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Vandalized: Moore and Pettis combine to route Vandals

Trent Lootens — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:42:20 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER - Junior receivers Austin Pettis and Titus young celebrate after one of Pettis' four touchdowns. The pair combined for 224 yards and five touchdowns in Boise State's route over Idaho.

Boise State used rival Idaho as an opportunity to flex their muscles to the nation by blowing out the Vandals 63-25 in a game that was never close.

BSU sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore improved his Heisman stock as well. Moore threw for 299 yards and five touchdowns against an Idaho defense that had no answers for Broncos newly revived no-huddle offense.

Idaho killed themselves early in the game by turning the ball over on their first two possessions inside their own territory. Moore and junior wide receiver Austin Pettis made them pay for the mistakes.

Pettis put on a clinic, catching eight passes for 123 yards and four touchdowns. Pettis now holds the record for most receiving touchdowns in a single season by a Bronco with 14.

“We came into this game with a big mentality as a receiving core that is was going to be on our shoulders, Pettis said. “We knew if we could make a lot of plays it was going to be a good outcome.”

Idaho was down 14-0 before they even knew what hit them. The Broncos capitalized on Idaho’s turnovers early. Moore hit Pettis on a 4-yard fade route and then on the next drive found junior receiver Titus Young streaking through the middle on a 25-yard TD reception making the score 14-0 early in the first quarter.

The Vandal offense showed signs of life early. DeMaundray Woolridge was a

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER - Junior receiver Austin Pettis catches a long ball down the sideline from sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore.

one-man wrecking crew, running for 145 yards and two touchdowns, but this game was about BSU establishing its dominance in the rivalry and leaving no doubt who was the better team.

“It’s good to start playing well. Anytime you’re able to score 63 you feel pretty good,” Moore said.

Right before the half the Vandals engineered a great scoring drive cutting into BSU’s lead 35-17, but Young made sure in didn’t stay close for long.

Young took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards to house right before the end of the half. The return gave BSU a commanding 42-17 lead going into the half taking away any wind left in the Vandals’ sails.

“That was a great play by him. I just saw him and the parting of the seas and he just shot the gap. Obviously to close the half off like that was a momentum shift,” Wilson said.

Idaho sophomore quarterback Brian Reader continued his struggles in the second half. Reader was intercepted by BSU senior cornerback Kyle Wilson five minutes into the third quarter. Wilson caught the ball on the run and was off to the races for his second interception return for a touchdown in three games.

“I recognized the formation and had a feeling it was coming. I just watched his hips and as soon as he dropped I just tried to locate the ball as fast as I could and tried to get my hands on it,” Wilson said smiling.

BSU dug into their playbook again in the third quarter. Freshmen running back Matt Keiserman took a handoff and threw to a wide open tight end Kyle Efaw in the corner of the end zone. The pass put BSU up 56-17 mid way through the third quarter.

Keiserman later got injured on a running play during cleanup duty and was carted off the field. It didn’t look good.

“He’s had some hard, tough luck,” BSU head coach Chris Petersen said. “He is a tremendously important member of this team and a really good player. Sometimes that luck goes in spurts. Really good and really bad…It wasn’t looking too good out there.”

A big part of Idaho’s failures came from Reader who threw five interceptions that seemed to come at the worst time for the Vandals. Idaho out-gained BSU 514-458, but it didn’t matter. Idaho had seven turnovers in all – BSU did not have a turnover, which was the deciding stat in the game.

Junior running back Jeremy Avery carried the ball 14 times for 110 yards. Young also chipped in big on the receiving side for BSU with six catches for 101 yards and a TD.

After the game, Petersen was very happy with the effort of his team and the offenses capability to convert in the red zone.

“For us to get as many turnovers as we did and make some plays on special teams was great. I thought our offense was clicking better than ever. I think it was a really good game to have this time of the season,” the coach said.

Broncos strive for consistency

Trent Lootens — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:41:59 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER. Boise State head coach Chris Petersen looks on during BSU's homecoming game against UC Davis.

The Broncos inability to put together a complete game this season has the team reeling for answers, but if there was ever a time to time to do it, a game against rival Idaho would be ideal.

Boise State 9-0 (4-0 Western Athletic Conference) possesses the No. 2 scoring offense in the nation and still has to answer questions about why they can’t score in the red zone. Their red zone efficiency is No. 43 nationally after converting on 43-of-51 trips this season for an 84 percent average.

