Boise State Defeats San Jose State in WAC Football

SAN JOSE, Oct. 24 -- Kellen Moore and his Boise State teammates showed San Jose State that the 13th-ranked Broncos are still the class of the WAC.

Moore threw two touchdown passes and Ian Johnson ran for two scores to help Boise State keep its bid alive for a berth in a BCS game by beating the Spartans, 33-16, Friday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Athletic Conference.

San Jose State (5-3, 3-1) nearly derailed bids for undefeated seasons by the Broncos (7-0, 3-0) in their last two visits to Spartan Stadium and hoped to be able to complete the job this year with what Coach Dick Tomey considers the best team he's had here.

But Boise State proved to be too much for the Spartans to handle, winning for the 49th time in its last 51 conference games. Jeremy Childs blocked a punt to set up one touchdown for the Broncos and caught a touchdown pass, while Jeremy Avery led the Broncos' rushing attack with 96 yards on 21 carries.

Boise State is looking to make it into the BCS for the second time in three seasons. The Broncos came into the game ranked 12th in the first BCS standings.

The Broncos shut down San Jose State for most of the game. The Spartans did manage one big play, when Brandon Rutley burst up the middle for a 60-yard run that cut Boise State's lead to 20-16 in the third quarter. But Boise State methodically closed out the game from there with three long drives that led to two field goals by Kyle Brotzman and Johnson's second scoring run.

That was a big change from the Broncos' last two visits here. In 2004, they needed two overtimes before escaping with a 56-49 victory. Two years ago, they scored 10 points in the final six minutes to win, 23-20, on Anthony Montgomery's 37-yard field goal on the last play of the game.