Windsor’s (Catholic Central) Crawford ready for Boise State’s Bowl

Boise State defensive end Tyrone Crawford said the Broncos are working harder than ever after their disappointing loss to Nevada.

BOISE – While playing before a national television audience on ESPN may have some impact on recruits for Boise State, Tyrone Crawford is proof that it might not matter as much as everyone thinks.

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The junior college transfer grew up in Canada, playing his high school football there – but his college football world was reduced to the Big 10.

“To be honest, I never even heard of Boise State when I was growing up,” the defensive end admitted. “We watched schools like Michigan and Michigan State. That was about it.”

That was it until Crawford sent out a slew of tapes to colleges across the country hoping to get some school to bite. He got a call from Boise State defensive line coach Pete Kwiatkowski with some surprisingly good news.

“I knew I didn’t have the grades to get into a university (in the U.S.), but Coach K told me there was another way,” Crawford said.

Crawford enrolled at Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, Calif., and he soon became a rising star on recruiting lists across the country. Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan State – the interest in Crawford began to grow. But he dismissed them all, choosing to remain loyal to Boise State.

“Whenever Coach K could talk to me, he would,” Crawford said. “And that’s what kept me interested in Boise State. Some other schools didn’t do that until after I started playing well. So, I just decided I wanted to be around people like that who were here in this program. … I would never change my decision to come to Boise State.”

Boise State is certainly happy about his decision as Crawford is prepared to take over for the three-time, All-WAC defensive end Ryan Winterswyk next season.

If Crawford’s numbers as a backup are any indication of what he will be able to do as a starter, he seems poised for a monster senior season.

Crawford led the team this season in tackles for loss with 13 and finished second on the team in sacks with 6.5. He also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and blocked a kick. Not bad for a backup.

However, as Boise State prepares for its matchup with Utah in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas on Dec. 22, Crawford wants to finish strong ahead of what could be another long season in the limelight.

“This game against Utah is definitely a chance to prove something,” Crawford said. “Utah is a good team and hasn’t lost a bowl game in nine years, so we want to be the team to break that streak and go in there and show them what Boise State is all about – and maybe they will reconsider scheduling us.”

Crawford was disappointed in losing the Utes on Boise State’s 2011 schedule, but he said it didn’t compare to the disappointment of losing to Nevada.

“Coming here in the summer and seeing how the guys were working, you could just feel a lot of pressure form Bronco Nation and ourselves and everybody else watching us,” Crawford said. “Coach Petersen didn’t talk about it much, but we knew it was our year to take care of things and hopefully get a shot at something big.

“So it was hard to lose for all of us. The loss definitely bonded us together and showed our strength. We didn’t fall apart and we stayed together.

“We brought everybody up on the team who felt like they played poorly in that game. It gave us a drive to work harder. We’ve been practicing like I’ve never seen us practice before.”

Crawford remains excited about the Broncos’ bowl game – even if America’s bowl system doesn’t make much sense in deciding a champion.

“I’ve learned to buy into this thing about bowls,” Crawford said. “It’s a good feeling that we’re going to a bowl game. I’ve never been to a bowl game there. It feels good so it must be a good feeling for everybody.

“I can understand why there are bowls because there are so many schools that play, but it is weird to me how bowls are decided and which teams are going where. I guess it works fine, but it’s not the way we do things in Canada.”

By Jason Chatraw