Missed field goals and turnovers inside the red zone when they’ve had opportunities to put opponents away has haunted BSU since their first drive of the season against Oregon.

“I can’t quite figure our team out in terms of how we play in spurts,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said. “If we can do some better things in the red zone and on the goal line we’ll make things a lot easier for ourselves.”

BSU faces a different challenge than expected when the year began against the Idaho Vandals 7-3 (4-2 WAC). The Vandals’ offensive is explosive and has big play capability with multiple receivers and running backs who all contribute. BSU has to score points this weekend and convert their red zone opportunities to keep the pressure on the Vandals.

Short yardage situations have also been troubling for BSU recently. They failed to convert on two third-and-one plays against Louisiana Tech last week that have put the Broncos’ run game in question.

“When you play offensive football like we do that’s a big part of what we want to do,” Petersen said frustratingly. “It’s makes the game very difficult when we’re not running the ball like we want to.”

Sophomore quarter back and Heisman Trophy candidate Kellen Moore still leads the nation in passing efficiency and trails by a single touchdown for the post passing TD’s by any college quarterback with 27. Case Keenum leads the country with 28 TD’s. Moore has only throw three interceptions this season for a 9-to-1 average per touchdowns thrown.

Establishing the run doesn’t seem to happen for BSU until the second half of games. That’s a problem for the Broncos because it hurts their play-action-passing capabilities. If Idaho realizes BSU can’t run at any point in the game they’re likely to bring more blitzes, forcing Moore to throw with less time.

If Idaho brings blitzes they’re likely to put their cornerbacks on an island against surging wide receiver Austin Pettis, who has developed into Moore’s go-to weapon when situations get tight.

“He’s a reliable guy that consistently makes big plays in clutch situations. He’s a guy you can trust and go to at any time,” Moore said.

Idaho’s pass defense is suspect at best, ranking No. 104 in the nation. Look for the Broncos to exploit Idaho’s weakness in that category as they given up over 254 yards per game through the air and 20 TD’s.

“If we can’t run the ball we have no problem throwing it every down. We got a good guy to be able to do that,” Petersen said.

Long road trip after short week for Broncos

Trent Lootens — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:38:39 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER. Boise State head coach Chris Petersen looks on during BSU's homecoming game against UC Davis.

For whatever reason, Boise State has never played well in Ruston, La.

Aside from the Hawai’i trip, this one is the longest for the Broncos. In their last three games at Louisiana Tech BSU has never led at the half.

Furthermore, No. 7 BSU plays on a short week due to the game being Friday night and the Broncos having just played last Saturday.

“It’s something that both sides have to deal with, not the ideal situation, but I don’t know if there is an ideal situation anymore for teams in college football,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said.

La Tech 3-5 (2-3 Western Athletic Conference), coming off a hard loss last week at Idaho 35-34, is trying to rebound after losing its last two road games by a combined three points – its other loss coming at the hand of Utah State 23-21.

But not all news is bad for the Bulldogs. They’re undefeated at home this season with wins against Nicholls State, Hawai’i and New Mexico State.

The Bulldogs took a beating in Moscow personnel wise. Starting quarterback Ross Jenkins was benched during the game and their best offensive players in running back Daniel Porter and wide receiver Phillip Livas were injured in the loss – their status in uncertain for Friday.

If Porter and Livas are ready, the Bronco defense will have their hands full.

“He’s (Livas) very fast and they move him around a lot on the offense and try to get him the ball in space,” BSU senior cornerback Kyle Wilson said. “Wherever he’s at I’m sure everybody will be keyed in. He’s a big part of their offense and their special teams.”

The Bulldogs like to establish their run game early and use that to their advantage to get receivers in space to create big plays. Against the Vandals, La Tech ran 94 plays (47 passes, 47 runs) out of its no-huddle offense and ran up 547 total yards. That’s an amazing balance on offense.

The match-up to look for will be Wilson against Livas. If Wilson can contain Livas, the Broncos will have a huge advantage.

Offensively, the Broncos need to keep pressure off Kellen Moore and let him feed the ball to his receivers. Last week against San Jose State, Moore was under serious pressure and took some big hits.

Petersen doesn’t think the hits will effect his quarterback against the Bulldogs.

