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A crowd of 41,031 was on hand in sold out Bulldog Stadium to watch the #25 ranked Fresno State Bulldogs come away with the win against the Boise State Broncos in the battle for the Milk Can. The ‘Dogs elected to give the Broncos first crack at the end zone and then held them after 5 plays and forced a punt by kicker Sean Wale that went out of bounds at the Fresno State 42 yard line. A facemask penalty moved the Bulldogs to the Boise State 43. Nine plays later Bulldog QB Derek Carr completed a 14 yard TD pass to RB Josh Quezada and Fresno State was first on the board up 7-0. Boise State got on the board with a TD of their own when RB Jay Ajayi made a 1 yard rush for a TD. Both teams each added a field goal and the 1st quarter ended 10-10.
Carr threw two TD passes to WR Josh Harper in the second quarter to put Fresno State in the lead and Boise State backup QB Grant Hedrick threw a pass to Troy Ware for 18 yards, but the Broncos failed on a 2-point conversion. Before the half ended, Boise kicker Dan Goodale booted a 32 yard field goal, and the half ended with the Bulldogs up 24-19 over the Broncos.
The second half had all the excitement the game could handle. The Bulldogs were the first to score again, when Carr tossed a pass to Davante Adams who romped into the end zone for a 1 yard TD. But Boise answered back when freshman RB Aaron Baltazar rushed 35 yards for a TD bringing the game back into range for the Broncos, down 26-34. Baltazar rushed 2 yards for another touchdown shortly after the 4th quarter began, and suddenly the Broncos were right back into it. But once again a 2-point conversion failed.
The Broncos were still down 32-34 a few minutes later when Southwick rushed in for a TD giving the Broncos their first lead of the night. This time the 2-point conversion was good and the score was suddenly 40-34, with just over seven minutes on the clock. But Fresno was not to be denied. Carr once again drove the length of the field in 13 plays and set up Quezada for 1 yard TD run and after the extra point the Bulldogs went ahead 41-40 and held on defensively for the win.
Boise State put up 561 total yards, 361 through the air and 200 on the ground. QB Joe Southwick was 31 of 45 attempts for 313 yards and an INT. He also rushed 15 times for 54 yards and a TD. WR Geraldo Boldewijn caught 6 passes for 109 yards, while WR Matt Miller and WR Kirby Moore each caught 9 more. The ground game was shared by RB Jay Ajayi who had 20 carries for 54 yards and a TD, and RB Aaron Baltazar, 18 carries for 92 yards and 2 TDs. On kick returns WR Dallas Burroughs had 5 returns for 155 yards, averaging 31 yards.
Fresno State had 522 total yards of offense and all but 62 were through the air. QB Derek Carr was superb with 39 of 60 attempts for 460 yards and 4 TDs. WR Isaiah Burse caught 10 of those passes for 148 yards and WR Davante Adams caught 12 more for 110 yards that included a TD. On kick returns Dillon Root had 6 returns for 124 yards, averaging 20.7 yards.
Next up for the Broncos: Saturday, September 28, vs Southern Miss, 8:15 PM MT in Bronco Stadium, Boise, ID.
Next up for the Bulldogs: Saturday, September 29, vs Hawaii, 9:00 PM PT in Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI.