Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien had just completed his stunning starting debut two years ago at Virginia when the fan fever back home got a little out of control.
“We’re just counting down to 51 wins,” someone tweeted to the reporters covering that game — a reference to what it would take for Rypien, one of the Broncos’ most-heralded recruits, to break Kellen Moore’s college football record for career victories.
That tweet might have been somewhat in jest — but it provided a glimpse of how high, and unrealistic, the expectations for Rypien would become.
And that high bar has colored the reaction to everything Rypien has done since.