Thirty-five minutes of Kellen Moore and thirty-five minutes of Bronco defense were enough for Boise State Saturday night as the Broncos beat Tulsa 41-21. It was a typical day at the perfection office for Kellen Moore: 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 0 sacks. And the Bronco defense made life difficult when it counted for Tulsa QB G.J. Kinne, picking off the Hurricane star four times.
What were your thoughts on the game? Hit the comments with your feedback.
Oh yeah, and one more thing: Bring on Nevada!
Top Five plays
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Doug Martin 33-yard TD run. This was everyone's play of the game for several reasons. 1) It was a play by Doug Martin. 2) It was the first Doug Martin Classic Rushing Touchdown of the season. 3) It was a feat of athleticism, the way he sped around the corner, hurdled a player, and turned on the jets to the end zone. 4) We got to finally settle the debate about who is faster: Martin or offensive guard Chuck Hayes. It's Martin, but it was closer than you'd think.
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Kellen Moore to Tyler Shoemaker, the first. Moore and Shoemaker made their first TD connection look easy, and so did the Tulsa secondary.
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Kellen Moore to Tyler Shoemaker, the second. Shoemaker's toe-tap at the back of the end zone was NFL-worthy, and the red zone score helped make up for the red zone fail on the first drive. Shoemaker set a new season best in TD catches with his sixth of the year, besting his five from the year before.
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Aaron Tevis INT. If Tevis hadn't made a one-handed pick-six in a game last season, this diving theft of a Tulsa screen pass would have been the play of his career. Still, it was pretty sweet.
- A Tulsa play in the second half. Notable because Billy Winn and Tyrone Crawford were involved, and both players had limped off in the first half. This being the third game of the season, it was great to see D.J. Harper make it through unscathed, but for awhile there, it looked like the turf monster was going to demand a blood sacrifice of whoever it could get its hands on. I will never take Winn-Crawford for granted again. I swear.
It was over when ...
Cedric Febis picked G.J. Kinne for the fourth and final time midway through the fourth quarter. Tulsa mounted a self-confidence comeback in the second half and were within three scores with eight minutes to play when Kinne's deep pass was picked by Febis. I'm not sure anyone expected Tulsa to come back at that point (especially not Coach Pete who kept Kellen Moore in a ballcap despite a rapidly shrinking lead), but just in case anyone had any doubts, Febis put an end to them.
Game recap
With an opening drive that fizzled inside the five, the Boise State Broncos did not get off to the best of starts. But they certainly spent the next 30 minutes making up for it.
The Boise State defense shut down and shut out the Tulsa offense for the first two-and-a-half quarters, which was enough time for the Bronco offense to put up 34 points and put Kellen Moore into safe mode on the sidelines. Moore threw four TD passes while he was in, two to Tyler Shoemaker. Doug Martin ran for a 33-yard score, his longest run of the season. And Jerrell Gavins picked surprise starter G.J. Kinne twice.
Moore opened the second half with a scoring drive capped by a TD pass to Mitch Burroughs to give the Broncos a 34-0 lead, and Moore's night was done. Tulsa scored on its next possession and its possession after that to cut the lead to 34-14, but a Cedric Febis pick led to a Joe Southwick TD pass and Tulsa's impossible rally was officially put to bed.
Statistics
Passing
Kellen Moore - 23-for-29, 279 yards, 4 TDs
G.J. Kinne - 14-for-24, 123 yards, TD, 4 INTs
Rushing
Doug Martin - 21 carries, 75 yards, TD
D.J. Harper - 15 carries, 43 yards
Receiving
Tyler Shoemaker - 5 catches, 102 yards, TD
Mitch Burroughs - 5 catches, 63 yards, TD
Knee-jerk reactions
Solid defense from the Broncos for the first two quarters, helped by solid field position. You knew Tulsa would score eventually, so holding them out of the end zone so long was a big win ... Thank goodness Crawford and Winn were all right. Just goes to show you can never have too many of those magnet bracelets in the trainer's room ... I wouldn't say the Bronco run game is fixed yet ... Maybe Tom Scott can help us out on this one: Does any team play more offensive linemen than Boise State? ... If you won't throw at Jamar Taylor and you can't throw at Jerrell Gavins, who are you going to target? ...
I don't mean to tell Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship what to do, but he shouldn't have let G.J. Kinne play. He threw out half his playbook when he did ... My biggest criticism of Joe Southwick is that he's not Kellen Moore ... I got used to having Pettis and Young catch all the passes, but this WR-by-committee thing is growing on me ... Kellen Moore, Kellen Moore, Kellen Moore ...
Your turn
What did you think of the game? What was your favorite touchdown? What was your favorite interception? Share your thoughts in the comments.