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Boise St. routs Fresno

by Tim Booth
| November 20, 2010 8:00 PM

BOISE - For one quarter, Kellen Moore was imperfect.

The rest of the night, Boise State's record-setting quarterback was nearly flawless, and was backed up by a dominating defense.

Moore shook off an interception and fumble in the first quarter to throw for 333 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Titus Young and Austin Pettis, and the No. 3 Broncos used a smothering defense to rout Fresno State 51-0 on Friday night.

With the rest of the BCS hierarchy - Oregon, Auburn and TCU - taking the weekend off, the national stage belonged to Boise State.

And after sputtering through the first quarter in their all-orange uniforms - worn for what was believed to be the first time in nearly 20 years - the Broncos (10-0, 6-0 WAC) rolled to their 24th straight win, extending the longest win streak in the country. The Broncos handed Fresno State its first shutout loss since a 10-0 loss to San Diego State on Nov. 7, 1998. The Bulldogs entered Friday night averaging nearly 400 yards and 35 points per game.

The Bulldogs (6-4, 4-3) managed just nine first downs and 125 total yards.

Moore and Young were the offensive stars and in the process added their names to even more pages in the Boise State record books. Moore became the school's all-time leader in yards passing, jumping past Ryan Dinwiddie. By the end of the regular season, Moore could crack the 10,000-yard mark.

Not surprisingly, Young has been on the receiving end of many of those yards and became Boise State's all-time leader in yards receiving on a 42-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that gave Boise State a 17-0 lead.

Moore completed 27 of 38 throws, while Young grabbed eight passes for a career-high 164 yards. Even kicker Kyle Brotzman got into the record book, becoming the school's all-time scoring leader, helped by field goals of 20, 20 and 50 yards.

But much of this victory was courtesy of a Boise State defense that held Fresno State to just four first downs and 80 total yards through the first three quarters.

Robbie Rouse was the one asked to ground out this one for the Bulldogs, appearing especially dangerous after running for 286 yards against Louisiana Tech and following up with 217 last week against Nevada.

Aside from one dash for 23 yards, Rouse was a non-factor, gaining 37 of his 70 yards rushing on the Bulldogs' final drive. Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn caught the ire of coach Pat Hill on a few occasions for his decisions and finished 6 of 23 for 76 yards.

Young's torment of the Bulldogs secondary started on Boise State's first offensive play that would have been a touchdown if Moore didn't underthrow the pass. He made tough catches on the sideline, took hits across the middle and, most importantly, used his speed to get clear down the field.

That's exactly what happened on his 42-yard TD reception, his seventh of the season. Using play-action, Moore froze the defense just long enough that Young could race past Fresno State cornerback Isaiah Green.

Young's counterpart, Austin Pettis, added 10 catches for 93 yards and touchdown catches of 15 and 6 yards in the third quarter.

Fresno State's best chance of at least making the chilly night interesting came on the lost fumble by Moore, who let the ball slip from his hands as he started his throwing motion. Defensive tackle Logan Harrell came up with the fumble and started toward the end zone, but the play was called an incompletion on the field.

It was overturned on replay, but Harrell had nothing but blue turf between himself and the end zone.

The Bulldogs offense could do nothing with the gift, with Colburn getting sacked by Winston Venable for an 8-yard loss on second down. Fresno State punted and immediately, the Broncos started taking control.