No. 13 Boise State Routs La. Tech 55-14

By

Posted 6:48PM on Saturday, November 20, 2004

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Jon Helmandollar rushed for a school-record five touchdowns, and No. 13 Boise State clinched at least a share of its third straight Western Athletic Conference title with a 55-14 win over Louisiana Tech Saturday. Boise State (10-0, 7-0) extended the nation's longest win streak to 21 games and tied BYU's record for the most consecutive conference wins at 25. The Broncos last WAC loss was Nov. 3, 2001, a 48-42 setback at Louisiana Tech. The Broncos can claim the WAC title outright beating Nevada next week. They are the first WAC team to start 10-0 since Wyoming in 1996. Louisiana Tech (5-6 overall, 4-3) lost for the fifth time this season to a team ranked in the top 25. The Bulldogs previously fell to Miami, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas-El Paso, and are now 2-26 all-time against ranked opponents. Louisiana Tech needed wins in its final two games to become bowl eligible. Jared Zabransky threw for 317 yards and a touchdown for Boise State, who racked up 629 total yards and scored 38 second half points. Last year, Ryan Dinwiddie threw for 569 yards and Boise State had 732 yards of offense in a 43-37 win over the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech running back Ryan Moats - No. 2 in the country, averaging 164.2 yards - was held to 60 yards on 19 carries and was mostly ineffective in the second half as the Bulldogs were forced to throw the ball. Helmandollar scored twice in the first half from the 1, twice in the third quarter on runs of 4 and 12 yards and again in the fourth from 3 yards out. He has 10 touchdowns in Boise State's last three games and his 91 yards was a career-high. Ahead 17-14 at halftime, the Broncos pulled away in the second half, scoring 28 points in a 5:23 span of the third and fourth quarters. Helmandollar scored from 4 yards with 2:16 left in the third, and his fourth TD from the 12 put the Broncos ahead 34-14 with 32 seconds left in the quarter. Louisiana Tech's Erick Franklin fumbled the ensuing kickoff, recovered by kicker Tyler Jones. Three plays later, Lee Marks scored on a 19-yard run to put the Broncos up 41-14 just 13 seconds into the fourth. On the next drive, Zabransky hit Jeff Carpenter on a screen pass and Carpenter ran 31 yards for the TD. It was Boise State's first passing touchdown since the fourth quarter against Fresno State on Oct. 23. Boise State had scored 21 straight offensive touchdowns rushing. Louisiana Tech led only once in the game. Trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs silenced Bronco Stadium as Matt Kubik found Moats on an 18-yard TD pass to make it 14-10. It came following a Boise State fumble at its own 25. Jones kicked field goals of 39 and 33 yards for the Broncos.