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No. 5 Boise State hammers Bulldogs 57-7

Boise State's bashing of Fresno State reached a new level Friday night, a beatdown like none before at Bulldog Stadium.

This one goes down as the worst home loss in coach Pat Hill's 15-year tenure.

No. 5 Boise State put up seven touchdowns before Fresno State scored en route to a 57-7 nonconference victory in front of an announced crowd of 33,871.

Fresno State (2-4) has lost six straight games to former Western Athletic Conference rival Boise State (5-0) as the gap between the two mid-major programs continues to widen, the outcome the Broncos' largest margin of victory in Fresno.

"That's as probably as hard of a game as I've gone through."

"We just never got on track," Hill said. "We were never able to get anything going. It was one of those nights – you wanted to do so much as a team and program for the community and fans – we just fell flat on our face.

Before Friday, Fresno State's worst loss at home was 68-37 to Hawaii in 2006.

It got so bad for Fresno State on Football Fiesta night – with the Bulldogs apparently serving as Boise State's piñata – that the Bulldogs entered the final quarter down 50 points and in danger of suffering the worst loss in Bulldog Stadium history (60-0 to the Olympic Club of San Francisco in 1929).

At least Devon Wylie's touchdown on a 79-yard punt return with 14:44 remaining prevented Fresno State from suffering its first shutout defeat at home since 1980 (14-0 against Utah State).

Nothing else went Fresno State's way. But does it ever against Boise State?

Dating to its last visit to Bulldog Stadium, a 51-34 victory in 2009, Boise State scored 111 straight points against Fresno State with Friday's early onslaught.

Before Friday, Boise State's largest margin of victory in Fresno was 17 points.

"It's awesome," said the Broncos' Hunter White, who had a blocked punt and forced fumble. "There's definitely a rivalry between us and Fresno.

"For us to come down to their place where they played us tough two years ago in a battle, it was nice to get after them and not let them back in the game in the second half like they tend to do."

No Fresno State players were made available for comment after the game.

Five of Fresno State's first eight drives started inside the Bulldogs 20. Boise State started five of its first eight possessions inside the Bulldogs 30.

The combination led to a disastrous start for the Bulldogs and seemed to get them out of the game by the first quarter.

"We certainly understand the history between the two teams," said Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, who was 23 of 31 for 254 yards and three scores in his 43rd career victory. "You have to be prepared when you play these guys. You have to come with a lot of energy and start fast."

Fresno State's offense could hardly generate yards and constantly seemed to run plays that would fall a yard or two short of the first-down marker. The Bulldogs didn't pick up a first down until the final play of the first quarter.

Fresno State didn't convert a third down until its eighth possession, when the Bulldogs trailed 30-0.

Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr never found a rhythm and was held to 126 yards, and committed two turnovers (one interception, one fumble).

The Bulldogs defense again was suspect against big plays for a sixth straight week. On Boise State's fourth play, a screen pass to receiver Matt Miller went for 48 yards and set up the Broncos' first touchdown.

The Bulldogs couldn't get the Broncos' methodical offense out of sync as Boise State amassed 464 total yards and 22 first downs. By halftime, Boise State had as many touchdowns as Fresno State had first downs (five).

The Broncos never even showed any trickery in their playcalling while constructing the blowout.

"We just could never get in sync on offense and therefore we put our defense on a short field all night," Hill said. "It was one of those nights. Tonight just wasn't our night."

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/07/2568643/fresno-state-vs-boise-state.html#ixzz1aErcAGou