UGA alum Bob Behler is calling Boise State over the Bulldogs
Because the voice of the Boise State Broncos happens to be a UGA graduate, people assume Bob Behler must be torn about how he wants Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome to turn out.
Think again.
Behler
“There’s no question about it, I want Boise State to win,” Behler said Sunday. “That’s my team; it’s where I live; I know those kids. I don’t know Mark Richt. He seems like a nice guy. But I’m friends with Chris Petersen. I’m wearing blue and orange to the stadium and I think Boise State is going to win the game.”
So let’s just go ahead and get that out of the way.
While extremely proud of his broadcast journalism degree from UGA’s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and very grateful for his two productive years in Athens, Behler has put in a lot of miles at a lot of places since 1985. Most recently that has been Boise, Idaho, where he came to succeed Paul J. Schneider as the play-by-play voice in 2008.
You could say Behler’s timing is pretty good. He happened to catch the Broncos during the takeoff of what has continued to be a pretty awesome flight above the college football landscape.
“Thirty-eight and two since I’ve been here,” Behler spouts proudly. “Of course, [quarterback] Kellen Moore is 38-2 during that time, too, so that might have something to do with it.”
Behler didn’t know exactly what he was going to be in for when he accepted the Broncos’ gig. He’d spent 22 years calling I-AA games at Bucknell and UMass and, frankly, was just looking to call some Division I football.
In fact, he actually didn’t set out seeking Boise State. He applied for the play-by-play job at Virginia and the search firm handling that opening also happened to be involved with the Broncos. They asked Behler if he’d consider them, too.
“I said ’sure, why not,’” Behler recalled with a laugh. “You know which job I didn’t get.”
He got the better job. At this particular point Boise State is one of the hottest college football properties in the country and Behler has been along for every minute of the ride.
“I knew I was getting a team that had won a Fiesta Bowl [in 2007],” Behler said. “But did I think we’d be a Top 10 team every year? Probably not.”
So Behler was there when the Broncos won a second Fiesta Bowl in 2010 to cap off a 14-0 2009 season. He was behind the mic when they knocked off Oregon in 2008 and ‘09. And he was there last year in Washington, D.C., when everybody and their brother was assuring us that Boise couldn’t get it done against a Virginia Tech team which was clearly too big and physical and had more tradition and whose fans were going to make up 80-plus percent of spectators in a pro football venue.
Sound familiar?
“I think this will be a great game, just like that one was,” Behler said, referring to Boise’s 33-30 win over the Hokies at FedEx Field. “I give us the edge with Kellen Moore at quarterback and our defense is very, very good. Led the nation in sacks last year. I also think our situation at running back is better. I think Georgia gets a big edge in the kicking game. Not sure about the lines.”
I asked Bob how the Bulldogs were being viewed out in Idaho.
“People think Georgia is a very talented and they know it’s going to be tough to play somebody from the SEC,” he said. “They’re concerned with their size and athleticism. All the same things they were concerned about with Virginia Tech.”
Behler was thrilled when he first learned his two favorite schools were hooking up. While his roots aren’t deep in the Georgia red clay of Athens, he credits the school for getting him where he is today.
A native of Stockton, Calif., Behler enrolled at UGA in 1983 because he wanted to “go someplace different” and because his high school journalism teacher new somebody on the UGA journalism faculty. Behler had called his high school’s games on radio and stayed behind the mic for two years of junior college.
At Georgia he was introduced to sports information director Claude Felton, who said he could work for him and call women’s basketball and baseball.
“Claude always impressed me in that he let his students do things that were important,” Behler said. “He was always around to help but he gave you real responsibility and let you get in there and do it.”
From Athens, Behler got a job broadcasting games for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Then he went north and worked for Bucknell for 13 years, then nine at UMass. Just about the time he felt like true Easterner, he was whisked back west.
“It’s different,” he said. “The town reminds me a little of Northern California. We’re in a valley and it’s not as rural as you might think. It’s a city of 500,000 people. But it gets pretty sparse a few miles out of town. You can’t just get in your car and drive to a lot of places.”
No need to leave. The Broncos are the biggest thing around. Behler is looking forward to watching Moore get the eight wins he needs to become the winningest college quarterback ever. And he’ll like it even more if the first victory comes against the old alma mater.
“Sometimes you get lucky and I certainly did,” he said being a Bronco.
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397 comments Add your comment
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 29th, 2011
11:46 am
That Hawaii team had the dear in headlights look.
Boise will be unphased by the magnitude of the game.
They will keep it close, but Ga will win.
mike
August 29th, 2011
11:47 am
To tampa dog….you sure have a lot of “ifs” there. If the line can’t hold a block, if the running backs can’t find a hole, if the quarterback has to scramble….non of which have been true for BSU in the past 5 or 6 years.
