76°F
weather icon Clear

Moore just enough for Boise State

LANDOVER, Md. -- Lovable upstarts no longer, Kellen Moore and Boise State look as if they are going to be serious national championship contenders.

Moore hit Austin Pettis with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left, and No. 3 Boise State passed what might be its toughest test of the season, beating No. 10 Virginia Tech 33-30 on Monday night.

The Broncos (1-0) came to FedEx Field with their best preseason ranking ever, ran out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, then had to rally themselves to extend their winning streak to 15 games.

That top-five ranking doesn't look so strange now.

"We're certainly proving people right right now," Moore said.

Tyrod Taylor passed for 186 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 73 yards for the Hokies (0-1), who for the fourth straight season took a deflating early season loss.

"It's a frustrating loss knowing that we haven't been successful in the first game all these seasons, but I think we have a good team to go out there and bounce back from this," Taylor said.

As for the Broncos, from the Western Athletic Conference, even with 11 games left, the debate will start about whether they should become the first team from a league without an automatic BCS bid to play for a national championship if they go undefeated.

"Game 1, and that's what it is," said Chris Petersen, who improved to 50-4 as coach of Boise State. "We're just pleased to get out of here with a 'W.' "

Moore, the undersized Heisman Trophy contender, threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He led a five-play, 56-yard touchdown drive in the final two minutes -- aided by a personal foul penalty that put the ball on the Virginia Tech 13-yard line. After hitting Pettis on a quick slant for the winner, Moore sprinted to midfield with his hands raised high, waiting for teammates to come and celebrate with him.

"We know how much was at stake for us, so it was kind of like a bowl game, but we've still got 11, 12 games to go," Pettis said. "There's a lot we need to work on, too, because there were a lot of mistakes we made.

"We can't afford any slip-ups, especially after setting ourselves up like this."

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Sports on TV in Las Vegas

Here’s today’s local and national sports schedule, including television and radio listings.

Ex-NBA player arrested, allegedly owes Nevada casinos over $200K

Former NBA player Marcus Morris Sr. was arrested Sunday at a Florida airport on a warrant out of Nevada and is facing a fraud charge, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

MORE STORIES