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Broncos show resiliency in win
Trent Lootens
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JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER. Junior wide receiver Austin Pettis celebrates with sophomore center Thomas Byrd after Pettis scored a touchdown earlier in the season against UC Davis.
A win is a win, but when you’re trying to compete for a spot in the BCS, a 45-35 win over Louisiana Tech won’t help.
Boise State had to fight, scratch and claw, to hold off the Bulldogs who were able to gain momentum and fight back to close BSU’s lead to only two points after being down 27-7 at the half.
BSU sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore had a great game throwing for 354 yards and three touchdowns. His only interception came on BSU’s first drive to start the third quarter, and it was costly.
Moore led the Broncos on a promising drive deep into Bulldog territory that could’ve broken things wide open to start the third quarter. An attempt to throw the ball away on a bad pass off his back foot across the field was intercepted by La Tech junior cornerback Josh Victorian and was returned 75 yards for a touchdown. Moore had not thrown an interception in his previous 136 pass attempts. The pick six made it 27-14 early in the third.
“Throwing that stupid pick really gained some momentum for them and gave them some quick points. That kept them in the game and it’s something I shouldn’t be doing,” Moore said.
La Tech fed off the momentum from that play and the tide seemed to turn in an instant.
La Tech junior quarterback Ross Jenkins revived the Bulldog offense that only gained 64 yards in the first half.
After a Kyle Brotzman field goal put BSU up 30-14, Jenkins methodically marched the Bulldogs down the field. Jenkins took matters into his own hands, and on a third down play at BSU’s 9-yard line he took the ball on a quarterback keeper into the end zone cutting into BSU’s lead 30-21.
A successful and surprising onside kick recovery by La Tech at the end of third quarter put them back in business. Again the Bulldogs drove down the field and Jenkins connected withsenior tight end Dennis Morris for an 11-yard touchdown, making it 30-28 early in the fourth quarter.
“Credit to them, credit to Coach [Derek] Dooley. He’s a heck of a special teams coach. He got us a couple of times,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said.
BSU put together a good drive to counter punch, but the red zone problems that have plagued the Broncos all year showed appeared at the worst time. BSU’s drive stalled inside La Tech’s 15-yard line and Broncos’ junior kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a 31-yard field goal from the left side hash – the side where he has struggled from all season.
Petersen said later that maybe they should’ve gone for it on fourth and five because of Brotzman’s struggles.
La Tech was unable to take advantage of the opportunity presented and had to punt the ball.
Moore quickly hit junior tight end Kyle Efaw on a 40-yard pass which put the Broncos back in the red zone, and this time they made it count. Junior wide receiver Austin Pettis had to go up for a high Moore delivery and pulled in a 12-yard touchdown to give the Broncos much needed breathing room.
“I’ve scored on that play at least three different times this year against Tulsa, Miami (Ohio), and Hawai’i. They give it to me and I take advantage. Kellen was on the money once again,” the receiver said.
On a questionable call, BSU went for the two-point conversion to put them ahead by 10 points. The conversion was successful, though, on a pass from Moore to sophomore wide receiver Tyler Shoemaker.
Petersen later said he shouldn’t have made that call to go for two, but did anyways.
The lead was 38-28, but the way things went in this game that score was still too close.
BSU’s defense stepped up again and forced a turnover on downs setting them up inside La Tech territory. Running back Jeremy Avery took the first handoff from scrimmage 43 yards to the house, icing the game for the second time, 45-28.
La Tech junior running back Myke Compton scored on a 1-yard run with a 2:49 remaining in the game to bring the Bulldogs closer 45-38, but a failed onside kick recovered by BSU sank the Bulldogs for good.
“The one thing that I do like is how they competed and how they finished,” Petersen said. This was a tight game in the fourth quarter and we hadn’t been in that situation for a while.”
Avery finished the night with 148 yards on 25 carries and a score. He was the only running back who did anything for the Broncos. Sophomore Doug Martin and freshman Matt Kieserman combined for only three yards on six carries.
“Finally he (Avery) got the hot hand late and sometimes its hard to play three guys,” Petersen said.
Pettis had 105 yards receiving and a touchdown, while Titus Young got in his touches with 110 yards receiving and pulled in a beautiful 40-yard touchdown pass from Moore in the second quarter.
Brotzman was three of five on the night, having missed both field goal attempts from the left hash.
Kyle Wilson finally got his chance to return a punt and took advantage returning one 59 yards inside La Tech’s 5-yard line early in the second quarter.
“It felt good to get that one. It doesn’t bother me I had to wait this long, but it feels nice and I’m just glad to contribute to this great win,” Wilson said.
No. 7 BSU was the highest ranked team to ever play at La Tech. When asked if this win would help BSU in the polls Petersen had this to say.
“That’s how it always is when you play. It’s never good enough. It’s good enough for us. We won and we’ll try to get better next week and go from there.”