FB: Boise St. drubs Fresno St., 57-7

Oct. 7, 2011

FRESNO, Calif. - Geraldo Boldewijn caught two touchdown passes in his first game back from suspension and No. 5 Boise State extended its dominance over former WAC rival Fresno State in a 57-7 victory Friday night.

Kellen Moore went 23 of 31 for 254 yards and three scores in his 43rd career win for the Broncos (5-0), who have turned this once intense rivalry into a lopsided affair.

Boise State led 30-0 before Fresno State (2-4) even crossed midfield, and it took a 43-0 lead early in the third quarter on Doug Martin's 1-yard run to extend a run of 104 straight points against the Bulldogs.

D.J. Harper added a 3-yard TD run later in the quarter after an interception by Derek Carr and the streak finally ended at 111 straight points when Devon Wylie returned a punt 79 yards for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs.

The Broncos scored the final 10 points in a 51-34 victory here in 2009 and beat the Bulldogs 51-0 at home last year. They then scored the first 50 points of this game.

Boise State nearly scored as many touchdowns (eight) as Fresno State had first downs (nine) with the final score coming on Grant Hedrick's 23-yard run with 17 seconds left.

Martin ran for 94 yards, Harper had two short TD runs, Mitch Burroughs scored on a 25-yard run and Matt Miller caught a TD pass for Boise State's first score of the game. The only problems for the Broncos came on special teams where they had two missed extra points by Dan Goodale and allowed the long punt return.

Carr struggled in his first game against Boise State, completing 17 of 30 for 126 yards with one interception and a lost fumble. Robbie Rouse was held to 72 yards rushing to end a streak of four straight 100-yard performances as Fresno State lost its 15th straight game to a ranked opponent and suffered the worst home loss in coach Pat Hill's 15-year tenure.

The teams spent the past decade together in the WAC with Boise State winning nine of the 10 meetings starting with a 35-30 win over the then-No. 8 Bulldogs in 2001. Boise State left for the Mountain West Conference after last season and will be joined in its new conference by Fresno State next year.

But the Bulldogs haven't been in the Broncos' league. Boise State has outscored Fresno State 220-51 in the last four meetings, topping 50 points each time.

They took control early this game, getting a boost on offense from the return of Boldewijn, who was suspended for the first four games for taking impermissible benefits.

Boldewijn, the biggest and fastest member of the Broncos' receiving corps, had 11 catches for 160 yards last year and was being counted on to replace Titus Young as the team's deep threat.

Boldewijn caught an 11-yard pass on Boise State's second play from scrimmage. He dropped a potential touchdown pass later in the first quarter, forcing the Bulldogs to settle for a field goal by Goodale that made it 10-0.

Boise State added another touchdown about a minute later when Mitch Burroughs scored on a 25-yard end-around on the first play after Wylie lost a fumble to make it 16-0 before Fresno State even had its initial first down of the game.

Boldewijn got his first touchdown early in the second quarter when he made a one-handed, 18-yard grab with cornerback Isaiah Green draped over him to make it 23-0.

Hunter White's blocked punt set up Harper's 6-yard TD run that made it 30-0 and Boldewijn added his second TD on a 4-yard catch with 20 seconds left in the half to make it 37-0.

Moore has thrown at least two touchdown passes in 18 straight games and has 25 career games with at least three.

Article Courtesy - Associated Press