And to I dog…yes if a 5 star athlete doesn’t fit in with Coach pete’s ideal athlete, including good student, good athlete and especially good character, then no he would not drop everything to pick him up. If you look at recuruits in the past 3 years, something is happening that has never happened at BSU before. Recruits are picking BSU over other BSC schools…Notre Dame, Oregon, Nebraska, Washington etc.
Dawg Fud
August 29th, 2011
11:48 am
Your degree is hereby revoked, Bob Behler.
Attention development office: if he sends UGA a donation wipe UGA’s butt with it.
gadawgs
August 29th, 2011
11:49 am
As long as we do not let them jump out big on us early and we have to play catch up like VT last year our size and depth should wear on them late in the game and that will be the difference. Dawgs win!
Pete
August 29th, 2011
11:54 am
Funny how you pup fans think you have size or depth will have anything to do with this game.
That didn’t help you wil UCF or Colorado or the other 5 games you lost did it???
Why would you think it would help against a far superior team than the teams that beat you last year?
You guys are the most delusional fan base EVER.
Not only do you have pure speculation as your smack talk, but you pretend games 8 yrs ago have anything to do with 2011?
Talk about stretching as much as you can to try to smack talk, LOL. It’s hilariously embarrassing that some of you pup fans even talk about football after the last few years. Boise will put you in your place and humble a fan base that apparently can’t be humbled by an embarrassing 7 loss season capped off by getting wooped by a CUSA team.
You guys got a lot of learning to do, staring with a smack down from Boise.
BSU 51-14, Georgia scores in garbage time.
Jborodawg
August 29th, 2011
11:55 am
“Paddy”, only thing wrong with your assessment of recruiting is that the top schools in recruiting “usually” have top-ranked teams at season’s end…eg Bama, LSU, Flawduh, Okey. I repeat, “usually” or “generally”.
“Boise in ATL”, good posts. You mostly back your statements with reason, logic, and facts. Not to mention you seem to know more about UGA football than many “fans” here on the blogs. I’m also one of those that think that BS has a cream puff schedule year in and year out. BUT, they win those games against ranked teams fairly consistently. I guess that’s what most of us on Dawg blogs hold against them; that if they played a bruising SEC schedule the outcomes would be different. But, they do seem to win the big games. Heck, look at TCU’s schedule- 5 or 6 “Coastal Carolinas”; yet they’re ranked.
No doubt K. Moore is a great QB. And no doubt BS has a good D; and a very inventive/innovative head ball coach. Sometimes we Dawgs fans can be pretty myopic.
But, here’s hoping the Bulldogs treat y’all like we did the last game; and that vaunted, high-powered Hawaii team. I’d dare say most of the pundits, announcers, etc won’t give us a chance.
BoiseBronco
August 29th, 2011
11:55 am
“What happened to Hawaii? Oh yea, I remember.”
Hawaii only won 2 games that year against teams with winning records. None against top 25 teams. Two of their wins were one point victories over teams with losing records. You really think that compares to Boise St who has beaten 3 different conference champions in the past 2 years?
Buzz2011
August 29th, 2011
11:55 am
Is Boise State favored by 2 or 3 touchdowns?
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
11:56 am
Way to miss a point there Mike .. good job buddy
AltamahaDawg
August 29th, 2011
11:57 am
It took a lot of detective work, but I think our secret is out fellows. We can no longer expect to post under the giant “G” UGA sports, and say nice things about Georgia and not get exposed as fans. Busted. I expect other people will soon follow suit and start pulling for their very own teams. Fans of thier school. No telling where it will end.
Gay Dawg
August 29th, 2011
11:57 am
Up yours Buzz2011….tech fans are a bunch of homophobics aholes!
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
11:59 am
Pete, could you be more hypocritical? BSU fans think games from 3-5 years ago mean anything still. And your great coaching didn’t help BSU against Nevada now did it. Like I said, UGA fans heard the SAME EXACT LINES from the CF world prior to the 05 meeting. UGA lost a senior QB, no proven WRs, no proven RBs, BSU wins 99% of their games, better QB, blah blah blah blah blah. Same stuff.
Saint Simmons 2
August 29th, 2011
12:01 pm
Boise wins …..35-17. Dogs have no chance in hell !!!!!!
dawgfacedboy
August 29th, 2011
12:03 pm
What is the spread for the game?
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:04 pm
Yeah BoiseBronco, and one of those Hawaii wins was your beloved Broncos where Colt Brennan threw for nearly 500 yards and 5 TDs. And then they got LIT UP by UGA
Gay Dawg
August 29th, 2011
12:04 pm
Gratham is fired up and ready to explode all over the BSU players this Saturday!
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 29th, 2011
12:05 pm
Have the Boise fans started showing up in Atl yet?
