BOISE ROLLS: Dawgs fall flat in the Dome

In their own backyard against a team they dominated six years ago, the Georgia Bulldogs look like a disheveled program as No. 5 Boise State manhandled them tonight in the Georgia Dome 35-21, in front of a mostly pro-Bulldog crowd.

“They just beat us tonight,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “They were better than we were.”

After a virtually even first half that saw the Broncos score with 48 seconds remaining to take a 14-7 lead, quarterback Kellen Moore led Boise State to two third-quarter touchdown drives. The team clad in all white now led 28-7 and saw Georgia fans heading for the exits.

Two long touchdown passes from Aaron Murray kept Georgia in it, but Moore and the Broncos offense could not be stopped. Moore finished the night 28-of-34 for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

Georgia pulled to within 35-21 in the fourth when Murray hit freshman Malcolm Mitchell on a 51-yard touchdown pass, and then got the ball back with a stop by the defense. But the Dawgs went for it on fourth down with 2:34 left on the BSU 39 and a Murray pass fell harmlessly to the turf.

The scoring opened with an electric 80-yard touchdown run by Brandon Boykin with 8:39 left in the first quarter. The Dome exploded as Georgia remembered the 45-13 blowout win over BSU in 2005. But the lead would last just over five minutes as the Broncos evened the score at seven with a 17-yard Moore pass to Matt Miller.

The Broncos then took a lead they would not relinquish when Moore hit Kyle Efaw with a 12-yard pass late in the second quarter.

Murray was sacked six times, but still managed to go 16-of-29 for 236 yards and two scoring passes. Behind Boykin, who had one carry, Georgia’s leading rusher was freshman Isaiah Crowell, who had 15 carries for 63 yards.

More disturbing to the Bulldog Nation than the final score was Boise State’s domination of the lines of scrimmage, several false start and delay penalties, a myriad of dropped passes, and a head coach who seems to still think that uniform changes and gimmicks will turn his fading program around.