Broncos humble Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. – Jeremy Avery led Boise State’s dominant running game with a career-high 124 yards and three touchdowns, and the Broncos avenged their only conference loss in the last half-decade with a 34-21 victory over Fresno State on Friday night.

D.J. Harper had a career-best 153 yards and a score for the five-time Western Athletic Conference champion Broncos (7-1, 4-0), whose sole loss in their last 44 WAC games was a 27-7 defeat in Fresno in 2005.

Boise State, which trounced the Bulldogs in Idaho last year during its undefeated season, controlled its latest trip to the Central Valley with 282 yards from its relentless ground game. With Ian Johnson sidelined by a bruised kidney, the Broncos’ freshman ball-carriers patiently wore down the young Bulldogs.

Clifton Smith returned a punt 65 yards for a score for Fresno State (5-3, 4-1), which hoped to signal its return to the national stage with another win over last season’s BCS darlings. Instead, the Bulldogs saw just how far they must go to rejoin Boise State and Hawaii atop the conference.

After the clubs scored two touchdowns apiece in a wild first quarter, Boise State’s defense buckled down.