“He’s got that pretty face and kind of prances around back there, but don’t let the looks deceive you, he’s a tough guy. I don’t think you can be a top-notch quarterback without being one of the toughest guys on the field,” the coach said laughing.

Junior wide receiver Titus Young played a demoted role last week because of a foolish penalty against Hawai’i. According to Petersen, he should get his playing time back this week if he performs well in practice leading up to Friday’s game.

“We just can’t get foolish penalties and that’s the bottom line,” Petersen said.

Getting the running game firing on all cylinders remains a big concern for the coaches and will be the key to the game for BSU. A solid run game will allow the receivers to get into space and will give Moore numerous options out of play-action.

Petersen focused on Spartans, not BCS

Trent Lootens — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:17:35 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER. Chris Petersen congratulates UC Davis after Boise State’s victory over the Aggies.

Now isn’t the time to talk to Boise State head coach Chris Petersen about the BCS. That conversation should be reserved for five weeks down the road.

The coach seemed not at all bothered about the Broncos’ recent plummet in the BCS standings from No. 4 to No. 7. In fact, he thought it was comical when asked if he was disappointed.

“It made me chuckle just as much the other weeks when we played a game that was probably our worst of the season then had a bye and rose in the standings. Now, we play one of our better games at a very tough place and go down in the standings. It is what it is,” Petersen said grinning.

Petersen continued to reiterate why he and his players shouldn’t worry about the standings because it could ruin their focus.

“You’re right. They would be frustrated if they payed attention to that stuff,” Petersen said when asked if he had talked to his players about the frustrations with the BCS. “That’s why we don’t pay attention to it.”

Coaches in the past who have lobbied for their teams to get “fair,” treatment from the BCS selection committee include the likes of Texas head coach Mack Brown. Brown pled his case for Texas to be selected as an at-large team a few years ago and it worked for the Long Horns.

Petersen doesn’t feel the same approach will help the No. 7 Broncos 7-0 (2-0 Western Athletic Conference) at this point in the season.

“Do you think that’d make a difference? I’m not Mack Brown and this isn’t Texas. In five or six weeks we have those conversations. Until then I think it’s just a bunch of drama that a lot people like to get caught up in,” Petersen said.

For now, Petersen and the Broncos are focused strictly on the San Jose State Spartans 1-5 (0-2 WAC).

The Spartans, coming off a bye week, have one win this season against Cal Poly. Their most recent loss was to Fresno State 41-21, but Petersen and the Broncos have too much of a past with SJSU to overlook them.

“Coach (Dick) Tomey gets those guys ready to play hard and they’re extremely athletic. We always have hard fought games with them,” Petersen said.

SJSU has been the victim of a brutal non-conference schedule. Their first three games of season were against No. 5 USC, No. 16 Utah and Stanford. Their other WAC loss came from the Idaho Vandals. A game the Vandals won on their last drive.

“They’ve played a really difficult schedule and that can make things tough especially coming out of the gate,” Petersen said.

Senior wide receiver Kevin Jurovich leads a dangerous core of offensive players for SJSU and has made numerous big plays for the Spartan offense. Look for him to continuously battle with BSU senior cornerback Kyle Wilson.

Defensively SJSU pride themselves on getting to the quarterback and disrupting plays with their defensive line. Senior defensive end Carl Ihenacho leads the group with his playmaking ability and experience. The BSU offensive line will have their hands full with Ihenacho, while trying to protect Kellen Moore.

“They’ll attack you and they’re aggressive. They’re not going to back down. They’ve really held their own well. Even against USC,” Moore said.

From the Blue to You: Double standard for nation’s top quarterbacks

Brittney Johnson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:47:02 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER

News Flash. College football fans, Colt McCoy has just been named the No. 1 rated passer in the country throwing for 21 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. Yes, mark that people, Two interceptions. Half way through the season McCoy has lead his team to an undefeated record of 7-0, thrown for 1,627 yards and completed 69.1 percent of his passes. He’s a definite lock for winning Heisman, correct?

Wrong.

The quarterback with all the accolades previously mentioned is not Texas’s favorite college kid. It’s Boise State’s sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore. Does he still have your Heisman vote of confidence now that you know it’s Moore?

Those long pauses are what is wrong with this picture. Opinions change because of school name rather than the cold hard facts.

