looks like he’s playing a video game sometimes when you try to do something different,” Kerr said. “He sees a piece move and — bang — he’s doing something. He’s obviously very well-coached and a very smart football player. I don’t think we’ll try to fool him, we’ll just try to get after him the best we can.”
Problem is Moore almost never gets sacked. BSU has allowed just two sacks this season, and a big reason is Moore’s ability to get rid of the ball swiftly and with precision. In fact, ask most anyone what Moore’s best attribute is, and they all say it is his accuracy.
“He’s a real accurate quarterback,” CSU safety Ivory Herd said. “He knows where he’s going, pretty much every single time. And if it’s covered, second choice he already knows.”
Said Rams linebacker James Skelton: “I think he makes his reads really quick. You don’t get that many opportunities to get back there and hit him. He’ll get back there and choose his guy, and he’ll get rid of it quick.”
For all the anxiety Moore has caused defenses and all the joy he’s provided to Broncos fans, Petersen never strays away from one point.
“(I) really appreciate what he does,” he said. “I don’t take it for granted, because I see how well this guy plays, and I know how hard this position is to play. He’s just been so consistent for us, is what I think is the most impressive thing. . . . I know it’s not easy to do what he does game after game.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
