One ugly Duck-ling of a victory: Boise State pushes around Oregon in 19-8 victory

Ducks get dumped by Boise State 19-8

BOISE, Idaho — The biggest home game in Boise State history became a four-quarter bullying of the Broncos’ big-conference neighbors to the west that left frustrated Oregon players hitting each other after a teammate punched a Broncos player.

Kellen Moore threw for 197 yards and a touchdown, and the 14th-ranked Broncos pushed aside No. 16 Oregon 19-8, shoving aside their biggest obstacle between them and a possible second BCS berth.

D.J. Harper scored on a 1-yard run early in the third quarter and Boise State held on for a shaky final 25 minutes of mistakes and turnovers to record their 50th straight regular season home victory and ruin Chip Kelly’s debut as Oregon head coach.

But the lasting image from this highly anticipated kickoff to the 2009 college football season will be Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount punching Boise State’s Byron Hout after the final whistle and then needing to be restrained from fans by police on the field.

As the Broncos began celebrating on their famous blue turf, Hout yelled in Blount’s face and tapped him on the shoulder pad. That drew an immediate scream from Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, but before Petersen could pull Hout away, Blount landed a right hand to the defensive end’s jaw.

Then as Blount was being pulled off the field, he had to be restrained from fans heckling him on the way to the Oregon locker room.

“You know, just emotions getting the best of players, and you know, it was a hard fought game, really proud of our defense,” Petersen said. “Typical first game, lot of sloppy football, but I thought our defense rose to the occasion and played great.”

Blount set a Ducks record with 17 rushing touchdowns last season.