Kellen Moore is in the same position with the team he leads. They are both constantly clawing for respect others seem to just inherit because of reputation. Don’t get me wrong. The No. 4 BCS ranking shows Boise State has made tremendous leaps in regard to national respect, but there are certain aspects still not present. Those aspects include the fact BSU isn’t a blue blood of college football they are a blue-collar team constantly fighting for respect from the big boys. Moore is no different, he quietly performs week in and week out, garners a 19-1 record as a starter and always has a big smile on his face like he’s playing a game of backyard football with all the neighborhood kids.

What will it take for the nation to see his Heisman-like caliber? Will he have to change his name to Jimmy Clausen, have mediocre freshman and sophomore years only to be 5-2 as a Junior with 64.9 completion percentage? Oh wait, that’s not important fact about Clausen’s so-called Heisman race. He plays for a team named Notre Dame. So basically what the national media is telling Moore by his lack of notoriety is that to be considered he must play for a big school with a big name, not measly 7-0 Boise State.

Florida’s quarterback Tim Tebow is currently leading most Heisman polls and rightfully so. He is an outstanding asset to Florida’s program and without him they would not be No. 1. Tebow doesn’t have nearly the stats Moore does but he’s got all the intangibles that propel him to the respect he gets, and deserves. It’s still too early to have a Heisman front runner but the 2007 champion is a great fit.

Moore should be No. 2 in all the expert’s polls because, like Tebow, he’s an important asset to the team and he consistently wins while putting up impressive stats. It’s wonderful he’s getting enough respect to currently be No. 6 on the ESPN expert predicted poll. However, Moore is a superstar who should receive a trip to New York in December if everything keeps going the way it has been at BSU.

The Broncos and Moore constantly make a believer out of someone everyday. Hopefully, if Moore keeps rolling, it will be enough to garner the respect he deserves as a senior or even junior. It’s hard to deny that if the name “Boise State,” garnered the same respect, as several other program names across the country, Moore would be a top candidate for a December trip to New York and possibly the trophy.

Congratulations to Moore on the already impressive, unforgettable carrier at BSU. Now it’s time for the rest of the nation to notice.

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Kaepernick lights it up as Idaho is handed its first WAC loss

Matt Bedinger — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:18:24 +0000

In a game filled with big plays, Nevada and quarterback Colin Kaepernick got the best of Idaho Saturday, coming up with a 70-45 victory. Defense seemed non-existent throughout the game and there were five touchdowns that went for over 70 yards.

The Wolf Pack’s offense went crazy, going off for 484 rushing yards and another 178 passing yards. Idaho put together 494 yards of total offense, to put the teams at a combined 1,156 yards of total offense.

Nevada struck early and often, building a 21-0 lead through the second quarter that the Vandals were never able to overcome. Kaepernick opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run, followed by an 89-yard touchdown scamper by Vai Taua just five minutes later. Nevada resumed its offensive onslaught in the second quarter, scoring on another Kaepernick touchdown, this one for 61 yards to build a 21-0 lead.

Idaho responded with a 73-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Enderle to Maurice Shaw to get on the board. Less than two minutes later, Idaho struck again, with a 59-yard touchdown run from Deonte’ Jackson. But Nevada and the nation’s top rushing offense came back with another touchdown run as Vai Taua punched it in from a yard out. Idaho then had another 73-yard Enderle to Shaw touchdown connection and freshman Trey Farquhar kicked a 54-yard field goal to bring Idaho to within four at the half, 28-24.

To begin the second half, Nevada brought more of their heralded rushing attack, with Kaepernick scoring on touchdown runs of 35 and 75 yards within the first five minutes. Senior Idaho wideout Max Komar caught a 9-yard pass for a touchdown, one of his three on the night. Nevada’s Chris Wellington scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:52 left in the third, with his only carry of the night going for a 25-yard score. Max Komar added two more touchdown receptions and Colin Kaepernick threw his two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

Box Score

Colin Kaepernick, 15 carries, 230 yards, 4 TD, 13-21, 178 yards, 2 TD

Vai Taua, 17 carries, 146 yards, 2 TD

Nathan Enderle, 15-26, 342 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT

Maurice Shaw, 5 receptions, 183 yards, 2 TD

Max Komar, 10 receptions, 136 yards, 3 TD

Broncos squeak by with victory over Tulsa

Kirk Bell — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:29:16 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Austin Pettis celebrates with Thomas Byrd after a score during BSU's homecoming face-off against UC Davis

No. 5 Boise State (6-0, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) went into Tulsa, Okla. with the intention of proving a point against a good Golden Hurricane (4-2, 2-0 Conference USA) football program. The Broncos came away with a 28-21 victory following a flat fourth quarter which the BSU offense failed to put the game away’ tallying just 57 offensive yards against a Tulsa defense who allowed 380 total yards by the Broncos.

