BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) -Boise State keeps winning as other highly ranked teams fall and now the Broncos find themselves as one of the top five teams in the nation.
Boise State moved up to fifth in the AP poll Sunday, the best regular-season ranking in school history. The Broncos finished the 2006 season ranked No. 5 after going undefeated and beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
Four top-10 teams lost last weekend, clearing the way for Boise State’s rise.
The Broncos improved to 4-0 on Saturday night with a 49-14 victory against Bowling Green.
Boise State’s offense scored in a hurry and its defense smothered the Falcons. The games was never competitive.
The Broncos intercepted Tyler Sheehan twice and held receiver Freddie Barnes to just four receptions for 24 yards – he had come into the game leading the nation with 14 catches per game.
“Our guys did a good job of making him earn some things,” said Boise State coach Chris Petersen.
efficiency defense, limiting opponents to just two touchdown passes this season. They’re also second with nine interceptions.
Cornerback Kyle Wilson credited the defensive line with pressuring Sheehan into making bad throws and the two interceptions. He had thrown 153 passes without a turnover.
“You start flying around to the ball and getting after the quarterback, he starts getting antsy,” Wilson said. “Everybody’s being aggressive. Everybody’s breaking on the ball.”
Petersen wasn’t happy last week with his defense after it gave up 507 yards on the ground and had way too many missed tackles in the Broncos’ 51-34 victory at Fresno State.
That’s why they spent this week focusing on fundamentals and tackling.
“We shook off last week and put that behind us,” Wilson said.
Boise State limited Bowling Green to 73 yards of offense in the first half – 65 of those yards coming on the opening drive that ended with a missed field goal.
After that, the Falcons got just one first down in the first half. For the game, they finished with 93 rushing yards and didn’t score until the Broncos were up 43-0.
Sheehan had completed 68 percent of his throws this year coming into the game, but finished 16-of-29 passing with just 137 yards. “They are the real deal,” he said.
Not bad for a team known for its big-play offense.
rd touchdown run on the next play and a 15-0 lead in the second quarter.
After that, the rout was on.
The Broncos scored three touchdowns in just 2:30 in the second quarter.
“Anytime our defense gets a turnover or we get a big play and get the ball back, that definitely sways the momentum,” said quarterback Kellen Moore.
Moore, who finished with 247 passing yards and two touchdowns, said the defense came up big early while the offense sputtered in the first quarter.
“They kept it 0-0 for a while when certainly we weren’t playing as well as we should have,” Moore said. “After that we finally got things rolling.”
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