Situated just beyond the Boise, Idaho, city limits, it’s not a surprise that Eagle High School has dominated the state’s high school football in the way that it has. But its dominance has come in a state not traditionally known for its football excellence.

Still, from time to time, an astute recruiter can find a diamond in the rough that is Idaho high school football.

Arizona State, it seems, has found one of those diamonds.

“He’s done nothing but get better from the very first practice, and he takes a lot of pride in that and the way that he works,” Sun Devils offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Norvell said. “And I think you see that out there on game day.”

Taylor Kelly, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, was the only player in the class of 2010 from Idaho to sign a letter of intent to play at a Football Bowl Subdivision, Bowl Championship Series school. Yet Kelly made Idaho perfect in producing incredible talent from that class.

In his first season as the starting quarterback for ASU, Kelly has completed more than two-thirds of his passes for more than 2,000 yards along with 19 touchdowns to just five interceptions. A dual-threat quarterback, Kelly has also rushed for more than 300 yards during Arizona State’s 5-3 start.

Kelly’s immediate ability to take complete command of the field made the transition from small-time Idaho football to the Pacific-12 conference smooth.

“I’ve got great confidence in the abilities that I can do for my team, and I’ve got great confidence in the guys around me,” Kelly said. “It’s a lot of fun to finally be out on the field and start making plays and showing the country what our team can do.”

Playing for Eagle, Kelly was consistently the best player on the field. Kelly was the Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year and guided the Mustangs to an 11-1 season and the 5A State Championship.

In the state championship, Eagle found itself an 18-point underdog. But it still had the best player on the field. Trailing Capital High School 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, Kelly orchestrated a potentially game-tying drive.

After a touchdown, the Mustangs lined up for the game-tying extra point. Kelly, the holder, took the snap, but instead of setting the ball up for Jace Johnson to kick the extra point, he bolted to the left, attempting a two-point conversion. But the defense converged on Kelly and the senior pitched the ball to Johnson, who dashed in for the two-point conversion to give Eagle a 22-21 victory.

“I had a very young team — we started 10 sophomores when he was a senior,” Mustangs head coach Paul Peterson said. “He pulled off a miracle and a two-point play, we went for two to win it and I knew we had the best player by far, so I put the ball in his hands.”

Now playing in the Pac-12, Kelly is still generally the best, or at least one of the best players on the field thanks to his ideal combination of quarterback skills, athleticism and intangibles.

“He’s a guy that’s got incredible character, an extremely hard character,” Norvell said.

“He worked extremely hard at his training, and he obviously has great talent, but you watch him out there and make things happen, and he never gets rattled. And that’s obviously a great attribute for a quarterback to have.”

Peterson has known Kelly since the quarterback was 10 years old. Kelly played for a Little League baseball team that Peterson coached. Even then, Kelly was an incredible talent, thanks largely to his athleticism.

Kelly also starred for the Eagle’s basketball team, guiding it to a state championship game as well. Kelly was such a dominating athlete that he could dominate games without scoring a point, Peterson said.

That was a testament to those intangibles.

“Just with steals and rebounds and assists and all the intangibles,” Peterson said. “He’s an intangible guy. … He’s got an absolute command of athletic events. It’s between his ears.”

But the transition hasn’t been completely smooth. After bursting onto the scene with a 5-1 start, the Sun Devils and their rising-star quarterback hosted No. 2 Oregon on a Thursday night ESPN game. That night was a wake-up call.

After throwing a touchdown pass less than a minute into the game, Kelly and ASU were embarrassed. The Ducks scored on their next six drives. Arizona State was flat-out unable to keep up.

Kelly threw a pair of interceptions in the second quarter and the Sun Devils went into the half trailing 43-7 before losing 43-21. The quarterback was pulled in the fourth quarter of the blowout, ending his day with that lone touchdown on his first play from scrimmage.

So far, that night is the black eye on an otherwise remarkable sophomore campaign. But no one said it would be easy moving to the big stage. So he just takes his punches and moves on. Lesson learned.

“I learned a lot from that game and the film, and from my coaches watching it,” Kelly said. “The big thing I take away is to not try to force things.

“Be patient, and let the game come to you.”