BSU trailed early following an option pass by Tulsa junior wide receiver A.J. Whitmore to fellow receiver Damaris Johnson for a 53-yard touchdown in the first quarter of play. It directly followed a muffed punt by senior cornerback Kyle Wilson to go up 0-7 on BSU.

Johnson, a sophomore, had four receptions on the night for 59 yards. He also rushed for 41 yard on four carries. He would finish with 178 all-purpose yards against the Broncos.

BSU’s sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore and company answered on a nine-play, 68-yard drive resulting in an 8-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone to junior tight end Tommy Gallarda. A two-point conversion attempt was good on an Austin Pettis pass to sophomore tight end Kyle Efaw to make the score 8-7 Broncos.

Tulsa would come back with a nine-play, 74-yard drive of their own capped by sophomore quarterback G.J. Kinne’s touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Trae Johnson to go up on the Broncos 8-14.

The BSU offense would take the lead early in the second quarter drive orchastrated by Moore on another nine-play drive for 78 yards. Moore connected with junior wide receiver Austin Pettis for his only score of the night on a 17-yard toss in the front of the end zone for the score 15-14.

Pettis led the Broncos with four receptions and 63 yards receiving.

BSU would go into the half with one more score from the foot of junior kicker Kyle Brotzman on a 27-yard field goal to go up 18-14.

BSU controlled the third quarter, holding Tulsa to just eight yards. The Broncos scored twice. Both scores were set up by sophomore running back Doug Martin who rushed for 83 yards during the quarter. Martin’s production led to the second and final touchdown pass from Moore to Gallarda. The second third quarter score came from a 17-yard field goal by Brotzman, going into the fourth quarter 28-14.

A glimmer of hope came on two plays by Kinne and senior wide receiver Slick Shelley. The first was on a 36-yard completion up the middle of the field to the BSU 45-yard line. The following play Kinne found Shelley over the top for a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the Hurricanes within one score, 28-21, with 9:29 remaining.

The BSU defense wouldn’t allow another big drive for the remainder of the game.

The Bronco defense faired well against a Tulsa offense that averaged 412.20 yards per game prior to their meeting with BSU, allowing the Hurricanes just 295 total offensive yards.

BSU’s biggest divergence from a solid, convincing statistical victory was allowance of the big play. The Broncos gave up seven plays of 15 yards or more; three of which were for 36 yards or better. Tulsa’s offensive production could thank those big gains for 218 total yards. BSU’s occasional missed assignments and selling the run allowed Tulsa to score two touchdown passes on two plays for 50-plus yards.

The Broncos finish their remaining schedule against conference opponents. They take another 10-day break before traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii to face the Warriars of the University of Hawai’i (2-3, 0-2 WAC) Oct. 24.

BCS standings are released Sunday, Oct. 18 for the first time this season. They are updated weekly for the remainder of regular season play.

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BSU’s opportunity to make a statement against Tulsa

Kirk Bell — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:29:50 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Junior wide receiver Titus Young runs downfield following a reception against UC Davis

The No. 5 Broncos of Boise State University are used to playing on the odd day of the week. Since 2001, BSU has played the non-traditional schedule out of Saturday’s 26 times. This may create some barriers that coaches and teams have to maneuver around but also creates something that might not be as easily gained through the Saturday-centric play-date. Exposure.

BSU (5-0) heads up against a tough Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-1) team at Tulsa, Okla. Wednesday night on ESPN in front of the most important crowd of the week. The BCS voters.

The polls come out for the first time this week and are the ultimate guide to where the Broncos could end up come bowl season.

With No. 12 TCU having a less than convincing game against Air Force Academy – winning 20-13 – The Broncos could very well be in the driver’s seat to their own destiny.

