Boise State is keeping up with the big boys in television ratings, too.
The non-BCS conference Broncos’ statement victory over Virginia Tech on Monday night matched last year’s Southern California-Ohio State thriller as the highest-rated college football game on ESPN since 1994.
Boise State’s come-from-behind, 33-30 win earned a 7.3 rating. That ties USC-Ohio State as the best since Florida State-Miami 16 years ago.
Although many people disagree, Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore simply refuses to use the win as proof that the third-ranked Broncos should be taken seriously in any national title conversation.
As fans, sports writers and college football analysts stoke that debate, Moore is sticking to a familiar script: Focus only on the things you can control on the field.
“It was one game, one week, and we still have a lot of football to deal with,” he said. “We can’t even be thinking about a bowl game right now. We just aren’t going to be talking about that for a long, long time,” he said.
NEWTON, AUBURN WIN SEC OPENER
Cameron Newton put on another impressive show Thursday, this time against a Southeastern Conference defense in No. 21 Auburn’s 17-14 win over Mississippi State.
Newton, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior, threw for two touchdowns and accounted for 206 yards of total offense.
He compeleted 11 of 19 passes for 136 yards, the two touchdowns and one interception, and he ran for 70 yards on 18 carries in the SEC opener for both teams.
In Auburn’s opener last week, a 52-26 win over Arkansas State, Newton ran for two touchdowns and passed for three.
EXTRA POINTS
Oregon running back LaMichael James will make his season debut Saturday at Tennessee after a one-game suspension kept him out of the Ducks’ 72-0 rout of New Mexico. He led the Pac-10 with 1,546 yards rushing last season as a freshman. … South Carolina received formal notification that the NCAA is investigating its football program. The NCAA has questioned tight end Weslye Saunders about an agent-hosted party in Miami. … Mississippi coach Houston Nutt said offensive lineman Rishaw Johnson has been kicked off the team after a “violation of team rules.”
