Broncos’ win streak ends

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In the highest-scoring Liberty Bowl ever, it was a defensive play by Louisville that ended Boise State’s 22-game winning streak.

Louisville safety Kerry Rhodes intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve No. 7 Louisville’s 44-40 victory over 10th-ranked Boise State on Friday.

“It’s a great way to end it,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. “A national audience, two teams that were supposed to score over 84 points. I think we hit it right on the top.”

Now Louisville will enter the Big East Conference in grand style after handing Boise State its first loss since September 2003 in a game that was the most important in school history for both programs.

“This was big for us,” Boise State receiver Chris Carr said. “We don’t see ourselves as a non-BCS school or a little school. We see ourselves on the same level as any school we play.

“We wanted to come out here and prove to everybody that we’re not a team in the WAC that’s not very good, and we just beat up on little teams.”

Eric Shelton scored on the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run with 6:48 left. Stefan LeFors threw two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Cardinals (11-1), who have never finished ranked higher than 13th, matched a school record for victories in a season.

The Cardinals won their third Liberty Bowl in their final appearance as a Conference USA team.

The Broncos (11-1) had one last chance to win after Art Carmody’s 19-yard field goal with 1:10 left put Louisville up four.

Quarterback Jared Zabransky drove the Broncos to the Louisville 30 before his final pass into the end zone as time expired was intercepted by Rhodes. He more than atoned for his missed interception opportunity in a 41-38 loss on Oct. 14 to then-No. 3 Miami.

The win was a welcome end to a week in which the Cardinals were forced to deal with the news that Petrino had interviewed with LSU about its open coaching job. They certainly didn’t seem distracted against the Broncos.

Louisville won only for the second time in seven bowls despite a season-high four turnovers. The Cardinals rolled up 564 yards, topping 500 yards for the ninth time this season.

LeFors was 18 of 26 for 193 yards and ran 12 times for 76 yards. The Cardinals rushed for 329 yards against a defense that had been the nation’s fourth-best against the run.

This was the biggest game in school history for Boise State, a program that moved up to Division I-A in 1996. The Broncos thought they could keep up with an offense that had trailed only Louisville for most yards and points.

But the Broncos, who lost 12 starters from their 2003 squad, finished with 284 yards offense, well below their 511.6-yard average.

The teams still rewrote the Liberty Bowl record book.

The 84 combined points topped the 80 points by Colorado and Alabama in 1969 and was one of a handful of records set.

They combined for the most points in the first quarter with 24, and their 52 points were the most for the half.

Boise State kicker Tyler Jones had a record 48-yard field goal on the Broncos’ first drive, and Broncos linebacker Andy Avalos had a 92-yard interception return off LeFors in the first quarter that bested the 79-yarder by Michael Jordan of Tulane in 1998.

Boise State led as much as 34-21 early in the third quarter after scoring 24 straight points.