TULSA, Okla. — Kellen Moore threw two short touchdown passes to Tommy Gallarda, and No. 5 Boise State survived a late scare from Tulsa to escape with a 28-21 victory Wednesday night in one of the last road tests standing between the undefeated Broncos and the BCS.
With Boise State (6-0) trailing for the first time all season, Moore was perfect on two scoring drives to put the Broncos ahead to stay.
Tulsa (4-2) got within 28-21 in the fourth quarter when G.J. Kinne and Slick Shelley connected on consecutive passes for 91 yards, including a 55-yarder for a touchdown. The Golden Hurricane had one last chance to tie it in the final two minutes, but Boise State forced its fourth three-and-out of the second half to ice the game.
Moore finished with 187 yards passing and three touchdown passes.
Doug Martin had 112 yards on 23 carries in his second 100-yard game since moving back to offense after the Broncos lost running back D.J. Harper to a knee injury. Jeremy Avery added 73 yards as Boise State trampled Tulsa on the ground in the third quarter and then held on for the victory.
Except for the two long connections between Kinne and Shelley, Boise State’s defense limited the Golden Hurricane — which led the nation in total offense each of the last two seasons — to 30 yards in the second half.
Kinne missed a wide-open Charles Clay on fourth-and-6 to end Tulsa’s last possession.
Boise State 8 10 10 0 — 28
Tulsa 14 0 0 7 — 21
First quarter: Tul — D.Johnson 53 pass from Whitmore (Fitzpatrick kick), 8:25. Boi — Gallarda 8 pass from Ke.Moore (Efaw pass from Pettis), 4:00. Tul — T.Johnson 15 pass from Kinne (Fitzpatrick kick), :16. Second quarter: Boi — Pettis 17 pass from Ke.Moore (Brotzman kick), 11:03. Boi — FG Brotzman 27, :36. Third quarter: Boi — Gallarda 2 pass from Ke.Moore (Brotzman kick), 9:44. Boi — FG Brotzman 18, 2:54. Fourth quarter: Tul — Shelley 55 pass from Kinne (Fitzpatrick kick), 9:29. A — 30,000. Boise St. Tulsa
First downs 25 12
Rushes-yards 44-193 26-88
Passing 187 207
Comp-att-int 22-32-0 15-28-0
Return yards 17 (-3)
Punts-avg. 6-40.0 8-42.5
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-0
Penalties-yards 3-24 7-65
Time of possession 35:07 24:53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Boise St., Martin 23-112, Avery 16-73, Young 1-6, Ke. Moore 3-3, Team 1-(minus 1). Tulsa, D. Johnson 4-41, Williams 4-21, Kinne 14-15, Opeseyitan 2-8, Clay 2-3.
PASSING — Boise St., Ke. Moore 22-32-0-187. Tulsa, Kinne 14-27-0-154, Whitmore 1-1-0-53.
RECEIVING — Boise St., Young 5-31, Pettis 4-63, Shoemaker 4-27, Efaw 3-38, Gallarda 3-15, Brockel 1-10, Burroughs 1-3, Martin 1-0. Tulsa, D. Johnson 4-59, Shelley 3-99, Clay 3-12, Williams 2-17, Whitmore 2-5, T. Johnson 1-15.
