2008 Woodie Awards
Boise will be Boise
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Sports
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But it was the Boise defense that shined Saturday, holding the explosive Southern Miss offense less than 300 yards for the first time in 2008 as the Broncos continued their undefeated march through the regular season, defeating Southern Miss 24-7 at M.M. Roberts Stadium Saturday before an announced crowd of 30,912.
Sure, Kellen Moore had his usual steady hand, completing 21 of 30 passes for 170 yards, almost all coming in the first half, and three touchdowns. Johnson had a ho-hum 56 yards to match teammate Jeremy Avery's total.
But the Boise defense showed that there's a reason they have only allowed eight or more points in one game this season, holding Southern Miss' offense, which came into Saturday averaging 452 yards per contest, to just 278 yards. Reigning Conference USA offensive player of the year Damion Fletcher was limited to just 69 yards on 14 carries.
For the second contest in a row, a Boise State (5-0) opponent was held scoreless in the second half of the contest.
"I'm very, very excited for our defense, they played great," Boise coach Chris Peterson said. "If we play like that, we're going to win a lot of games. I'm glad we've got a short week so we can get out there and practice as soon as possible on the other side of the ball."
Oddly, all the scoring for both teams came in the second quarter, with Boise exploding for 17 points in three possessions with a pair of touchdown tosses from Moore to Jeremy Childs and Austin Pettis and a 32-yard field goal from Kyle Brotzman.
Southern Miss responded with their lone touchdown, a 17-yard scamper from Fletcher that cut the Bronco lead to 10, but the rout was already on. Boise finished the Eagles off with another touchdown toss from Moore to Pettis from four yards out.
"Offensively, we are not at all where we need to be," Moore told reporters after the game. "But we've got a stellar defense here and they're getting better every week, as you can see."
Southern Miss, on the other hand, fell to 2-4. The Golden Eagles dropped their third straight home game for the first time since 1977, and the team's streak of 14 consecutive winning seasons is in jeopardy.
"We're going to find out about each and every man in the room, including myself," first-year Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora said.
"How we deal with this adversity is going to determine what kind of team we are. We're going to find out over the next few weeks. I'm talking about in the classroom, the study hall, the dining hall, the apartment complex - it's all part of it."
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