The Wednesday night game will have little interference in the way of other athletics that would otherwise draw crowds away. The MLB post season does not resume until Thursday so all sports enthusiasts can focus on the always entertaining Broncos.

Senior BSU cornerback Kyle Wilson sees this as an opportunity to showcase their ability to go in and out during away games that has become know in Boise as the, “Swat team mentality.”

“Definitely using this as a spotlight,” Wilson said. “A statement game. We really want to get out there and prove a point. Rebound from last week and get things going. There aren’t that many games to play with the spotlight like we have this game. We really want to go out there and show something.”

The point they will be proving against a solid Tulsa team that rates in the upper half statistically in all major categories is that they are a legitimate contender and have earned their spot in the top-5 teams in the nation. Though the Broncos are focused on this game and nothing more beyond that, it is no less a stepping stone to the much bigger picture translated come bowl season.

“We’ve been told all week that this is our next big test,” sophomore nickel back Winston Venable said. “…Our safeties can’t get caught up on the run. Kyle Wilson and Brandyn Thompson and all of our corners need to do a good job being sound on their technique and playing those deep balls.”

The focal point for the Golden Hurricanes air attack is that of sophomore quarterback G.J. Kinne. He rates No. 7 for pass efficiency amongst NCAA quarterbacks and has the ability to move outside the pocket, creating a cushion for his receivers. By scrambling the opposing cornerbacks drop off pass coverage and commit to Kinne; in many cases resulting in a deep ball and a big play.

“He’ll run it. A physical guy,” Venable said of Kinne. “He doesn’t have a problem taking the ball across the line of scrimmage and making plays…He’s a good player so we need to be ready to wrap him up.”

The Tulsa rushing defense is No. 16 in the nation and will likely try to make the Broncos one-dimensional with the passing game. Something that sophomore receiver Tyler Shoemaker believes the Broncos can exploit with a talented and multi-faceted receiving corps.

“They are a pretty solid defense,” Shoemaker said. “They play the run really well. They play a lot of man coverage so us receivers are going to have the opportunity to have a lot of one-on-one game match-ups.”

Tune in Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN to see the Broncos take on the Golden Hurricanes.

Broncos hold on during ugly win

Trent Lootens — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:29:49 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Junior receiver Austin Pettis struggles to grab a pass from sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore in the end zone. He successfully catches a touchdown pass two plays later.

The national hype might have finally reached the Boise State Broncos who were looking for answers the entire game in route to a 34-16 win over an inspired UC Davis team.

Boise State, No. 5, struggled to find any kind of consistency Saturday night against UC Davis (1-3). Offensively BSU (5-0, 1-0 WAC) looked anything but in sync and couldn’t get any type of a run game established because of the physicality of UC Davis at the line of scrimmage.

The Broncos’ first drive started out exactly how they’d drawn it, but after moving the ball to the Aggies’ 5-yard line the once-promising drive hit a brick wall because of a turnover on downs. That drive would set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Their red zone troubles continued throughout and UC Davis kept what was supposed to be a massacre of mammoth proportions in check and turned it into BSU’s biggest test since Oregon.

“I first would like to say our hats off to (UC) Davis,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said obviously frustrated after the game. “They played like I thought they would. They were coached like I thought they would be. I thought they had an excellent game plan and I think those kids played some inspired football.”

Kellen Moore was 22-of-31 passing for 285 yards and tossed three touchdown passes. He was matched by UC Davis’ junior quarterback Greg Denham who had

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Sophomore defensive tackle Chase Baker finishes off a sack of U.C. Davis quarterback Greg Denham in the Broncos 34-16 victory Saturday night.

the best game of his career. Denham was unfazed by the BSU pass rush and did a great job getting the ball out before the rush could get near him.

“It was frustrating especially in the first half when he was getting rid of the ball so quickly,” BSU junior defensive end Ryan Winterswyke said.

UC Davis ran up 234 total yards against a Kyle Wilson-less defense. Wilson didn’t play because of a shoulder injury he sustained earlier in the week during practice. Not having Wilson could have played a role in BSU’s defensive struggles, but bad technique along with several pass interference penalties kept many Aggie drives alive.

“I don’t know if it was missing Kyle, but we weren’t clicking on all levels,” Winterswyke said. “Kyle is a great player and of course he’s the leader of the defense and without him out there we kind of took a step back. No matter what we still need to play better.”