Don’t mistake the Orange and Blue for Gators.
DawginLex
August 29th, 2011
12:05 pm
Pete
your prediction is a joke
Jborodawg
August 29th, 2011
12:05 pm
“Pete”, yeah, we can be delusional sometimes. But with some of the good recruiting years we’ve had, we usually have a reason for it. Before last year, CMR had a pretty good run and most ‘experts’ think the same thing…most 10 win seasons over 10 years, excellent away record, darn good bowl record, etc…not to mention the program as a whole had great academic success. So, there’s lots to be proud of at UGA and lots of reasons to think we’ll do well at football. Sometimes we get kicked in the teeth. We just have to get back up and fight another day….and know…that…it’s great…to be…a Georgia Bulldog!
gadawgs
August 29th, 2011
12:07 pm
Hey Pete…Size and depth play a part in any football game and we have both compared to Boise. Last years team was just that last years team. This team will be better physically and mentally compared to last year. I am not delusional in thinking we will win this game. You my friend are delusional if you really think that Boise wins this game especially 51-14.
RedandBlackDAWG
August 29th, 2011
12:07 pm
Boise in Atl,
You seem to be stuck on last year or a few losses over a few years. Do you honestly think that Boise would have had one and no loss seasons, say for the last 5 years if they played in the SEC? How about the last ten years? I doubt that very seriously. I am not even sure they would have been in the hunt for a div. title in the SEC, much less the SEC conference.
UGA isn’t the only team in the SEC either. How would you compare to Florida, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, or for that fact most of the SEC teams if you played them on a regular basis? If Boise can establish dominance on a regular basis, over SEC teams, then you might convince me, but I think you know, that wouldn’t happen.
GO DAWGS and GATA
Jborodawg
August 29th, 2011
12:09 pm
AltamahaDawg, well said…the jig is up…lol
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:11 pm
BTW Pete, winning one decent game a year for the last 8 years is BSU’s MO. Just compare year after year the number of ranked teams that ANY SEC school has to play.
bitter trolls
August 29th, 2011
12:12 pm
fact that all the smack talk will not change kellen moore and aaron murry will both battle and
——–put up 3 to 5 td’s each———-hard to say who will win, but only navada caught boise st sleeping
—————-last year————-boise st will be ready—–last 3 tears they are 3-0 verse’s
—————-va tech—2010—oragon–2009–20008——love my dawgs—but we are in for a he-ll of
——————————————–A FIGHT——————–
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:12 pm
AltamahaDawg with the greatest post in the last two weeks. I guess we should all just come on here and bash our own team. That would make a lot more sense.
Nothing Could Be Finer
August 29th, 2011
12:16 pm
Teams that can and/or should beat Boise:
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
AltamahaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:17 pm
cue NCBF with a cut and paste zinger….
RedandBlackDAWG
August 29th, 2011
12:19 pm
Ray Drew,
Can’t even use an original handle, you have to steal from a real player on the UGA team. Are you so ashamed of your alligance to another school, that you have to resort to childish games such as this? I suspect that you are a tech. fan, since a lot of them feel that by masking behind a handle, their record against UGA will suddenly improve and they will have won 9 out of 10.
Evereybody keeps saying how UGA has a weak schedule this year but has anybody given any thought to Techs. schedule? Just as I thought, no UGA fan bothers to look at techs. schedule since UGA doesn’t worry about Tech., their schedule or even their probation. Tech. is fixated on UGA, but the reverse is not true.
GO DAWGS and GATA
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:23 pm
You know RedandBlackDAWG, no offense to the civil trolls on here but I can’t even understand having that much time to go on some other teams blog site and bash them and start arguments with their fans.. Did they not expect them to be loyal? I went on one BSU blog site and told them we respect their team, I believe UGA will win, have a great season after that and that’s it. Otherwise, I would rather jump on a blog for MY team and talk football rather than deal with idiots who’s own team is so bad they have to bash their rival when the two aren’t even playing each other for 3 months.
Dirty Dawg
August 29th, 2011
12:27 pm
Of course his roots aren’t in the ‘red-clay’…and only an idiot would fault him for ‘pullin’ for the people that pay him…but to be able to wear orange and blue and not have an allergic reaction to it cinches it – he ain’t no Bulldog no more. And by the way, I always thought the name was The Henry W. Grady ‘School’ of Journalism. Since when did the change the name to ‘College’…musta missed it.
bsukev
August 29th, 2011
12:30 pm
ugakev – “blah blah blah…I am just ready to embaress boise state”
Goodcall Kev, lord knows your spelling already embarasses Georgia. LMAO @ rubes
BoiseBronco
August 29th, 2011
12:31 pm
@TampaDawg, yep Hawaii did beat us that year. So did Washington and East Carolina. It wasn’t one of our better years. Since then we have beaten them every year by an average of 33 points. Using UGA logic though since they beat us in 2007 they should have beaten us every year after that. It didn’t work out that way.
