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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Injuries could impact UI against Boise

Idaho will be without one of its biggest contributors and possibly three for Saturday’s football showdown against Boise State in the Kibbie Dome.

Junior middle linebacker Jo Artis Ratti, an emerging force who missed the first two games of the season with a shoulder injury, is out with a torn MCL in his knee. The injury won’t require surgery, but coach Dennis Erickson said Ratti probably won’t return until the last week or two of the season, if at all.

Junior Brian Flowers, who has led Idaho in rushing four of the last five games, is questionable with a sprained ankle. Senior defensive tackle Ryan Davis is questionable with a sprained shoulder.

Ratti had five tackles (two for losses), one sack and broke up a pass in Idaho’s 24-14 win over Louisiana Tech. Despite missing two games, Ratti ranks fourth on the team in tackles (28), third in tackles for loss (four) and first in sacks (three). He had a 74-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Utah State.

“He was getting better and better,” Erickson said. “I feel bad for him.”

Flowers has four rushing touchdowns and is averaging a team-high 4.6 yards per carry. His 342 yards trails Jayson Bird by eight yards.

Davis has made 11 tackles.

Choate’s homecoming

Jeff Choate, in his first season coaching Boise State’s running backs and special teams, is a St. Maries High graduate and was the head coach at Post Falls High from 1997-2001.

“I’m still trying to figure out what he’s doing here,” joked Broncos head coach Chris Petersen. “He’s a guy that was recommended by a few people we knew and those special teams gurus are hard to find and his name kept coming up. (Choate’s ties to Idaho) piqued my interest even more. Some of our assistants talked to him at the coaches’ convention and said he’s a guy we needed to talk to.”

Choate was at Eastern Illinois in 2005 after two years at Utah State.

BSU’s staff also includes wide receivers coach Brent Pease, who was a finalist for the Idaho job that went to Nick Holt in 2003. Pease was offensive coordinator at Baylor at the time.

Air time

The nation’s top two passing offenses collide Saturday in Las Cruces when Hawaii visits New Mexico State.

“That game might last a long time,” Hawaii coach June Jones said.

Said Aggies’ coach Hal Mumme: “I imagine June won’t bring his punter.”

Trying to control those aerial attacks will be a couple of ex-NFL coaches – Hawaii defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville and his NMSU counterpart, Woody Widenhofer.

“We have a lot of history, similar systems and we know Woody and (linebackers coach) Herb Paterra (another former NFL assistant) and they know what we’re going to do,” Jones said.

Notes

Idaho has won three straight conference games but has been shut out on WAC player of the week awards. Playing and losing to Idaho, however, seems to be good luck for opposing special teams’ players. Honors this week went to Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan (offense), San Jose State linebacker Matt Castelo (defense) and Louisiana Tech punter Chris Keagle (special teams). Punt returner Chris Williams was honored after New Mexico State’s loss to Idaho on Oct. 7. … Hawaii’s Jones said he was getting ready to drive to work when Sunday’s earthquake hit. “There were some power outages on the island, but the power is on in the building,” he said. “We basically stood pat (Sunday) and tried not to move around.”