Wow. That escalated quickly. By the end of the 1st quarter at Bulldog Stadium, I was looking around for Brick Tamland with the trident. The Broncos started fast and kept their foot on the pedal for an unexpectedly easy win over Fresno State. Is it weird that I'm starting to feel kind of bad for Pat Hill? Yeah, that's probably weird.
More after the jump.
Game recap
After a quick 3 and out by the Bulldogs, the Broncos went right to work, with Kellen Moore hitting WR Matt Miller for a long-gainer that set up a Moore-to-Miller TD less than 5 minutes into the 1st quarter
Matt Miller 4 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Dan Goodale Kick)—— Boise State 7, Fresno State 0
Boise State's defense continued to shut down everything the Bulldogs threw at them, but unfortunately hit the skids on offense thanks to some glaring drops by receivers. Nonetheless, the Broncos got back on the board with a Dan Goodale ricochet FG with 2 minutes left in the 1st.
Dan Goodale 32 Yd FG— Boise State 10, Fresno State 0
Broncos got the ball back again after a Fresno fumble and capitalized quickly, with Burroughs finally punching it in on a fly sweep from 25 yards out
Mitch Burroughs 25 Yd Run (PAT Failed)— Boise State 16, Fresno State 0
Same story in the 2nd quarter, as Boise State continued to smother the Fresno State offense while finding a better rhythm with theirs. Geraldo Boldewijn opened the 2nd quarter scoring with a 18 yard TD reception that atoned for an earlier dropped TD
Geraldo Boldewijn 18 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Dan Goodale Kick)—Boise State 23, Fresno State 0
Then DJ Harper got in a little scoring action, punching it in from 6 out just 3 minutes later
D.J. Harper 6 Yd Run (Dan Goodale Kick)—Boise State 30, Fresno State 0
It was when the Broncos hit the 30-point plateau that Fresno State's offense finally crossed midfield, getting a nice 40-yard run from RB Robbie Rouse that got them close to the redzone. It was then that it became clear it just wasn't Fresno's night. Derek Carr fumbled the ball 2 plays later and Kellen led another perfect 2 minute drill that chewed up another 84 yards of turf and culminated in another Boldewijn TD grab with just :20 left in the half.
Geraldo Boldewijn 4 Yd Pass From Kellen Moore (Dan Goodale Kick)—Boise State 37, Fresno State 0
After halftime, the squads traded 3-and-outs until the Broncos got on the board again with about 9 minutes to go in the quarter...this one was all Doug, however, as he broke off a 55 yard run that set up 1st and goal, which he promptly pounded in one play later.
Doug Martin 1 Yd Run (PAT blocked)—Boise State 43, Fresno State 0
Really desperate to get something going, the Bulldogs took to the air, but the younger Carr was intercepted by a Jamar Taylor Houdini grab. The Broncos again made them pay converting a 4th and 1 on the ensuing drive and getting another D.J. Harper run for a score.
D.J. Harper 3 Yd Run (Dan Goodale—Boise State 50, Fresno State 0
The bleeding finally stopped for the Bulldogs at the beginning of the 4th quarter as a lousy punt (and lousier tackling) by the special teams unit allowed Devon Wylie to get free for a 75-yard punt return TD
Devon Wylie 79 Yd Punt Return (Kevin Goessling Kick)—Boise State 50, Fresno State 7
It was at this point that the Broncos went into their living victory formation by emptying the bench. Hedrick was in under center, Drew Wright and Raphiel Lambert were in the backfield...it was basically over, until with :17 left in the game, Grant Hedrick added a little salt to the wound:
Grant Hedrick 23 Yd Run (Dan Goodale Kick)—Boise State 57, Fresno State 7
That's all she wrote. Or should I say Murder she wrote?
Knee-jerk reactions
It was a true family affair tonight in Fresno, with David Carr's younger brother under center for the Bulldogs and Pat Hill's daddy roaming the sidelines for the Broncos. It was just ugly. Kellen was crisp, the defense was ruthless, and the Fresno State bench was frustrated and it showed. Boldewijn did, indeed, add a bit more dimension to the Bronco offense, and he and Dallas Burroughs both look like they can be consistent deep threats. Now if we could just do something about those drops...
I sincerely hope that Jamar Taylor's knee is alright. We have too many good corners on the bench to be playing him that late in a blowout...but he played very well tonight up until his knee tweaking (looked like a hyperextension to me, but I'm no Dr. Quinn).
Doug delivered another timely long run in the game and finished with 94 yards on just 16 attempts. His YPC is creeping back into Doug territory.
I have to keep reminding myself that Matt Miller is just a freshman. The kid is playing very Pettis-like football right now (he led all receivers on the night with 5 receptions for 78 yards and a TD)...but he's absolutely fearless too. If I were Mr. Burns, I might say I like the cut of his jib.
How far are we in Pat Hill's head. I mean, I know for a fact that Fresno isn't a bad team...but we outscored had rattled off 111 unanswered points against the Bulldogs from '09 to the 4th quarter tonight before Wylie finally got them off the schnide with his return. We're in Pat Hill's bloodstream. Oh, and I don't think David Carr did his brother any favors with hyping the Boise State game so much. Derek looked flustered from the get go and might have tried to do a bit to much (this is also called "pulling a Zabransky")
My bad for not including Hunter White in the player of the game poll. White had a forced fumble and a blocked punt in the game. Nice job, Hunter.
Your turn
Admit it...you were more worried about the game than the final score let on. As pleased as I am with the outcome, I must admit that it came out of left field for me. Not that I didn't believe the Broncos were the better team, but they hadn't finished like that all year against so-called "lesser" teams. I guess we know what they're made of now. What say you?