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Broncos beat Bulldogs in WAC season opener
Kirk Bell, Editor
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TRENT LOOTENS/THE ARBITER Running back D.J. Harper and receiver Titus Young celebrate Harper's 60-yard, touchdown run early in the second quarter at Fresno State.
FRESNO, Calif. – Boise State and Fresno State were two Western Athletic Conference heavyweights trading blow for blow Friday night. The Broncos proved the victor by the end with a 51-34 win at Bulldog Stadium.
Running backs stole the show. FSU produced 320 yards on the ground with the help of junior running back Ryan Mathews.
Mathews scored three touchdowns on three, 60-plus-yard rushes against BSU.
“He was just hitting the hole hard,” sophomore defensive tackle Billy Winn said. “Once that guy gets going he is gone. He’s a really good back. He’s really strong and really a downhill runner. He hit the gap hard and he just got out on us.”
Winn led the Broncos on defense with six tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack.
“We know there are holes there,” Winn said. “We are going to come back and fill those gaps and to come back next week better than this week.”
Friday night was the first time that BSU had given up more than 200 yards offensive yards this season. The Broncos had only allowed eight points prior to meeting the Bulldogs. Furthermore, BSU had only allowed 69 rushing yards before the battle in Fresno. The Broncos defense had only given up 346 total yards in each of their two home openers combined. FSU finished with 507 total yards on the night. BSU finished with 480 total yards.
“I’m sure that they were as frustrated as we were,” BSU head coach Chris Petersen said. “When you can’t control the run game it’s not a good feeling. And we had it going on both sides. We had guys in position. We just didn’t tackle well. That’s just the bottom line. It’s probably fortunate that we can miss tackles like that and give up that many yards and points and get a “W.” We’re good to get back to practice and start tackling.”
Junior wide receiver Titus Young led the Broncos in scoring with two touchdowns; one on the ground and the second on a three-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore. Young’s first score came from a seven-yard pass from Moore with 7:49 left in the second quarter. Young’s second touchdown came from a 74-yard scamper by junior running back Jeremy Avery who fumbled the ball at the goal line into the end zone 4:16 into the second half. Young dove onto the ball immediately following Avery’s drop before it could roll out of the end zone.
“I’m glad that we’ve got Titus back,” Winn said. “He’s a playmaker. Definitely, a playmaker. Those guys really stepped up. They had to you know. It was going to come down to offensive production and those guys knew that. Those guys wanted yards and they wanted the ball. We put it in their hands and they made big plays.”
Young with finished 163 all-purpose yards.
Avery rushed for 186 yards rushing and 83 yards receiving on five receptions. He scored one touchdown. Despite averaging 16.9 yards per carry on 11 reps against the Bulldogs defense, Avery’s lone score came through the air on a swing sweep pass from Moore for 67 yards with 13:00 in the fourth quarter. It was an answer to Mathews third touchdown 26 seconds earlier.
“The o-line gave us opportunities,” Avery said. “All three running backs. It was great. They gave us time and they gave us the opportunity to hit the hole. We took the rest.”
BSU junior running back D.J. Harper joined Avery and Mathews in the 100-plus yards rushing club with 107 total yards and one touchdown. Harper left the game early in the fourth quarter with an injury. Harpers injury was unknown directly following the game. .
Harper and Avery have been the trend setters for the BSU rushing attack, gaining the majority of the Bronco’s 590 total ground yards this season.
The BSU defense held Bulldog’s junior quarterback Ryan Colburn to 187 yards and 48.3 completion percentage on 29 attempts. He threw one touchdown and two interceptions during his debut against the Broncos.
BSU’s next game will be Sept. 6 at Bowling Green, Ohio. Kickoff is 5:00 MT.
Who should be the MVP of the BSU vs. FSU game?
- Titus Young (67%, 4 Votes)
- Jeremy Avery (17%, 1 Votes)
- Winston Venable (17%, 1 Votes)
- Kellen Moore (-1%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 6