Moore just enough for Boise State
September 6, 2010 - 11:00 pm
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."
BOISE STATE -- 33 VIRGINIA TECH -- 30
KEY: Kellen Moore threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Austin Pettis with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Hokies turned it over on downs on their final drive.
MARYLAND SINKS NAVY
BALTIMORE -- Kenny Tate stopped quarterback Ricky Dobbs at the goal line with 34 seconds left, and Maryland stunned instate rival Navy 17-14 on Monday to break a seven-game losing streak that began last October.
The Midshipmen (0-1) held the ball for nearly 19 minutes longer than Maryland (1-0) and outgained the Terrapins by more than 200 yards. But in a game influenced by untimely turnovers and huge penalties, the outcome was decided on a goal-line stand.
Trailing 17-14 with a fourth down at the 1, Navy opted to go for the win. Dobbs took the snap, went to his left and was met by Tate and hauled down before he could reach the end zone.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS