http://msn.foxs****ts.com/cfb/story/7380000
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - No tricks, no shticks, no late dramatics.
Boise State saved its famous flair for bigger stages. The Broncos needed
nothing fancier than two smashmouth freshman tailbacks and a sturdy
defense to reclaim their bragging rights at Bulldog Stadium. Jeremy
Avery led Boise State's dominant ground attack with a career-high 124
yards and three touchdowns, and the Broncos avenged their only
conference loss in the last half-decade with a 34-21 victory over Fresno
State on Friday night.
D.J. Harper had a career-best 153 yards and a score for the five-time
Western Athletic Conference champion Broncos (7-1, 4-0), whose sole loss
in their last 44 WAC games was a 27-7 defeat in Fresno in 2005.
"It's a huge hurdle in the WAC champion****p, especially at their place
with the bitter taste after getting dominated two years ago," safety
Marty Tadman said.
The Fresno crowd has held a particular distaste for the Broncos ever
since Boise State ended the Bulldogs' unbeaten season here in 2001. Fans
packed the stadium in thousands of identical black T-****rts, but they
could only watch in pain while the jubilant Broncos ran up the concrete
walkway to their locker room after a sound victory.
"That walk is so fun after you just beat them," Tadman said. "You just
walk and smile, and they can't say anything except, 'Take your potatoes
and go home,' or something stupid like that. ... You want to say every
game is the same, but this is one we were way up for."
Even with Ian Johnson sidelined by a bruised kidney, the Broncos'
freshman tandem patiently wore down the equally young Bulldogs. Avery
and Harper kept a running tally of their respective yards on the
sideline - perhaps because the Fresno State defense sometimes wasn't
providing enough competition to keep them motivated.
"We both ran hard, that's all it was," Avery said. "There's enough balls
to go around. Everybody's going to get a turn with the ball. I feel
great coming into their stadium, where they've got a great crowd, and
pulling it out."
Boise State, which trounced the Bulldogs in Idaho last year during its
undefeated season, controlled its latest trip to the Central Valley with
282 yards from its relentless ground game.
"We run the ball. That's what we do," Broncos coach Chris Petersen said.
"It's nice when you can get that right out of the gate like we did
tonight."
Clifton Smith returned a punt 65 yards for a score for Fresno State
(5-3, 4-1), which hoped to signal its return to the national stage with
another win over last season's BCS darlings. Instead, the Bulldogs saw
just how far they must go to rejoin Boise State and Hawaii atop the
conference.
"If you're going to win this league, you've got to go through Boise
State," Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said. "I think we're closing the gap,
but we haven't closed it yet."
After the clubs scored two touchdowns apiece in a wild first quarter,
Boise State's defense buckled down. The Broncos shut out Fresno State
for nearly 47 minutes between the Bulldogs' opening drive and Marlon
Moore's acrobatic TD catch with 8:13 to play.
Just six days after traveling to Louisiana Tech for a tough victory, the
Broncos didn't seem exhausted by their road swing.
"This is honestly the most fun game I've played all season," Tadman
said. "Our intensity and our passion overcame our soreness."
Neither program has been the same since Fresno State's cathartic victory
in 2005. Boise State has lost only one game since then, while Fresno
State fell back in the WAC pack, slipping to its worst season in nearly
three decades in 2006 before getting it together this fall.
Both teams played without their starting tailbacks. Johnson, the
Broncos' Fiesta Bowl star, missed his second straight game, while Fresno
State's Lonyae Miller has a knee injury.
But Boise State's backups were more than the Bulldogs could handle.
Harper broke a 49-yard run on the Broncos' opening drive, and Boise
State had 200 yards ru****ng midway through the second quarter.
Tom Brandstater passed for 263 yards for the Bulldogs, while Boise
State's Taylor Tharp had 158 yards passing in a conservative game plan.
"They're a great running team, always have been," Hill said. "That was a
short football game."
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And the Irish still suck.
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