Fake punt leads No. 6 Boise State to 17-10 win over No. 3 TCU in Fiesta Bowl

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Boise State pulls out 17-10 Fiesta Bowl win

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Boise State reached into its bag of tricks again and stunned Texas Christian in a Fiesta Bowl duel of unbeaten BCS busters.

After the Broncos pulled off a gutsy fake punt at their own 33-yard line, Doug Martin scored the decisive touchdown to give No. 6 Boise State a 17-10 victory over third-ranked TCU on Monday night.

A 10-10 stalemate came alive when Broncos punter Kyle Brotzman hit wide-open Kyle Efaw with a 30-yard strike with about 9 minutes to play. Four plays later, Martin dove over a tackler from 2 yards out as the Broncos became the second school ever to go 14-0, joining Ohio State in 2002.

The trickery evoked memories of Boise State’s BCS debut three years ago, when it pulled out a passel of gadget plays to defeat Oklahoma on the same field.

Unlike that thriller, this game offered little drama until Boise State coach Chris Petersen made another surprising call.

The Broncos caught the Horned Frogs napping on the fake punt. Kellen Moore then completed three straight passes to advance to the 2, and Martin scored to put Boise State up 17-10 with 7:21 to go.

“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” Petersen said. “A play here, a play there can turn the tide. Our hat’s off to TCU. This game could have gone either way. We were fortunate to pull it out.”

TCU took over at its own 1 with 1:06 remaining and marched to the Boise State 30 before cornerback Brandyn Thompson disrupted a pass by Andy Dalton, and Winston Venable picked it off to end the threat.

Moore passed for 211 yards. Dalton finished with 272 yards and a score through the air, but was intercepted three times.

Brotzman also made a 40-yard field goal midway through the second to make it 10-0, putting the Horned Frogs in the biggest hole they had faced all season.

Boise State is known for its offense. But its defense did most of the work in this one.

Thompson set up the winning drive with its second interception of the game. He returned his first pick 51 yards for the game’s first score.

Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State earned its second BCS victory — as many as Michigan, Penn State and Alabama have combined.

The Broncos are one of only three remaining unbeatens, along with Texas and Alabama, which will play for the national title on Thursday night.