ga gator
August 29th, 2011
12:31 pm
Fellas I was just interviewed by Barbara Dooley for 103.7 for my novel “1968″. Very gracious lady and even kidded my about being a Gator.
ga gator
August 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
TampaDawg great post @ 12:23.
nodoginthisfight
August 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
Clearly the dogs player that doesn’t understand that you should pump up you competition… Boykin “dares” the defensive coordinator to kick one his way.in a tweet earlier… Its still very quiet here in ATL. wonder why the fans arent talkin trash and sportin all that black and red… tired of being picked to finish in the top ten then struggling to go bowling.. bowling, nontheless…. boykin, good grief..
Dogs Smell
August 29th, 2011
12:33 pm
Spike 80DF ,
You’re right about the 4th quater as BSU may be up 30 points.
AltamahaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:33 pm
Bob’s best call of the night is going to be when he leans over to his partner with 2 minutes left in the half, thinking his hand of over the mic, and say “crap….not again!”
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:34 pm
Wow ga gator .. good stuff .. I think she has an obligation to kid you about that. How’s book sales going?
nodoginthisfight
August 29th, 2011
12:35 pm
correction: the dogs player that doesn’t understand that you should NOT pump up your competition…. dang iphone..
ugab
August 29th, 2011
12:35 pm
No Doubt!!!! Boise State is a great team!!! WELL COACHED!!!. Boise’s offense is not PREDICTABLE!!! Defense is awesome. . I hope the best 4 coach MR. MR will be tested the 1st two games. If MR can pull a win or 2 off, that would be impressive. If MR can’t keep the 1st 2 games close, people are going to call 4 his head. Welcome to College Football. I lke Boise because they remind me of the 2001 hog nail boot Dawgs. Greene, Pollack, and company. Not a bunch of big headed 4 and 5 star players.
TampaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:36 pm
also, thx ga gator .. I would rather debate civil than debate garbage.
ga gator
August 29th, 2011
12:38 pm
Thanks TampaDawg. Just got my first royalty check so pretty excited and working on a second. You can find the link on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/1968-Kenton-Michael/dp/1456825089
She is a very gracious lady and they sit fairly close to where we do in Athens. I’ve actually seen Vince several times at the games.
AltamahaDawg
August 29th, 2011
12:39 pm
I think I can explain why Dawg fans aren’t walking around Atlanta talking trash in their red and Black on an early Monday afternoon.
ugab
August 29th, 2011
12:39 pm
Boykin needs to keep his mouth shut and play some fckn football. Boykin is a good player. Boykin has fumbled in important games.. Boykin tries to take the ball out of the deep in the endzone,NOT SMART FOOTBALL. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE OUR OFFENSE STARTED DEEP BECAUSE BOYKIN COULD NOT KNEAL THE BALL.
ga gator
August 29th, 2011
12:39 pm
I think it will be close for several reasons.
1. It is indoors so the heat will not be a factor as it was in 2005.
2. Both teams will be tight because of the importance of the game.
3. UGA wins late 27-24.
Pull My Finger
August 29th, 2011
12:40 pm
Who cares what Bob Behler thinks??? Hope he enjoys probation in the next few years…..
Athens Dawg
August 29th, 2011
12:43 pm
Don’t you think Jarvis Jones’ eyes will light up when he sees Kellen Moore back there in the pocket? Don’t you think Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith’s eyes will light up when they see that ball in the air knowing that it’s there’s? They just gotta make a play on it. DBs think that way. When that ball is in the air, they are the receiver and it’s there’s. Just gotta get it. I’m excited about our secondary. Branden Smith has lights out speed and can outrun all of Boise’s WR’s. Boykin is the more physical corner but he is very fast as well. Should see lots of turnovers.
Athens Dawg
August 29th, 2011
12:43 pm
It really doesn’t matter who the media thinks will win because they only base their predictions on what they’ve seen last. It hurts but lets be honest, we weren’t that good last season. But what they don’t know is what’s going happen this season. They don’t know how hard we’ve worked. They don’t know how much the attitude and culture around our program has changed. Georgia is going to play with a chip on their shoulder and play like Richt could be fired if they lose this game alone. They’re going to play this game as if Richt was being held over a big boiling pot and if they lose he falls in and dies, but if they win he is freed. That’s how they are going to approach this game.
ugab
August 29th, 2011
12:44 pm
Please Ga players do not start the trash talk, dancing, celebration penalties!! Just play football. We are tired of seeing these uncoached dawg teams the last 5 years.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
August 29th, 2011
12:50 pm
Damn its good to be a Georgia Bulldog! Keep it up trolls, just further Dawg Nations resolve.