Boise State tops Fresno State
Brett Rypien threw for 269 yards and Alexander Mattison rushed for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Boise State to a 24-17 upset over No. 23 Fresno State on Friday night.
Boise State (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West), which hasn’t lost to Fresno State at home since 1984, beat a ranked team for the first time in November in program history to keep its conference title aspirations alive.
Fresno State (8-2, 5-1) entered the game as the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense and had given up only three touchdowns in conference play before facing the Broncos.
Rypien, who became the Mountain West’s all-time passing leader in yards and receptions, hit Khalil Shakir in stride on a 49-yard scoring strike with 9:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Broncos a 24-17 lead.
The Broncos held Fresno State on its final two drives before running out the clock to secure the victory.
Leading 10-3 at halftime, Fresno State appeared to take control of the game by driving 75 yards on the opening possession of the second half and scoring on a oneyard run by Ronnie Rivers for a 17-3 advantage.
But Boise State stormed back, scoring on consecutive possessions on a pair of short runs by Mattison to knot the score at 17.
at No. 13 Syracuse 54, Louisville 23: Moe Neal rushed for a career-best 159 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Eric Dungey ran for two more scores and passed for another, and the Orange took advantage of five Cardinals miscues to rout Louisville.
Syracuse (8-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 27 points off five errors by Louisville (2-8, 0-7), rushed for 292 yards and accumulated 518 yards of total offense. Syracuse finished the season unbeaten in six games in the Carrier Dome for the fourth time since the building opened in 1980.
The Cardinals were penalized 17 times for 125 yards.