• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Boise State rolls past Louisiana Tech, 49-20

Oct 27, 2010 - 5:40 AM By TODD DVORAK Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Boise State got caught flat-footed on an onside kick and fumbled away another kickoff. It almost had another costly fumble, and Kellen Moore threw his second interception of the season.

And the Broncos just kept rolling.

Moore threw two touchdown passes and caught another on a trick play, helping No. 2 Boise State beat Louisiana Tech 49-20 on Tuesday night for its 21st consecutive victory.

The Broncos (7-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) got a big boost from Doug Martin, who had 21 carries for a career-best 150 yards and two scores, and the nation's top-ranked defense. The WAC powerhouse had four sacks, forced two fumbles and stopped Louisiana Tech on fourth down in Boise State territory three different times.

Boise State extended the longest active winning streak in major college football with another convincing victory as it tries to keep pace in the BCS standings despite a mediocre schedule. The Broncos are No. 3 in the rankings behind Auburn and Oregon, but feeling plenty of pressure from surging teams like Michigan State and Missouri.

Just as he has all season, coach Chris Petersen refused to weigh in on how yet another blowout will fare in the minds of voters and computers.

"We're only paying attention to ourselves. We're not worried about what everybody else says about us," said Petersen, whose team has outscored its last four opponents 212-34. "The only thing that is going to influence us is us. Our kids are going to put the tape on and know if we played well or not."

The game film should provide a lot of feel-good moments, along with a few miscues.

Moore was precise and efficient as usual, going 20 of 28 for 298 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Broncos to 468 total yards. Tyler Shoemaker caught six passes for a career-high 124 yards.

Moore threw a 6-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to Austin Pettis, who snapped a three-game drought without a TD. Moore's 32-yarder to Shoemaker in the second gave the Broncos a 21-7 lead.

Pettis returned the favor in the third when he took a pitch on an end around and quickly tossed a 7-yard pass to Moore all alone in the right corner of the end zone.

Martin had a 2-yard run in the first that made it 7-0 and a 20-yard scamper in the fourth that wrapped up the scoring for Boise State.

The Broncos never trailed, building a 28-7 halftime lead thanks to Moore's accurate passing and some mistakes by Louisiana Tech (3-5, 2-2).

The Bulldogs had their chances to make the game closer. With their new hurry-up, spread offense, they amassed 394 total yards against a Broncos defense that was yielding a measly 210 yards per game.

But Louisiana Tech hurt itself with several costly penalties and mistakes.

"We're a young team and we don't execute quite as well as Boise State does," first-year coach Sonny Dykes said. "They don't beat themselves, they don't make mistakes and we kind of played into their hands a bunch tonight."

Louisiana Tech had a chance to grab the momentum after a bold onside kick attempt in the first quarter following Lennon Creer's tying 1-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs recovered the ball, but the play was nullified by an offside penalty. The call angered Dykes, who was flagged 15 yards, forcing Louisiana Tech to kick from the 13.

The Broncos made them pay when Titus Young returned the kick to the Bulldogs 17-yard line. Four plays later, Moore passed to Pettis to make it 14-7 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

Then late in the half, the Bulldogs were flagged for pass interference on consecutive plays to set up another Boise State touchdown. Tight end Kyle Efaw recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 28-7.

Ross Jenkins was 24 of 39 for 222 yards for the Bulldogs, but was sacked four times. Creer had a career-high 157 yards on 33 carries against a Broncos defense that came into the game allowing 59 yards rushing per game.

Jenkins tossed a 23-yard TD pass to Phillip Livas on fourth down to cut it to 28-13 in the third and Louisiana Tech got the ball back when Boise State fumbled the ensuing kickoff. But defensive tackle Chase Baker deflected Jenkins' pass on fourth down to stuff the Bulldogs' drive.

Boise State responded with an eight-play, 91-yard drive capped by Jeremy Avery's 18-yard run down the right sideline. Avery, lined up in the wildcat, fumbled the snap, then slipped two defenders and ran untouched to make it 35-13.

"I think sometimes our expectations are so high for ourselves that if things don't go perfect then you have a lot of stuff to gripe about," Moore said. "But at the end of the day, we won by plenty of points."