Fresno State won for the 14th time in 15 games since losing to the Broncos last season. Bulldog Stadium's sellout crowd, which cheered through a steady rain for the first three quarters, roared when coaches Pat Hill and Dan Hawkins hugged at midfield after a scoreless second half.
Jared Zabransky was 15-of-32 for 190 yards with two interceptions for Boise State, which finally ran out of offensive ingenuity after winning every WAC game since a loss to Louisiana Tech on Nov. 3, 2001.
Boise State lost just two of its first 37 games in league play, but Zabransky's error-prone unit never resembled the sublime offensive teams of past years in this cold, unfriendly stadium.
The schools have dominated the WAC since Boise State joined, going a combined 64-12. Though two tough conference games remain for a school accustomed to midseason letdowns, Fresno State finally is in prime position for its first outright WAC title in Hill's tenure.
Hill made no attempt to minimize the meeting's importance, calling it the biggest game at Bulldog Stadium in his nine seasons. Hill has been haunted by Boise State since 2001, when the Broncos beat then-No. 8 Fresno State 35-30 to end the Bulldogs' unbeaten season and Bowl Championship Series aspirations.
"They came in and took something from us, and we've never got it back," Hill said on Saturday.
That simmering anxiety might have been one reason Carpenter turned a simple trap play into a 67-yard score on the second play from scrimmage, just 47 seconds after the opening kickoff. But Fresno State calmly replied with a 74-yard scoring drive, including a clutch third-down pass by Pinegar and a 15-yard TD run by Mathis.
Pinegar, who became Fresno State's career leader in touchdown passes while going 22-of-36, decisively outplayed Zabransky.
Longhorns quarterback Vince Young is among those upset over Kansas coach Mark Mangino's inflammatory comments following last year's 27-23 victory over the Jayhawks.
"Normally I give credit to our opponents," Mangino said. "But I'm not going to do that today because our kids outplayed them. They should've won the game, they deserved to win and it just didn't work out."
"The [issue] to me is how they disrespected us last year, saying that they outcoached us and outplayed us," Young told a group of Texas reporters. "It's fresh in my mind now. I'm going to make sure I tell the guys this whole week what they said. That kind of upset me. I know it upset the other guys, and I know it upset our coaches."
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Safety Joe Sturdivant of SMU recorded 10 tackles, broke up two passes, intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and made a tackle for a loss in a 27-7 victory over Rice.
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