Junior receiver Austin Pettis did most of the work through the air for the Broncos. Pettis reeled in 10 catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns. His two touchdowns came from nicely thrown fade routes by Moore when the Broncos were unable to punch the ball into the end zone on the ground.

“Usually me and Kellen have that connection. Tonight it took us a few tries, but we finally got it,” Pettis said.

Junior receiver Titus Young had six catches for 83 yards and a score. His sole touchdown catch was a 42-yard strike on the Broncos’ first drive of the third quarter to put the BSU up 20-3 with 11:51 remaining in the third quarter.

UC Davis receiver Sean Creadick caught two touchdown passes in the second half from Denham and at one point closed the Broncos’ lead to 27-16.

Sophomore running back Doug Martin extended BSU’s lead to 34-16 with 0:38 left in the fourth quarter, the running backs only score of the day.

After the game, Petersen expressed his concern over his players’ inability to convert when they needed to most and vowed to change whatever went wrong before their next game against Tulsa.

“I’m frustrated with a couple different phases. Too many penalties and when you can’t score within the four or five-yard line when you have multiple tries. That’s frustrating. We’ll have their attention without question and have a few things corrected,” he said.

Broncos bowl over Falcons, 49-14

Courtesy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:27:40 +0000

COURTESY MCT Broncos sophomore wide receiver Titus Young runs with the ball during a 49-14 victory over the Falcons of Bowling Green. BSU’s Saturday win helped boost them to a No. 5 ranking in both the AP and Coaches polls after week four of the college football season.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Boise State had never played a game in the state of Ohio before Saturday.

But after a 49-14 shellacking of Bowling Green, in front of a sellout crowd, they might just schedule another trip.

Six different Broncos celebrated touchdowns, highlighted by a 29-point second quarter, as the No. 8 team in the country put up 529 yards of total offense on the Falcon defense.

Of the 529 yards, many could be contributed to the big play ability of the Broncos who had five scoring plays over 15-yards, including a 71-yard backbreaking run by junior running back Jeremy Avery to open the second half which put the deficit to 35-0.

“They can hit you in the mouth a few times, but it makes it easier when you don’t have these 15 and 17 play drives. We got some explosive weapons,” Bronco head coach Chris Petersen said. “If we give those guys some space we usually can make things happen.”

Petersen’s weapons were on full display in the second quarter, as wide receiver Titus Young scored twice on end-around handoffs and Doug Martin broke loose for a 34-yard score to add to the second quarter onslaught.

“Everything about today was about preventing the big play. We learned to bottle up the run, and those two reverses stung us,” BG coach Dave Clawson said. “They saw us over pursuing, they had good play calls, we didn’t get off of blocks, but that’s what they do.”

While the reverses were the highlight of the quarter, the passing attack also got in on the action with 2:15 remaining in the half when BSU sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore found junior receiver Austin Pettis wide open over the middle for a 17-yard score.

While they entered the half down 35-0, the Falcon offense missed a valuable opportunity to score first when they pieced together a 13-play, 65-yard drive, which took seven minutes off the clock. However, freshman kicker Jerry Phillips shanked the 29-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Following their opening drive, the BSU defense had their way with the Falcon offense, intercepting BG quarterback Tyler Sheehan twice and forcing the Falcons to punt six times in the contest.

“We’ve played some challenging teams here and these guys are no slouch. Their defense flew around, got pressure and made plays,” Sheehan said. “They are the real deal.”

Even though the Boise defense held the Falcons to a mere 3.8 yards per snap, they still did get in the end zone twice in the third quarter.

Both scores came off drives taking over five minutes, with the first resulting in a 7-yard pass from Sheehan to a wide open sophomore receiver Adrian Hodges in the corner of the end zone. On the second score Sheehan escaped a Bronco rush and scampered in for the 6-yard score.

The touchdowns may have only cut the final deficit to 35 points, but they were important for the BG offense to prevent Boise State from picking up their second shutout of the season.

“We wanted to prove we had some fight in us and that we weren’t going to be shutout,” Sheehan said.

If Boise were to shutout out BG, it would have been the first time this century that the Falcons would have failed to put any points up on the scoreboard.

However, it was still BG’s worst loss since the 63-7 embarrassment at the hands of Tulsa in the 2007 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.