Nov. 28, 2008

Final Stats

The Broncos (12-0) trailed for only the third time all season early and were up just 13-10 after halftime before Jeremy Avery ran for a 43-yard touchdown three minutes into the third quarter. Then came three more touchdowns in a 3 1/2-minute span to clinch Boise State's third undefeated regular season in four years.

Tom Brandstater was 23-for-36 with 212 yards passing for Fresno State (7-5), which was outscored 61-3 after taking the lead on Damion Owens' 68-yard interception return. The Bulldogs cemented their ninth bowl berth in 10 years last week by beating San Jose State.

Avery sprinted up the middle, splitting defenders at the 25, to finally put Boise State back comfortably ahead at 20-10 three minutes into the third quarter.

Then Wilson took a long punt at his own 10, immediately sidestepped Fresno State's Desia Dunn and took off.

It was Wilson's third punt return for a score this month, and the fourth-longest in Boise State history.

After Ellis Powers intercepted a tipped pass from Brandstater deep in Bulldogs territory, freshman Kellen Moore threw for another touchdown. His 16-yard pass to Tommy Gallarda made it 41-10.

Ian Johnson ended the third quarter by running 69 yards - pulling Owens 18 the final yards - to the 4. He scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the first play of the final quarter and then on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth.

Bush Hamden started at quarterback for Boise State instead of Moore, who entered 13th in the nation in passing, because coach Chris Petersen wanted to give the senior the start. Hamden's first pass was thrown way behind Jeremy Childs and intercepted by Owens. The cornerback easily ran 68 yards the other way for a touchdown 3 1/2 minutes into the game.

As the record crowd of 32,412 sat stunned, the jubilant Bulldogs defense formed a dog pile in the end zone after the score that put Boise State behind for only the third time all season.

The remainder of the first half was a trade of field goals that left the Broncos up 13-10, the closest any team had been to them at the break since Hawaii trailed 10-7 here on Oct. 17.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 7-5 record, that included wins over BCS schools Rutgers and UCLA. The Dogs dropped another, 13-10, to then No. 10-ranked Wisconsin.

Fresno State vs. Boise State
Bronco Stadium
Postgame Notes and Quotes
Nov. 28, 2008

What's Next
Fresno State will now wait to find out its bowl destination. For the Dogs, it would be their ninth bowl game in the last 10 seasons. The WAC has automatic tie-in games with the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl. In addition, since the Pac-10 will likely not have enough teams to fulfill its bowl obligations, the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego is expected to take a WAC team in place of a Pac-10 team. The Bulldogs will not know their bowl fate until the a committee comprised of WAC athletics directors and WAC Commissioner Karl Benson meet to decide bowl assignments that will be best serve the WAC and its member schools.

Oh, My Owens!
Cornerback Damion Owens started for the first time this season and made it memorable. On Boise State's fourth play of the game, he made his second career interception and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Dogs a 7-0 lead. It was the first time a Bulldog returned an interception for a touchdown since Damon Jenkins had a 56-yard return at Boise State on Nov. 1, 2006. It was Fresno State's fourth interception this season.

Dogs Back in the Kick Blocking Business
Bear Pascoe extended his school record for blocked kicks to six when he swatted a Boise State field goal attempt in the second quarter. Andrew Jackson blocked a PAT for the Dogs in the fourth quarter, his second career block. The pair of blocks were the team's fifth and sixth of the year, the last one coming Hawaii on Oct. 4. It gives the Dogs 79 blocks in the Pat Hill era and was Fresno State's 44th this decade, most of any team in the nation during that time.

Noteworthy
Bulldog offensive lineman Charlie Robbins made his first college start in the game. He saw his first action last week when Richard Pacheco left the game with an injury and few rave reviews from the Bulldog coaches ... Senior tight end Adam McDowell made his first career catch in the second quarter ... Ryan Colburn made his first appearance of the season in the fourth quarter ... Fresno State had a 12-play drive in the second quarter that ended in a Kevin Goessling field goal that tied the game 10-10. It was the third longest drive in terms of number of plays on the season. The Dogs had a 17-play drive against UCLA and a 13-play drive against Hawaii ... Marlon Moore had six receptions in the first half of the game, the most he's had in a game this season. He had three receptions on Fresno State's final drive of the half ... after a conversion of a fourth-down play in its own territory early in the third quarter, the Dogs have converted 8-of-10 fourth downs on the season, a percentage that leads the WAC.

Quotes
Head Coach Pat Hill:
"We were where we wanted to be in the first half. We played pretty well and at Boise State being down three points at the half was fine. We took the wind to start the second half and I thought if we could get them to go three and out we get the ball in good field position. I've never had a game unravel like that before. No matter what we did, they made plays. The punt return was big and then the interception and they hit us for a bog draw play."

"Give credit to Boise State. They are a great program and play so well and with so much confidence here."

"We have to pick up the pieces and get ready for a bowl game. We will get back home and get back to work. We want to finish this season with a bowl win. That's our next goal. We have to wait to see where we end up, but we will get back and start working to get ready for that."

"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Dogs will hold their annual awards banquet on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008, at 5 p. m. at the Fresno Convention Center New Exhibit Hall.