Since 1984, the Fresno State football team is still winless in Boise.
The Bulldogs took back the Milk Can from intraconference rival Boise State last September, but they were forced to hand it back Friday night on the blue turf.
The 37-27 loss drops Fresno State to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in Mountain West play, while the Broncos advance to 5-2 and 3-1 in the conference.
“I’m proud of our guys’ effort tonight, and I thought our guys came out and competed like we wanted to win a championship,” Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter said. “We took some punches early. I liked how we came back in the second half with a lot of confidence [and] went down and scored. Defensively, we started bowing up and made a play in special teams.
“We got in the fourth quarter, it was a tied ballgame and we got to find some ways to make plays.”
Boise State first-year head coach Bryan Harsin’s squad got things rolling early in the first quarter with a five-play, 74-yard drive. Wideout Shane Williams-Rhodes ran 49 yards on a fly sweep that helped set up a nine-yard Jay Ajayi touchdown run for the first score of the game.
Bulldogs kicker Kody Kroening and Broncos kicker Dan Goodale exchanged 34-yard field goals for the next two scores of the game.
Fresno State running back Marteze Waller, who came into the game with 661 rushing yards and five touchdowns, added to his statistics early with a 76-yard run to tie the game up at 10.
“Marteze Waller is a warrior,” DeRuyter said. “He runs his tail off, and he is not going to go down with the first guy tackling him. That guy is a difference-maker for us.”
Another Goodale field goal, this time from 40 yards, gave Boise State a 13-10 lead toward the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Ajayi was responsible for the game’s only score in the second quarter: a touchdown to put the Broncos up 20-10 going into halftime.
Fresno State quarterback Brian Burrell and the Bulldogs drove down the field in the opening drive of second half, resulting in a 32-yard touchdown pass to Josh Harper. The scoring drive cut Boise State’s lead to three.
The Broncos answered back with a Williams-Rhodes 21-yard touchdown reception from Hedrick on the ensuing drive, giving them a 27-17 lead.
DeRuyter once again turned to his freshman kicker Kroening for a 44-yard attempt. It paid off, as it cut Boise State’s lead to seven points.
Special teams saw more consistency in this game, as Kroening nailed both of his field goals, including the career-high 44-yarder.
“I was extremely proud of our kicker Kody,” DeRuyter said. “After being down last week, he got it done and I was really, really proud of him.”
On the following kickoff, the Bulldogs received a spark. Linebacker T.J. Thomas forced Broncos kick returner Dallas Burroughs to cough up the ball. After some scrambling after the loose ball, Fresno State’s Stratton Brown came away with the ball at Boise State’s 5-yard line. Two plays later, the offense cashed in with a 3-yard touchdown run from Waller to tie things up at 27 apiece going into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs, however, were not able to hold on to the momentum for very long.
Moments later, the Broncos engineered a 17-play, 75-yard drive that involved some trickery. Wide receiver Thomas Sperbeck threw a touchdown pass on a double-reverse trick play to Hedrick, which gave the Broncos the lead at 34-27.
Goodale’s 24-yard field goal late in the fourth ended up sealing the game.
“I was really proud of our team, we just lost to a good football team,” DeRuyter said. “We just made way too many mistakes, especially early, but I’m proud of our effort. We are still not out of this thing, we just got to go 1-0 next game.”
Waller rushed for a career and game-high 164 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
“We came up short,” Waller said. “Next week, we are going to go to practice and get better. The only thing we can do from here is just get better.”
Ajayi’s stats were similar to Waller. Boise State’s junior star back carried the ball 30 times for 158 yards and two scores.
The Bulldogs will have two weeks to prepare for their next opponent, as they have a bye week coming up. Fresno State returns home Nov. 1 to face conference foe Wyoming.
